Matt Allison (born 13 June 1983 in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

) is a British racing driver. He is most well known for winning the 2006 British GT Championship and for racing in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC). He progressed through the ranks of British Karting, winning two championships and two runner-up trophies before moving to

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

in the 2000. In his first year of car racing, Allison won the BRDC Formula Ford 1600 single seater championship. He progressed to the senior Ford 1800 category for 2001–2003 with numerous podium finishes and a championship best finish of 5th in 2002. Funding issues preventing a move to Formula Renault/F3 saw him switch to front wheel drive saloon racing in the form of the Renault Clio Cup. A 3rd place in only his third ever saloon car race meant that Allison was again at the front of a respected British championship and pushing for the title. Finishing 3rd overall with an impressive 12 podiums, he went on to win the highly prestigious Renault Clio Winter Cup Series in 2005. In 2006 Allison saw his career take a big step forwards when he was given the opportunity to enter the world of sportscar racing in the British GT Championship. He drove his Porsches 911 GT3 to four wins, nine podiums and six pole positions to clinch his third British Championship in six years. Racing across Europe, Allison won the highly prestigious

Pau Grand Prix The Pau Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Pau) is a motor race held in Pau, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of southwestern France. The French Grand Prix was held at Pau in 1930, leading to the annual Pau Grand Prix being inaugurat ...

Street Race in France in July 2006 beating over 60 entries from across Europe. In late 2006 Allison participated in the last rounds of the

FIA GT3 European Championship The FIA GT3 European Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was a championship derived from the international FIA ...

Mugello The Mugello is a historic region and valley in northern Tuscany, in Italy, corresponding to the course of the River Sieve. It is located to the north of the city of Florence and includes the northernmost portion of the Metropolitan City of Fl ...

in Italy, racing an

Ascari KZ1 The Ascari KZ1 is a sports car made by Ascari Cars. The car is named from the initials of Ascari's owner Klaas Zwart, a wealthy Dutch businessman. The KZ1 made its worldwide debut at the 2005 Autosport International with a price tag of £235,0 ...

. In torrential conditions he proved his talent in a car he barely knew by finishing second in both the two-hour races, Ascari's best results of the season. In 2007 Allison entered the

British Touring Car Championship The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed as ...

racing for

Motorbase Performance Motorbase Performance is a British motor racing team, founded in 2004 by former Production Saloon racer David Bartrum. They are best known for competing in the British Touring Car Championship. Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain The team starte ...

in their SEAT Toledo Cupras. He finished a very credible 6th in the Independents Trophy and 12th overall. His performance over the season won him widespread recognition as a touring car driver and he was rated in the Top 10 of the BTCC 2007 Season by Autosport in his first season. In early 2008 Allison signed to drive a

Chevrolet Lacetti The Daewoo Lacetti is a compact car manufactured and marketed globally by GM Korea since 2002. The first-generation Lacetti was available as a four-door sedan and five-door station wagon, styled by Pininfarina—and five-door hatchback styled b ...

for Robertshaw Racing in the

2008 British Touring Car Championship season The 2008 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 51st British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. It was also the first that the championship was sponsored by HiQ. Fabrizio Giovanardi won his second consecutive title. Chang ...

. With little opportunity to test the car before the Media Day at Rockingham Motor Speedway, he finished 7th for the day on his first drive in the car justifying his high expectations for the season. He put in some good performances in the first 9 rounds of the series, picking up some good points, but the car was weighted down by the organisers, making it uncompetitive and Allison had to pull out after the Donington Park rounds due to financial problems. Despite this, Allison was still 17th in the championship. Unable to secure a satisfactory full-time seat for 2009, Allison decided to take some time out to concentrate on his family business, for which he is the majority shareholder, and analyse opportunities from there. It was not until 2011 that Allison made his racing return, in the highly competitive Renault Clio Cup. After three seasons away he showed no signs of slowing down, finishing 4th on his debut, and went on to score two popular wins at Croft. 2012 was a big year for Allison as he became a father for the first time with his wife Elise, and was also accepted as a full member of the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC), a personal ambition of Allison's of which he is very proud.

Personal life

As well as being a keen golfer and tennis player, Allison runs the family's commercial vehicle garage in his home town, Norwich. He is a race instructor having worked at many of England's racing schools, and has undertaken corporate work for, amongst others,

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...

and

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

Racing record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded in first race) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap- 1 point awarded all races) (* signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded all races)

References

External links

Profile on BTCCPages.comDriver Profile on BTCCProfile on btcc:actionCareer BTCC results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allison, Matt British Touring Car Championship drivers English racing drivers 1983 births Living people Formula Ford drivers Ginetta GT4 Supercup drivers Renault UK Clio Cup drivers JHR Developments drivers