Grant Clearwater – SEAT Sport UK Joint Team Principal

Grant and Ian Fisher set up a new motorsport preparations company called Northern South in March 2000.  The company’s name relates to their place of birth, and with Grant coming from Gore on New Zealand’s South Island, the formation of Northern South brought together over 30 years of motorsport experience from both Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Today Northern South trades as SEAT Sport UK, and plays a pivotal role in the manufacturer’s BTCC programme.  Grant raced karts and single seaters in his youth and still races a historic Zephyr whenever time allows. He is a NZ ‘A’ Grade Qualified Technician by trade, and, since the age of 18, has acquired a huge amount of experience in a wide variety of motorsport arenas, including manufacturer work in the World Rally Championship and on the Paris-Dakar. Grant is also in overall charge of all technical matters and managing and directing the technicians and mechanics in the workshop and in the paddock on race weekends. During race weekends, Grant oversees the smooth running of both the SEAT Cupra Championship and the SEAT Sport UK BTCC team.

Ian Fisher – SEAT Sport UK Joint Team Principal

Ian is in overall charge of managing SEAT Sport UK’s accounts, calculating budgets and controlling all money coming in and out of the company.  Originally from Birmingham, Ian is the northern half of Northern South, and has been involved in motorsport as a competitor, engineer, team manager and now team principal.  Having raced in autocross and driven on rallies up until 1992, Ian still races a Rotax Max 125cc kart whenever he can.  In addition to his accounting skills, Ian is well known in world rallying as an accomplished engineer.  He worked at Prodrive between 1995-97, working on the homologation of the first Impreza WRCar and built Piero Liatti’s car that won the 1997 Monte Carlo Rally. Ian joined the SBG team in 1998 and as Team Manager guided Alister McRae to the British Rally Championship title that year.  His first contact with SEAT came in 1999 when he managed the team that ran an Ibiza Evo 2 for Toni Gardemeister in the British Rally Championship. Ian shares joint responsibility with Grant, and during race weekends he oversees the smooth running of both the SEAT Cupra Championship and the SEAT Sport UK BTCC team. When he’s not working at SEAT Sport UK, Ian likes to renovate old property.

Dave Ward – Race Team Manager

Dave Ward began his motorsport career as Workshop Manager at the John Watson Performance Driving Centre at Silverstone (1989-’92) – working with a host of instructors, including Jason Plato.  He then worked with Agusta Racing in the BPR Global Endurance Championship and with MCT Racing in the Asia Pacific Touring Car Championship before becoming Number One mechanic with Patrick Watts at Peugeot Sport UK in the British Touring Car Championship (1992-’95). Three successful seasons as Chief Mechanic with Audi Sport UK followed, where Dave worked on the A4 Quattro which carried Frank Biela to the 1996 BTCC title. In 1999 he competed at Le Mans for the first time with the RTN and Apex Motorsport built Audi R8C Coupe and then built a number of RS4s for Champion Racing USA, winning the SCCA GT Championship in 2000 and 2001. Apex Motorsport won the Bentley Exp8 Le Mans contract in 2001, and Dave took on the role of Crew Chief with Team Bentley until the successful conclusion of the project in June 2003. Dave was then responsible for the set-up and management of all operational and personnel aspects of Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx, operating two Audi R8 sportscars. As Team Manager, he worked with the likes of Allan McNish, Darren Turner, Tom Kristensen and Johnny Herbert, competing at Sebring, Le Mans and then becoming the 2004 LMES Champions. In 2004, Dave moved to Melbourne, where he worked for Prodrive as Ford Performance Racing’s Team Manager, managing all operational aspects of the Australian V8 Supercar Team, before becoming Technical Director for the opposition at the Holden-supported PWR Racing the following year.  A keen circuit and rally driver who also enjoys road running and keeping fit, Dave returns to the BTCC after a 10 year break in 2008 as SEAT Sport UK Race Team Manager with enormous motorsport experience and a unique Aussie-Buckinghamshire accent.

Piers Phillips – Jason Plato’s Race Engineer

Piers is one of the most enthusiastic Race Engineers in the BTCC paddock and his unwavering dedication to finding that extra 10th of a second compliments Jason Plato’s workaholic ethics perfectly. Piers has a lot of experience in single seater race engineering, having been involved in Formula Ford and Formula Renault in the British, Scottish and Canadian Championships. In 1999-2000 he worked as Race Engineer in Canadian Champcar Lights championship and returned to the UK in 2001 to work on Robbie Kerr’s British F3 Scholarship Championship car as Junior Engineer – a season which saw Robbie win the title with 11 class wins. In 2002, Piers worked as Team Manager / Race Engineer with Malaysian driver Mohammed Fairuz, guiding him to 5th in the British F3 Championship, while in 2002-’03 he was Race Engineer at numerous FIA / LMES  ALMS Sportscar races, working on a  Reynard 01Q / JUDD with the likes of Martin Short, Warren Carway , Steven Arnold and Earl Goddard. Piers is also involved with post-modern Formula 1 cars.  In 2003 and ’04 he worked as Race engineer in USA American Boss Championship, working on a 1994 Benetton and 1997 Jordan-Peugeot, while he has run several F1 cars – including a Tyrrell, Benetton, Ferrari, Williams and a Dallara – at special events such as Goodwood.  More significantly, Piers worked with James Pickford in 2004, taking him to the SEAT Cupra Championship title.  The associated continued in 2005, when Piers was James’ Race Engineer in the BTCC. A keen Newcastle United fan, Piers raced himself for nine years and is currently restoring a Brabham BT38 Classic F3 car to run in the HSCC Championship when time allows.  He is engaged to Caroline and has two young children, Zoe (6) and Ethan (5).

Nick Clipson – Darren Turner’s Race Engineer

Nick has over 20 years of top flight motorsport engineering experience, having worked in sportscars, World Rallying and the British Touring Car Championship.  Born in Hertfordshire and brought up in Bath, Nick gained a degree in Automotive Engineering and Design from Loughborough University. After graduating in 1985 he worked for Renault Trucks and Panther Cars before joining TWR in 1989. Nick worked on the Jaguar XJ220 road car and sportscar projects before turning his attention to TWR’s Volvo BTCC programme.  As Design Office Manager, he worked on the 850 Estate car and the 1998 BTCC title-winning Volvo S40 (driven by Rickard Rydell).  Nick moved to MSD in 1998 to work on the Peugeot BTCC programme, but when Peugeot withdrew from the series Nick stayed on at MSD to work as Chief Engineer on the Hyundai World Rally Championship programme. In 2003, Nick left MSD to become a freelance motorsport engineer and has been in great demand ever since – both in racing and rallying.  His involvement with SEAT Sport UK began in 2003 when he worked as a Race Engineer in the SEAT Cupra Championship.  He was SEAT Sport UK’s Race Engineer for Luke Hines and Darren Turner in the 2005 and 2006/’07 BTCC respectively.

Scott Dennis – SEAT UK Motorsports & Events Manager

Scott has been involved in the motor industry for 24 years, having sold his first car at the age of 17.  Originally from Bedford, Scott worked as a Sales Manager and then General Manager in various car dealerships in Northampton before joining SEAT UK in 1997 as a Regional Marketing Manager.  His eye for detail made him ideal for implementing the brand’s corporate identity and he quickly climbed through the SEAT UK’s ranks, working as Dealer Communications Manager, National Communications Manager being involved in SEAT UK’s successful television and print advertising campaigns. As SEAT Sport UK’s motorsport programme expanded, Scott took over the new position of SEAT UK Motorsports & Events Manager in 2003, taking overall responsibly for both the SEAT Cupra Championship and the BTCC programmes.  Scott’s fresh and innovative approach has seen SEAT set new standards of presentation in the paddock, while the experienced motorsport team he has helped build ensure the cars are competitive on the circuit.