Metro Cup champion Rushworth heads to Hot Hatch

Metro Cup champion Ben Rushworth will switch to the 750 Motor Club’s Hot Hatch championship in 2017, sticking with his Metro.

The 34-year-old from West Sussex was crowned Metro Cup champion this year as the series moved to a unified class structure. Previously it had been possible to win a class and the overall title.

Rushworth was a complete novice entering the championship and taught himself computer aided design to help build his car. The overall speed of the Hot Hatch cars is what attracted him.

“I was looking at Hot Hatch because it’s a fast series and the lap times are really impressive,” he said. “There’s also the freedom of the rules: you can do a lot with the cars.

“It’s more of a personal challenge turning a car that isn’t a high performance vehicle and making it competitive. I’m only interested in being first on the road, class wins are great and have their place but I want to fight at the front. My target was always to come in and win the championship. Now we’ve done that, it’s time to move on.”