THE newest recruit to Speedworks Motorsport’s team for the forthcoming Dunlop MSA British Touring Cars Championship season says he hopes to make a big impression.

Adam Morgan steps up to the UK’s premier car racing series with the Northwich outfit as a reward for winning the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup last summer.

“This is a huge chance and I still don’t think it has quite sunk in,” he said.

“I’m over the moon to be here; it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity that has been handed to me.”

The 23-year-old will be behind the wheel of a Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC)-spec Toyota Avensis similar to the one piloted by Tony Hughes for Speedworks on their debut last term.

The Cheshire businessman announced last week that he would return for a second season this time around.

The pair both plan to be on track for tests before the end of the month.

Morgan, who won three Ginetta GT Supercup races on the way to snatching the drivers’ title after a thrilling final round at Silverstone, sampled rival Frank Wrathall’s Dynojet Racing machin before Christmas.

He said: “. “It took a bit of getting used to, but I got to grips with it quite well and upped my pace.

“I have no illusions that it is going to be difficult for me in my first season as I’m very inexperienced compared with the other drivers out there.

“But I want to give it everything.”

The Preston racer has unveiled an artist’s impression today, Thursday, of his 2012 challenger paid for from a £200,000-plus prize pot offered by Ginetta Racing Cars.

The Leeds-based sports car manufacturer chose to collaborate with Speedworks, currently completing a build of the car at their Stockport workshop, after the Cheshire outfit impressed during a highly-competitive tender process.

“It’s the biggest prize in British motorsport,” added Morgan.

He will join Hughes for a test at Thurxton this month to start a pre-season programme that will take in most of the other circuits on the BTCC calendar before the campaign curtain-raiser at Brands Hatch in April.

Speedworks’ link to Ginetta is not a new one, for team principal Christian Dick finished fourth in the drivers’ standings on his first term in the Texaco Havoline Ginetta Championship in 2007.

A team title followed a year later in the Ginetta G50 Cup.

Dick then joined forces with Jamie Stanley behind the wheel of a G50 to win overall G4 class honours in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship in 2010.

“Our relationship with Ginetta is a lasting one right through to the G4 title success two years ago,” added Dick.

“They have always been committed to developing young talent through the early stages of their racing career, and Adam is the latest example of that.”