Gareth Howell (born 6 January 1981) is a British racing driver, and multiple British Touring Car Championship race winner from 2000 to 2008.He drove his first kart aged 4 and began his racing career aged 8. He is a former British karting champion and European Cup winner, who finished 8th in the World Finals in 1995 from 35th on the grid setting fastest lap on the way. During his karting career he raced alongside Jenson Button, Dan Wheldon, and his Zip Kart team mates Anthony Davidson and Gary Paffett.At the age of 10, he told a TV programme that he wanted to race in the BTCC (not mentioning Formula One, which is a bigger draw for most star-struck youngsters).At age 16 he graduated to the Fiesta si Championship and in 1998 moved up to the BTCC supporting Ford Credit Fiesta Championship. In 1998 he became the youngest race winner in the 20 year history of the Championship aged just 18. He was then runner up in the 2000 championship and winner of the Junior Cup. His prize involved a test for the works Ford Mondeo BTCC super touring team, where he recorded a faster laptime that his Fiesta peers. He made occasional appearances in the 2000 season for GR Motorsport in a Ford Focus, running in the Production class, which was known as Class B at the time. 2001 was his first full season, being part of a four-car GR Motorsport entry into the Production Class. He finished fifth overall in his class, having taken a race win in round 16 of the series at Snetterton.In 2002 he graduated to the main division of the championship, driving an MG ZS for Team Atomic Kitten run by established touring car outfit West Surrey Racing joined by fellow debutant Colin Turkington.Despite outperforming and outscoring Turkington, at the end of the season he was dropped from the MG program because of funding, and found himself without a full-time drive for the 2003 season. He managed to secure a number of outings during the year, including at Silverstone as team-mate to Gavin Pyper at GA Motorsport, piloting a Vauxhall Astra Coupé. He completed the final 4 two-race rounds of the championship for Team Dynamics, also in a Vauxhall, scoring 2 Independent's Cup wins.He was planned to race for Dynamics in 2004, but after Vic Lee's team closed, Dan Eaves and his Halfords sponsorship replaced him. Howell sat out the 2004 and much of the 2005 seasons due to a lack of finance. Keen to remain with the team, he held Dan's pitboard for most of 2004.He finally made his series return at Knockhill for Team Dynamics towards the end of 2005. He drove the team's third Honda Integra DC05 in three race weekends alongside the team's existing drivers Matt Neal and Eaves, setting pole position and taking his debut BTCC win at Silverstone, where he also set fastest lap (and holds the lap record on the National Circuit. He had hoped to continue for Team Dynamics into 2006, but because of lack of funding he instead only raced in the final four rounds of the season.At the final meeting of 2006 on the
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