Kirkcaldy race ace Rory Butcher setting sights on best British Touring Car Championship season yet

The 36-year-old finished fifth overall in the championship’s standings last year, with 314 points from ten meetings, matching his previous highest rankings in both 2019 and 2020.

It was also his best showing to date for Toyota Gazoo Racing UK, improving on the seventh place he claimed in his debut season for them in 2021, but he’s now looking to finish higher up in the competition’s top five.

Looking ahead to the new season starting later this month, Butcher – set, with fellow Toyoya Gazoo racer Ricky Collard, to joined by an extra team-mate, George Gamble – said: “I’m really proud to be returning to the BTCC for my sixth season, retaining my seat with Toyota Gazoo Racing UK. It’s our third season together and I’ve been part of the development of the Corolla GR Sport.

“I feel really happy with the car and the people I have around me, essential ingredients for success.

“It’s been a fun journey so far and I’m so excited about what’s to come as the team have made big investments in a new engine package and have expanded the line-up to three cars, with Ricky returning for a second season and George joining us. They’re both really experienced and quick, so I know I’ll be kept on my toes this year. I’m ready for the challenge.

“The new engine should bring us an edge on the competition. We are just beginning our testing programme, so only time will tell as we get to grips with it.

“I can’t wait to see what we can achieve this year.”

Butcher made the top step of the podium at Silverstone in Northamptonshire in September, one of nine top-three results last time round, and he’s hoping to pick up where he left off, having signed off for last season with five podium appearances from his final six starts.

“I feel like I’m going into 2023 in the best shape so far, not just in terms of the updates brought to the Corolla but also in terms of the people I have around me,” said the Fifer.

“It’s great to have that continuity of team and car for the third year in a row, and having ended last season so strongly, I really want to pick up from where we left off and be right in the mix and gunning for glory from the outset.

“Ricky and George are both top drivers and real assets to the team, and I’m looking forward to working closely with the pair of them to push this whole project forward.”

The Corollas to be driven by the Scot and Surrey-born Collard, 26, along with Nottingahmshire’s Gamble, 26 too, will be powered for the first time by a Toyota-derived engine tuned to BTCC-competition specifications by Lincolnshire’s Neil Brown Engineering.

Their 2023 BTCC campaign will get under way at Leicestershire’s Donington Park on Saturday and Sunday, April 23 and 24, and that meeting and those to follow will be broadcast live on ITV4.

Team principal Christian Dick added: “It’s fair to say we’re all extremely excited ahead of the new season.

“It’s a significant challenge to expand from two cars to three, but, at the same time, having three sets of data to cross-reference should allow us to make progress faster than we’ve ever done before.

“The new engine is also a key factor. The Toca unit has played an important role in our success down the years in the BTCC, but to take the final step and really fight for the championship, we needed control over all elements of the package, and that is what we now have.

“On the driver front, Rory is a class act more than ready to mount a consistent title challenge, while Ricky can focus on turning the promise he displayed in 2022 into some really strong results. As for George, he caught our attention early on last year. It takes a pretty special talent to win a race as a rookie in the BTCC, and while his surname might be Gamble, we’re confident that his signing will prove to be no risk at all.”