Gooding, who has only just turned 15, last year became the youngest ever winner of the Fiesta title thanks to an impressive tally of six wins and six further podium results from 16 races in a JamSport-run car.

Interestingly his main rival was Bradley Burns (Farnham) who has also recently announced he will be switching to the UK Clio Cup Junior grid this year with JamSport.

The first Renault UK Clio Cup Junior season will get under way at the Thruxton circuit in Hampshire on the weekend of Sat 3/Sun 4 June with the first two races of its 12-race calendar. CLICK HERE for full dates.

The championship is for drivers aged 14 to 17 in cars almost identical to those used in the Renault UK Clio Cup which races alongside the high-profile British Touring Car Championship. The only differences are a tweak to the ECU to limit the cars to five gears and 100mph and a switch to road tyres, Michelin’s high performance Pilot Sport 3.

Gooding commented: “When I first drove the UK Clio Cup Junior car towards the end of last year I immediately knew where I wanted to be for 2017!

“It gives you loads of confidence to go looking for new limits and it’s an opportunity to move into much more modern machinery with all the engineering expertise that Renault Sport is famous for. This will also teach me a lot about the car ahead, I hope, of a move in a couple of years into the senior UK Clio Cup. That’s the one all the touring car teams are watching for their future drivers.”

Jamie Going, Team Principal of Northampton-based JamSport, added: “We are delighted to be working with Harry again and to be bringing him into our line-up for the new UK Clio Cup Junior championship. We’re really proud of our reputation for nurturing young talent and the results we achieved with him in 2016. It’ll be fascinating seeing how Harry and Bradley – who were very closely matched in 2016 – work together as JamSport team-mates in 2017.”

And said Renault Sport’s UK Motorsport Championship Manager Will Fewkes: “Harry’s decision to move to the Renault UK Clio Cup Junior championship adds greatly to the credibility of the championship and the concept behind it. Indeed we now have the top two names from Fiesta Juniors in 2016 announced as well as other very exciting drivers such as Gus Burton – also with JamSport – and Max Marzorati with the 20Ten Racing with Pyro squad. We look forward to seeing who will be next in announcing their plans…”