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HAMILTON SIGNS UP FOR FORMULA FORD CAMPAIGN

One of Britain's brightest young single-seater hopefuls, Matt Hamilton, has signed to contest the British Formula Ford Championship in 2008 with Joe Tandy Racing.

Matt, who has just turned 18, will team up with French star Philippe Layac and Dutch driver Rogier de Wit at JTR; all three will drive 2008 chassis from Mygale, the French manufacturer whose products have won the Ford-backed championship for the last three years in succession.

"I am really excited to be joining one of the top teams," said Matt, whose 2007 campaign in Formula Palmer Audi was blighted by a serious early season crash which left him with a broken leg. "JTR has a proven record and British Formula Ford is a real step forward for me in terms of competitiveness and prestige. It's also a great shop window for Formula 3, which is where I want to be in the future."

Joe Tandy believes Matt's addition to the JTR driving strength will make his team one of the strongest on the grid: "Matt was a race winner in Formula Palmer Audi, Philippe is quick and has a year's experience of British Formula Ford under his belt, and Rogier is a karting prodigy. I think we can be challenging for race wins from the start of the season."

Matt's father and manager, Steve Hamilton, says his son is raring to go: "He is now fully recovered from the leg injury and champing at the bit. He has already tested for JTR and had no difficulty in running below lap record pace, so we are excited for his prospects."

Hamilton's track career started in 1999, at the age of nine, in cadet karts. He was the Formula BMW Scholarship winner in 2005 and enjoyed a full season in the single-seater series in '06.

All three of JTR's signings will be shaking down their new Mygales this week at the start of an extensive pre-season test programme. The championship's opening rounds are at Oulton Park over the Easter weekend (22-24 March).