DTC: Julian Westwood signs for Championship

The Brit is going to race a Megane Estate for Renault Motorsport Danmark Former Formula 3 and 3000 driver Julian Westwood was today announced as the second driver for Renault Motorsport Danmark in this year's Danish Touringcar Championship. Thus both Megane Estates of the team will be having non-domestic drivers, as the team earlier this month signed the young Norwegian talent, Thomas Faraas.

	Julian Westwood, Thomas Faraas and Ole Ingemann. Photo:DTCC

With Julian Westwood's signature Renault Motorsport Danmark has secured an all-round driver with plenty of experience. The 30-year old Brit from Leicester finished in the runner-up position in the 1998 European Renault Spider Cup, when he was racing for High Class Racing, who is also responsible for Renault's motorsporting activities in Denmark. Besides that Westwood has competed in all major single-seater classes from Formula Ford 1600 through FF2000 and F3 to Formula 3000, and he has been racing in series in Europe, Japan and New Zeeland. More recently he has been active in the British GT series, while he won the 1997 Vauxhall Vectra SRi Championship. "I am happy to be back with High Class Racing again following my season with them in 1998," Julian Westwood says. He is a new-comer to the Danish Touringcar Championship, but he has followed it from a distance. "I am looking forward to the makings of a very good championship, which is gaining quite a lot of respect in the UK. It is always good to race in a new country, because England do become boring for a while. I really like racing abroad." While teammate Thomas Faraas had the chance so sample his new Renault Megane earlier in the year at Ring Djursland, Westwood got his first turn behind the wheel today at a cold and very windy Jyllands-Ringen.

"The car looks very promising, and I am looking forward to having some good results with it. I am looking forward to be racing on some new circuits against a whole new group of people," the Brit claims. Only once has he raced against one of his new rivals. "I have raced with John (Nielsen, ed.) as a team mate when he did the Spider Cup race at the Hungaroring in 1998, and I am looking forward to trying to beat him on home ground."

-Morten Alstrup