Owens Enters RS01 With ART Junior Team

London, UK, February 11, 2016 (Newswire.com) - Raoul Owens has signed with the ART Junior Team to contest the Renault Sport Trophy (RS01) as the Briton sets long-term career sights on LMP racing.

Speaking about the news Raoul said: “I am very excited to be signing with the ART Junior Team for the 2016 season in the Renault Sport Trophy. The team won the championship in 2015, which is exciting and motivating for me as a driver. Competing in this series will be a new experience for me as it will be the first time in my career that I race a GT car. I have high expectations for this season and I am confident I can achieve great results, especially after a good first outing in the car at Jerez last October. Finishing the championship in the Top 3 is my goal and I believe is possible with this great team.”

Upon his single-seater debut in Formula Renault 2.0 BARC in 2011, Raoul’s career was centralised in Europe until the end of the 2014 season when he migrated to the United States to compete in the Pro Mazda Championship. There is nostalgia entwined in Raoul’s return to Europe for the 2016 season, but more importantly, RS01 will be used as Raoul’s graduation platform into the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) – one of today’s most prestigious and fastest growing motorsport series.

Thibaut de Merindol of the ART Junior Team added: “I am very happy for Raoul to be joining us this season. He is a driver I have approached in previous years while he was racing in Formula Renault 2.0 NEC and it’s great to secure a well-rounded driver such as Raoul for our RS01 line-up. We look forward to winning many races together this season.”

The first round of the 2016 Renault Sport Trophy gets underway on 15-17 April at Motorland Aragon, Spain. Until then, Raoul’s winter testing programme begins on 8 February taking him to Estoril, Imola and Motorland.