Butcher to step away from BTCC but leaves door open for return
Former Independents’ champion calls time on BTCC career – for now
Kirkcaldy native has achieved 11 wins in UK’s premier motor racing series
Team Principal Dick praises squad’s ‘lynchpin’ for his efforts since 2021
Rory Butcher will be absent from the British Touring Car Championship grid in 2024, after electing to take a sabbatical from the UK’s premier motor racing series in order to focus on other projects and commitments.
Butcher has been a front-runner in the BTCC for the past five years, winning at least once every season since 2019. The popular Scot has achieved much of that success with Toyota Gazoo Racing UK, joining the Speedworks Motorsport-run outfit ahead of the 2021 campaign and proceeding to pilot the British-built Toyota Corolla GR Sport to five victories and 12 further podium finishes.
Indeed, over the course of his BTCC career to-date, Butcher has triumphed on no fewer than 11 occasions, reached the rostrum 31 times, secured five pole positions and posted eight fastest laps. In 2019, 2020 and 2022, he finished inside the championship top five, and he is a former winner of both the Independent Drivers’ title and Jack Sears Trophy.
Last year, though, proved to be somewhat tougher. Heading into it buoyed by a stellar end to 2022 – when he had been the series’ top scorer over the final three events – expectations were high for a concerted title tilt, but a difficult opening half to the season for the team saw the Kirkcaldy native ascend the podium just once during the first 15 races.
The second half of the campaign proved more fruitful – with an emotional victory at Donington Park, a front row qualifying slot at Brands Hatch GP and a brief stint in the lead in front of his home fans at Knockhill – but with a number of other motorsport goals and off-track initiatives on the horizon, Butcher has opted to take some time out.
The 36-year-old is keen to stress, however, that no doors are permanently closed, and should he choose one day to return, he need look no further for inspiration than his own brother-in-law and triple BTCC champion Gordon Shedden, who rejoined the fray in 2021 following a three-year hiatus and went on to win four more races.
Toyota Gazoo Racing UK’s 2024 BTCC driver line-up will be revealed in the coming weeks, with the action set to get underway at Leicestershire’s Donington Park on 27/28 April.
Rory Butcher, 2019 BTCC Independents’ Champion and Jack Sears Trophy winner, said:
“As a racing driver, you’re naturally always looking ahead and building towards the next race, the next event or the next season, but having been competing for the past 18 years and with a young family back home in Scotland as well as several other interesting projects that require a lot of my time and attention, I feel the moment is right to take a break.
“Last season was a really challenging one for me. We went into it with such high hopes after finishing 2022 so strongly, and having to come to terms with the fact that we were not going to be fighting at the front hit pretty hard.
“I’m pleased that I stuck the season out, and it was nice to rediscover a little bit of form over the second half. It was good to show what I’m capable of in qualifying at Knockhill and particularly Brands GP and to get the win at Donington, but despite that upturn in performance and results, I still knew deep down that it was time to push the pause button.
“I don’t feel right now like I’m the driver I want to be or know I can be, and the BTCC is so intensely competitive, with such fine margins, that you can’t afford to be at anything less than 100 per cent. The team always give it everything, as do my sponsors, who have played a vital role in my touring car journey. I am very thankful for their ongoing support, through good times and bad.
“Looking back, I think there’s a lot to be proud of and I have a lot of happy memories – it’s been a wonderful championship to be a part of for the past six-and-a-half years and a bit of a whirlwind, if I’m honest – and I’m definitely walking away with some unfinished business as I haven’t accomplished everything I want to in the BTCC.
“I believe I have the ability to fight for the title, but if I do at some stage come back, the timing needs to be right. Christian [Dick – Team Principal], Amy [Dick – Team Manager] and John [Gilbert – Managing Director] put a lot of faith in me, for which I am extremely grateful and we still have an excellent relationship, and while I don’t know what the future holds, I don’t feel like this is goodbye – it’s just goodbye for now.”
Christian Dick, Team Principal, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK, said:
“While obviously very sorry to see Rory leave the BTCC, we fully understand and respect the reasoning behind his decision and wish him well in his new ventures. He has been a lynchpin of our efforts over the past three seasons and has delivered the lion’s share of our success during that period.
“He has been a superb team leader; even when we were struggling at the start of last year, he was always the first to rally the troops, and his well-honed development skills played a major role in the way we managed to turn things around over the second half of the campaign.
“Speedworks is very much a family team, and Rory remains part of that family. He is one of the sport’s true ‘nice guys’ and has deservedly built up a very large fan base, all of whom, I have no doubt, will similarly be sad to see him go.
“That said, he is clear that this is not necessarily the end, and with the BTCC rewarding experience as much as raw pace and talent – all of which Rory has in abundance – I have no doubt that he will still be very much in demand if and when he decides he wants to come back.”
Images: Jakob Ebrey Photography