It was announced today that Matt Hamilton will make his return in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship next year with a Skoda Octavia built to the new NGTC regulations.

The Skoda Octavia VRS, which will be built and run by TH Motorsport, the same team which entered Matt Hamilton in his final race in 2010, will look to have built the car by the end of the year with Matt Hamilton entrusted with the development of the car and chosen as the driver for 2012.

This will be the first time that a Skoda has been entered in the championship for over 20 years with the project already well on it’s way.

Matt’s last outing in the BTCC came at Oulton Park back in 2010. Since then the 21-year old has concentrated on his studies and promotin his driver coaching business but he can’t wait to get back in the driving seat in the BTCC .

“This is incredibly exciting.” explains Matt. “Being part of such a project is going to be very challenging, but I have great confidence in Trevor Humphrey and all the guys at TH Motorsport to build a very competitive car. We want to have the Skoda running on track before the end of the year, so that when we start the 2012 season, we can really hit the ground running and show the true potential of the NGTC regulations. After driving my seven year old Honda Civic last time out, I cannot wait to get in the brand new machine, and put it through it’s paces.”

Matt continues, “Despite not being on track for over a year, the support of my fans has not waned. I intend to make sure that the fans are totally involved in the building and testing of the car. I shall be using my Twitter and Facebook accounts to keep everyone updated with how the build progresses.”

“We were very disappointed to have to leave the BTCC in 2010, and it was always my intention to return as soon as possible. I considered purchasing an S2000 car to run this year, but for a smaller team like us, it was a ‘no brainer’ to be patient, and go the NGTC route,” said team boss Trevor Humphries. “In the long run, the NGTC car will be much more cost effective to run, and with a structured development programme, I know that we can be competitive.”

Trevor went on to say, “I am looking forward to working with Matt (Hamilton) again. I was very impressed with the way that Matt adapted to Touring Cars, and I know that he has huge potential. Our participation in the BTCC with a Next Generation Touring Car is a long term commitment. We are also considering the option of building a second car if a driver with competitive credentials was to show an interest”

You can follow Matt’s twitter account @HamiltonRacing and the teams own twitter account @TH_Motorsport for all the further updates.

Photo Credit: TH Motorsport

James Mappin is the editor-in-chief covering the British Touring Car Championship. You can contact him at james@btcccrazy.co.uk, on twitter @BTCCCrazy or on his personal twitter account @jamesmappin.