The 32-year-old has spent the first two full seasons of her BTCC career with BTC Racing in Honda machinery, twice getting into the points positions with 15th-place finishes, but now joins Dan Lloyd, Bobby Thompson, Dexter Patterson and Jack Butel in a five-car Team Hard line-up of Cupra Leons.
Edwards will therefore join Patterson and Butel in the quest for honours in the Jack Sears Trophy, the sub-division for drivers who have never claimed an outright BTCC podium before the start of the season, and which was won last year by Thompson.
It represents a return for Edwards to Hard, with which she contested some rounds of the 2019 Renault Clio UK Cup.
“I’m really excited to be joining Team HARD for the 2023 BTCC season,” said Edwards.
“I have been following the team’s progress for a while and I am impressed with their professionalism and commitment to success. I’m confident that I will be able to build on my experience from last year and work well with the team to achieve some great results on track.”
Jade Edwards, Rich Energy BTC Racing Honda Civic Type R
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
“We are thrilled to have Jade joining us for the 2023 BTCC season,” added Hard boss Tony Gilham.
“She is an exceptional driver with a lot of potential, and we believe she will be a great asset to our team. Both Jade and the team have come on a long way since we previously worked together and we are ready to provide her with the best platform to have her best season in the BTCC to date.
“As a favourite with the crowd, we know that our fans and partners alike will be thrilled with this signing and we look forward to working with Jade again and achieving some fantastic results on track.”
BTC, which has been renamed One Motorsport over the winter, was working with Edwards on a commercial deal that would have enabled her to stay on for a third season.
The team has so far named Josh Cook and Aiden Moffat for the 2023 season, while talk of a BTCC retirement U-turn from Jason Plato refuses to die out.
BTCC 2023 line-up so far
Motorbase Performance Ford: Ash Sutton, Dan Cammish, Dan Rowbottom, Sam Osborne
West Surrey Racing BMW: Jake Hill, Colin Turkington, Adam Morgan, Stephen Jelley
Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai: Tom Ingram, Tom Chilton, Ronan Pearson, Nick Halstead
Team Dynamics Honda: TBA, TBA
One Motorsport Honda: Josh Cook, Aiden Moffat, TBA
Speedworks Motorsport: Toyota Rory Butcher, George Gamble, Ricky Collard
Team Hard Cupra: Dan Lloyd, Bobby Thompson, Dexter Patterson, Jack Butel, Jade Edwards
Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall: Aron Taylor-Smith, Andrew Watson, Mikey Doble
