Wisbech racing star Jake Giddings has confirmed he will make a welcome return to competitive action in the British Touring Car Championship supporting Renault UK Clio Cup for the third event of its season at ultra-fast Thruxton in Hampshire next month.

Cup for the third event of its season at ultra-fast Thruxton in Hampshire next month.

Piloting one of the latest fourth generation Clio Cup cars for his father Neil’s Finesse Motorsport squad, Jake will team-up with the race-winning outfit’s regular pilot Paul Streather who got the 2016 Clio Cup season off to an incredible start for Finesse just over a week ago with victory in round one.

In advance of the race meeting on May 7 and 8, Jake was on track at Thruxton last Thursday for the officially timed pre-event test where the focus was on set-up work. Even so, he still managed to conclude the afternoon session with a top four time in tricky, greasy conditions.

The run marked his second testing appearance in a 2.0-litre turbo powered fourth generation Clio – the first coming at Rockingham last month where he starred with the quickest time in the morning run, before ending the day a mere 0.060 seconds shy of the outright pace.

“We had some fun down at Thruxton”, he said.

“It’s a bit of a bogey track for Paul [Streather] so the aim of having me in the other car is to help with set-up, concentrate on the right lines and to also help with the tow in qualifying when we get to the race weekend – that’s so important there. It’ll be good being back in Clios and hopefully I can help Paul out a bit for his championship.”