Randon was a front-runner last year with Westbourne in the BARC’s club-level Michelin Clio Cup Series (for older-spec UK Clio Cup cars).

But now comes the big step up to the French manufacturer’s premier racing category in the UK – at the British Touring Car Championship’s high-profile events with the race action shown live on ITV4. Randon becomes the 28th driver to register for the UK Clio Cup so far in 2017…

“This is 100 per cent the right step for my career,” commented 22-year-old Randon who is backed by Twincentric Integration. “It’s at a whole new level and the exposure is off the scale. As everyone knows, it’s the place to be if you want to really improve your race craft and get noticed by the BTCC teams.

“I raced alongside James Dorlin and James Colburn with Westbourne last year and we all know the impact they’ve had in the UK Clio Cup – hopefully I can do something similar to them in time. I’ve only had very limited time in the car so it will be a steep learning curve.”

Westbourne Team Principal Richard Colburn said: “While the deal with Sam is for only two or possibly three of the remaining five events at present we are sure he will acquit himself well – his form with us in 2016 was extremely encouraging and it’s clear he is ready for this.

“He will certainly have great benchmarks in James Colburn (who runs under the joint PP Motorsport-Westbourne banner) and James Dorlin who have both already won races for us in 2017…”

And added Will Fewkes, Renault Sport UK’s Motorsport Championship Manager: “It’s great to see Sam make it onto our grid after the hard work he and Westbourne have put in together to make it happen. Westbourne have really come back to the UK Clio Cup very strongly in 2017 and he is in excellent hands.”