Martin Byford has signed a deal to race for AmD Milltek Racing.com for the five remaining rounds of the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, replacing team principal Shaun Hollamby at the wheel of the Golf after his one-off outing at Croft last month.

39-year-old Byford, from Colchester, has six championship titles to his name, the most notable of which is the 2007 Renault Clio Cup. He also spent a season in the SEAT Cupra Championship in 2008 where he tasted victory on three occasions en-route to third in the championship standings.

He said: “I was in the right place at the right time when AmD Milltek Racing.com were looking for a new driver and having spoken to Shaun, I’m thrilled we’ve been able to do a deal. This is a golden opportunity for me and hopefully I will be able to surprise a few people and remind them who Martin Byford is!

 “I can’t wait to get in the car and I accept that there is a lot to learn, but my aim is to be a regular contender for top ten finishes. The Volkswagen is a car that is more than capable of finishing inside the points so I want to set my stall out and be a consistent top ten finisher by the end of the year.”

The team have been searching for a long term replacement for Tom Onslow-Cole since the beginning of June when he quit the team mid-race weekend at Oulton Park. With a range of drivers having approached the team regarding the vacant seat, discussions were held with a shortlist of interested parties before a deal was agreed to give Martin his debut in the series.

 Team Prinicpal, Shaun Hollamby said: “When I spoke to Martin I could see how keen he was to make this happen as he saw it as possibly his last chance to make it into the BTCC. He has all the enthusiasm we were looking for and has grabbed the chance with both hands. He’s won in everything he has done in the past and I’m sure he will do a good job for us when the season resumes at Snetterton.

 “Martin is someone who should have been in the BTCC before now and I think he will surprise a few people on track. I’m pleased that we have been able to give him his chance and it’s down to the support of AmD, Milltek Sport, Tesco Momentum 99 and Martin’s own backer Eurocell that we’ve been able to agree this deal.”

 Byford will get his first chance to sample the car in a test at AmD Milltek Racing.com’s home circuit of Brands Hatch next week before making his race debut at his home circuit of Snetterton on the weekend of the 6^th/7^th of August.

Tom Surgay is the Porsche Carrera Cup GB correspondant for 2011. Tom's currently studying English Language with Journalism at Huddersfield University. You can contact him at tom@btcccrazy.co.uk or on twitter @tsurgay.