Rory Butcher sticks with Speedworks for 2022 title challenge

Rory Butcher will go into a second season with an unchanged package for the first time in his BTCC career after agreeing terms on a new deal with Speedworks.

The Scot joined the Toyota team last season and bounced back from a tricky start to the campaign to secure three wins at the wheel of his Corolla GR Sport – leaving him seventh in the championship standings.

Having ended the campaign as one of the form drivers on the grid, the 34-year-old will now seek to fight for a maiden overall title during the season ahead as the BTCC moves into the new hybrid era.

“I’m absolutely delighted to be returning to the BTCC for my fifth full season in the championship,” he said. “To be coming back with the same team and car is a ‘first’ for me, and that continuity can only be a positive – especially as we head into the new hybrid era, with all the changes that will entail.

“Not needing to gel with different people or a different car will be one less thing to have to worry about, and it means we can put everything we’ve learned together so far to good use.

“I made no secret of the fact that it took me a little while to completely get to grips with the Corolla last year; there was a lot to adapt to, but once we ‘clicked’, we were quick pretty much everywhere, which fills me with a lot of confidence going forward.

“We know we still have a few areas that need ironing out to fully maximise the car’s potential, but we have so much data to draw upon and with the pre-season development we have planned, there’s no reason at all why we shouldn’t be pushing for wins at every circuit.”

Butcher is the first driver confirmed in the Toyota Gazoo Racing UK line-up for 2022, with the team set to expand to a three-car entry for the first time after acquiring an additional TOCA BTCC Licence over the winter.

“Rory had a great first year with us in 2021 and by the end of it, he was a regular front-runner in the Corolla – so it made perfect sense to extend our partnership into a second season, when the goalposts will very naturally shift as we look to challenge for the championship,” team boss Christian Dick said.

“He is a first-rate driver with an impeccable work ethic. It inevitably took him a little bit of time to feel completely comfortable in the Toyota, but he was on the podium in only his second weekend in the car and took a brilliant first win at Oulton Park – helping us to break our bad luck hoodoo at our home track – and over the second half of the campaign, he was a match for anybody else out there.

“Although he has only been competing in the series for a handful of years, Rory drives with all the intelligence, guile and panache of an experienced veteran, and he is a team leader par excellence who truly motivates everybody in the team to perform at their best. He undoubtedly has all the qualities required to be a BTCC champion.”