Butcher targets 2022 BTCC title with team backing from Toyota Insurance Services

• Multiple race-winner Rory Butcher re-signs with Speedworks-run Toyota Gazoo Racing UK squad for 2022
• Toyota Insurance Services to support the team’s campaign
• Butcher first of three drivers to be announced for the team’s British Touring Car Championship campaign

Rory Butcher has the biggest prize in national motor racing firmly in his sights in 2022, after recommitting to Toyota Gazoo Racing UK for a second consecutive campaign in the British Touring Car Championship. Toyota Insurance Services is also supporting the Speedworks Motorsport-run squad’s title challenge.
 
A former Independents’ Champion and Jack Sears Trophy winner in the country’s premier motor racing series, Butcher has been a consistent contender in recent seasons. Last year – his first behind the wheel of the Toyota Corolla GR Sport – he further consolidated his status as one of the BTCC’s leading lights.
 
Butcher, 34 from Kirkcaldy, claimed a trio of victories – including a commanding double top at Silverstone. Three further podium appearances secured him seventh in the overall drivers’ championship standings.

Both driver and team feel bullish about their prospects heading into 2022, when the BTCC will introduce hybrid technology for the first time. This will replace the previous success ballast system and offer competitors temporary bursts of extra power to assist with overtaking and defending during races.
 
Toyota Insurance Services will support the Cheshire-based outfit throughout the season, which feature 30 rounds across 10 race weekends, beginning 23 – 24 April at Donington Park in Leicestershire. This is home turf for the Corolla, which is manufactured at Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK (TMUK) in nearby Burnaston.
 
Butcher’s Toyota Gazoo Racing UK stablemates set to be unveiled in due course, as two-time BTCC Independent Teams’ title-winner Speedworks expands to a three-car entry for the first time this year; Butcher’s team-mates will be confirmed soon.
 
Christian Dick, Team Principal, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK, said: “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.
  
Butcher added: “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.
 
“I made no secret of the fact that it took me a little while to completely get to grips with the Corolla last year, but once we ‘clicked’, we were quick pretty much everywhere, which fills me with a lot of confidence.”.
 
Stuart Sanders, Toyota (GB) Director, Communications and Product, said: “We’re very happy to renew our longstanding relationship with Speedworks Motorsport, as Toyota Gazoo Racing UK continues to develop as the perfect support programme for the GR Yaris, GR Supra and forthcoming GR86 road cars, and we are proud of the team’s new association with Toyota Insurance Services, which further strengthens those close ties.
 
“Just as 2022 heralds a significant season in the BTCC with the advent of the hybrid era, so too is it an important year for our increasingly popular GR range. We look forward to celebrating positive results in both domains and to seeing success on the racetrack drive showroom sales.”
 
Jason Milton, Managing Director, Toyota Insurance Services UK, said: “Having experienced the atmosphere of the BTCC first-hand in 2021, I believe both Speedworks and the series provide an excellent platform for us to become involved in motorsport. The team offer a great support package to help newcomers get to know and enjoy the British Touring Car Championship, and we will be using our association throughout the season to build relationships and awareness for Toyota Insurance Services.”

ENDS