Maximum Motorsport joins 2016 BTCC grid with licence from AmD

Lines joined the BTCC for his maiden campaign this year at the wheel of a Houseman Racing-run Toyota Avensis, but has now decided to branch out on his own in a Ford Focus.

The 52-year-old, who failed to register a point during the 30-race campaign, operates the team and it fielded cars in the VW Cup and Renault Clio Cup in 2015.

"It was the right time for Maximum Motorsport to be in charge of its own destiny," said Lines.

"I run other businesses and this new enterprise is a great new opportunity to be active in something we love doing.

"Last year I quickly realised I was never going to be competitive in the equipment I had, however I used this a learning curve to gain experience for 2016 and better results are our aim straight away."

The Focus ST will remain in its current form for pre-season testing, allowing the newly formed team to adapt to the car.

"We would like to upgrade to the new RML parts, but initially we will keep the car as it is for pre-season and make that decision further down the line," Lines added.

"We need to get our feet under the table first with the new machinery.

"I cannot rule out upgrading to the new Mountune EcoBoost engine but time will tell."

Shaun Hollamby's AmD Tuning team will continue in the category too.

"I have known Stewart for a while and he was desperate to make this happen so we helped him out," said Hollamby.

"We have two Audis still, because we built up a second car in the latter part of last season, and we have one licence.

"We are actively seeking a licence for the second car, and we have some exciting plans to move in to other high-profile UK categories too."