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Mike Bushell (racing driver)

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Mike Bushell
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Born (1989-07-05) 5 July 1989 (age 35)
Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK
British Touring Car Championship career
Debut season2013
Current teamRCIB Insurance with Fox Transport
Car number21
Former teamsCobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance, Team Club 44, Power Maxed Car Care Racing
Starts77
Wins0
Poles0
Fastest laps1
Best finish23rd in 2015
Finished last season27th
Previous series
20162017, 20122014
2011
Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom

Ford Fiesta ST Championship
Championship titles
2017, 2014Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom

Mike Bushell (born 5 July 1989) is a British racing driver. In 2013, Bushell competed in the British Touring Car Championship for the first time, driving for IP Tech Race Engineering in their Chevrolet Cruze NGTC car at Knockhill in place of Andy Neate. He returned to the series in 2015 with AmD Tuning, after winning the Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom in 2014.

Bushell has since returned to the Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom for 2016 after failing to secure raise the budget needed to retain a seat in the British Touring Car Championship.

Alongside racing, Bushell is a keen programmer and is developing solo the upcoming title ARENA 3D, which is set to be released via the Steam Store in 2017.

Racing career

[edit]

Bushell began his racing career in 2004 in karting, with his father stepping aside after winning a British Endurance Karting title. These early years were spent competing at club level with the occasional entry into national level events.

In 2011 Bushell moved to circuit racing and competed in 5 rounds of the UK Ford Fiesta Championship, with a first ever podium achieved at the final round at Brands Hatch.

Bushell entered as a privateer in 2012 for the Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom under MBR (Mike Bushell Racing). Results were difficult to come by with limited circuit racing experience and lack of knowledge with car set up in such a competitive series. A move to Westbourne Motorsport for the final round at Brands Hatch resulted in 2nd place and fastest lap after an intense race for the lead in the wet with series ace Stefan Hodgetts.

Returning to the Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom for 2013, the season continued with Westbourne Motorsport and Bushell achieved his first pole position in the series at the first round. This early showing of pace resulted in the KX Academy selecting Bushell to be part of their programme and subsequently moved to Scuderia Vittoria partnering long term rival Ant Whorton-Eales and Stefan Hodgetts. The partnership was short lived with differences of opinion and poor results. The contract was not renewed after its initial run of three races and Bushell switched to reigning champions Team Pyro for the final round, with an immediate return to the podium. Scoring more points than the eventual 2013 champion in the same team.

Bushell remained with Team Pyro for the 2014 season which was the first year to introduce the new Renault Clio Mk IV. After achieving his first win in the series at Thruxton, Bushell went on to win a total of four races and clinch the championship after a season long duel with Josh Cook.

AmD Tuning signed Bushell for the 2015 season. With limited testing due to a heart illness in early February and a small budget throughout the season, only a handful of points finishes were attained with a season best finish of 10th place at Snetterton. A heavy accident at Thruxton resulted in a dislocated hip and extensive repair bill, affecting the budget for the following season.

2016 brought about a return to the Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom with former team Team Pyro.

Bushell competed in the BTCC in 2018 for a second full season, being more successful in the championship than the previous year, scoring 59 points. In 2019, Bushell left the team which allowed Jack Goff to continue in the series. After Sam Tordoff left the championship in 2019, Bushell took his spot in a Honda Civic Type R, driving for Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance.[1] Bushell will return to Team HARD for the 2020 season.

Racing record

[edit]

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded just in first race; races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races; * signifies that driver led race for at least one lap – 1 point given all races)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Pts
2013 Team Club 44 Chevrolet Cruze BRH
1
BRH
2
BRH
3
DON
1
DON
2
DON
3
THR
1
THR
2
THR
3
OUL
1
OUL
2
OUL
3
CRO
1
CRO
2
CRO
3
SNE
1
SNE
2
SNE
3
KNO
1

18
KNO
2

17
KNO
3

Ret
ROC
1
ROC
2
ROC
3
SIL
1
SIL
2
SIL
3
BRH
1
BRH
2
BRH
3
36th 0
2015 AmD Tuning Ford Focus ST BRH
1

21
BRH
2

17
BRH
3

11
DON
1

Ret
DON
2

NC
DON
3

21
THR
1

DNS
THR
2

DNS
THR
3

DNS
OUL
1

24
OUL
2

22
OUL
3

Ret
CRO
1

Ret
CRO
2

19
CRO
3

DNS
SNE
1

16
SNE
2

10
SNE
3

20
KNO
1

15
KNO
2

Ret
KNO
3

18
ROC
1

15
ROC
2

21
ROC
3

Ret
SIL
1

15
SIL
2

17
SIL
3

13
BRH
1

13
BRH
2

17
BRH
3

14
23rd 19
2018 Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing Volkswagen CC BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

8
BRH
3

5
DON
1

27
DON
2

28
DON
3

15
THR
1

21
THR
2

NC
THR
3

27
OUL
1

19
OUL
2

15
OUL
3

8
CRO
1

20
CRO
2

22
CRO
3

Ret
SNE
1

Ret
SNE
2

16
SNE
3

Ret
ROC
1

6
ROC
2

6
ROC
3

20
KNO
1

23
KNO
2

NC
KNO
3

24
SIL
1

7
SIL
2

24
SIL
3

13
BRH
1

24
BRH
2

20
BRH
3

15
24th 59
2019 Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Honda Civic Type R (FK2) BRH
1
BRH
2
BRH
3
DON
1
DON
2
DON
3
THR
1
THR
2
THR
3
CRO
1
CRO
2
CRO
3
OUL
1
OUL
2
OUL
3
SNE
1
SNE
2
SNE
3
THR
1
THR
2
THR
3
KNO
1

Ret
KNO
2

Ret
KNO
3

Ret
SIL
1

7
SIL
2

9
SIL
3

17
BRH
1

6
BRH
2

18
BRH
3

16
24th 27
2020 Power Maxed Car Care Racing Vauxhall Astra DON
1
DON
2
DON
3
BRH
1
BRH
2
BRH
3
OUL
1

21
OUL
2

26
OUL
3

17
KNO
1

21
KNO
2

16
KNO
3

Ret
THR
1
THR
2
THR
3
SIL
1
SIL
2
SIL
3
27th 1
RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport Volkswagen CC CRO
1

19
CRO
2

15
CRO
3

17
SNE
1
SNE
2
SNE
3
BRH
1
BRH
2
BRH
3

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Mike Bushell confirmed as Sam Tordoff's substitute". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 12 September 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2019.