Lewis Hamilton’s Younger Disabled Brother Nicolas To Compete In British Touring Car Championship

Lewis Hamilton with his younger brother Nicolas — IN PHOTO: McLaren Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain (R) and his brother Nicolas arrive at the paddock before a practice session of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo, outside Barcelona May 20, 2011. REUTERS/Albert Gea REUTERS/Albert Gea

Lewis Hamilton’s younger brother Nicolas makes history as he becomes the first disabled driver to compete in the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, or BTCC in an Audi S3 NGTC with AmD Tuning. The younger Hamilton, who has cerebral palsy, will reportedly race in five of the 10 rounds in the championship of the 2015 BTCC season.

Nicolas has expressed his delight to be racing in BTCC this year. He will begin his race schedule at Croft on June 27. Then, Nicolas will also race at Snetterton, Rockingham, Silverstone and the Brands Hatch, which is the final round of the season.

“BTCC is the top national motorsport series here in the UK and having the opportunity to race at that level is the biggest challenge I’ve taken on in my career to date,” the younger Hamilton said on his official website. “I’m coming into the Championship with a lot to learn and my expectations are to develop as a driver as my programme across the season progresses.”

According to Nicolas, he hopes to inspire other people regardless if they have the same disability as him or if they are going through a different situation. Nicolas is optimistic that he will be able to “exceed expectations” when he races with the best touring drivers in the UK.

Nicolas has been given a “guest” status this season by series boss Alan Gow, which means that he will not be qualified to score championship points. Gow said that he hopes that Nicolas’ participation at the highest level of British motorsport will give the 22-year-old “invaluable experience” as well as “serve an inspiration to others.”

AmD Tuning Team Principal Shaun Hollamby said it is vital that Nicolas is equipped with the enough knowledge when he enters that BTCC. Hollamby added that they have devised a series of programs including test sessions to guarantee that Nicolas will be fully-prepared for the championship races.

In a separate interview with 5 Live Sport, Nicolas said that his older brother Lewis was “excited and proud” that he will be racing in BTCC. The younger Hamilton said that Lewis knew how tough things had been for him while growing up.

2015 BTCC Line-Up

Team BMR : Colin Turkington, Warren Scott, Aron Smith, Jason Plato

Team JCT600 with GardX: Robert Collard, Sam Tordoff

Handy Motorsport: Simon Belcher

Welch Motorsport: Andy Wilmot, Daniel Welch

Dextra Racing: Alex Martin

Laser Tools Racing: Aiden Moffat

Power Maxed Racing: Dave Newsham, Josh Cook

AmD Tuning.com: Mike Bushell, Nicolas Hamilton

Infiniti Support Our Paras Racing: Derek Palmer, Richard Hawken

RCIB Insurance Racing: Kieran Gallagher

Honda Yuasa Racing: Matt Neal, Gordon Shedden