After being named as CAMS' 2018 Victorian Burson Future Star Award winner, Michael Clemente has continued his rise in motor sport earning a full-time drive in the 2020 carsales TCR Australia Series.
Clemente will race in the Honda Civic Type R driven by Argentine Nestor Girolami during the Shannons Nationals at Sandown in September after his family team bought the car.
The team’s decision to purchase the car came off the back of a successful test day at Winton in August where he drove one of the Hondas.
“The TCR Australia Series has taken off this year and the amount of support on offer from Wall Racing made the decision easy,” Clemente said.
“While the step to TCR is pretty daunting, there is lots to look forward to and I am really excited to get into the season.
“The team at the Australian Racing Group has been fantastic and have helped make the transition possible with the evaluation day at Winton. That was crucial in giving me the chance to see what the car was like.”
The 18-year-old has spent the past three seasons racing in both South Australia and Victoria’s Hyundai Excel Series, where he has been consistently in the hunt for round top honours.
In 2018, he took out the South Australian title and finished runner-up in Victoria, before winning the Excel Nationals that same year, with all results contributing to his CAMS' Burson Future Star Award.
While he has been unable to reach those same heights this year – grabbing second outright in the South Australian series, it was his drive in the recent Excel Nationals at the Shannons Nationals in Tailem Bend that impressed.
Having missed qualifying due to sitting exams in Victoria, Clemente started the four-race round at the back of the grid before ending the weekend in third place outright.
With Clemente lauded for his maturity and intelligent driving, Michael Clemente Motorsport Honda team principal David Burn believes the former karter will handle the series well.
“TCR is a category that is going places and one of the few opportunities to showcase a driver on a nationally-televised stage” Burn said.
“Michael has clearly got the talent to go further and as a team we made a decision to transition to TCR with him to support him on his journey.”
The carsales TCR Australia series begins the 2020 season at the Formula 1 Australia Grand Prix at Albert Park in March next year.