DANIEL BAYBUTT SIGNS FOR JTR MSA FORMULA TEAM

Daniel Baybutt has an exciting year ahead of him with JTR.

The JTR team has lined up another young karting talent for its assault on the MSA Formula championship. Seventeen-year-old Daniel Baybutt will get his first taste of the Ford EcoBoost-powered MSA Formula chassis on Monday at Silverstone, with a further three days of track time planned for later in the week.

The Southport based driver comes to car racing with an impressive karting pedigree: he was third in the MSA Super One Junior TKM Championship in 2012 and ’13, and last year finished fifth in Super One Formula KGP.

His talent is without question, says JTR team boss Nick Tandy: “Dan came to test with us over the winter and impressed in some difficult track conditions. It was remarkable how well he could handle a car at such an early stage in his career. Dan is a great addition to the JTR team because he is used to success in motor sport already and we plan to keep up our winning tradition in 2015 in the new MSA Formula.”

Baybutt, who works on the family arable farm, chose JTR for its family feel and impressive track record, Tandy’s squad having won British Formula Ford for the last three seasons. “Like my family, the Tandys have a background in farming and we all get along really well,” said Daniel. “I am looking on this move into car racing as a two-year plan; it will be a steep learning curve but I am looking forward to the challenge.”

Daniel and his JTR team-mate James Pull have four days of testing scheduled for the coming week, with a visit to the super-fast Thruxton circuit on the agenda following the Silverstone shakedown.