Formula BMW race winner, Ross Curnow, is to have a one-off drive in the Formula Renault BARC Championship at Oulton Park on 26 May.

Unable to raise the funding for a competitive drive in 2007, the Salisbury born driver has concentrated on developing his technical knowledge together with some testing and driver coaching. Having studied motorsport engineering, he worked with Nexa Racing, for whom he finished 3^rd in the 2006 Formula BMW Championship, and also had a spell at iSport International, winners of the 2007 GP2 Championship.

Ross said: ‘I was obviously disappointed not to be racing last year but I’ve been developing more and more interest in race engineering and this seemed a sensible step.’

After accepting an invitation to head up Double M Racing earlier this year, Ross is now developing their Formula Renault programme from their 2,500 sq. ft. Gloucestershire premises. ‘We’ve made some good progress but we thought it would be useful for me to race the car myself to get a real feel for how competitive our set up is,’ Ross said. I tested the chassis at Snetterton recently and we were very encouraged. Combining the role of team manager and driver at Oulton Park will make for a busy day but I’m really looking forward to it!’