Paul Rivett has waited a long time to finally make his British Touring Car Championship debut. After all, he has been a fixture of the BTCC's support bill for over 20 years - Artem Markelov's never-ending seven-season spell in GP2/Formula 2 pales into insignificance in comparison - and was a race winner in that very first full campaign on the TOCA package back in 1999. But Rivett is now finally due to make his BTCC debut at Snetterton this weekend in a Trade Price Cars Racing Audi S3.
Having started over 200 Renault UK Clio Cup races and won an unprecedented four titles, there can be no doubting Rivett's pedigree. And now, at the age of 42, he is certainly well-qualified to finally achieve his dream of stepping up to the top tier.
"It's what I've always strived to do - it's the pinnacle of British motorsport and it's where I've always wanted to be," says Rivett. "It's only taken me 21 years of racing in the support series! I better live up to that [level of experience]!