Toyota Gazoo Racing UK aiming high at ‘home’ Oulton Park BTCC event

• Home favourites Speedworks Motorsport aiming high at Oulton Park.
• Butcher looks to repeat Cheshire heroics of years gone by, Smelt targets continued progress.
• Action this weekend broadcast live and free-to-air on ITV4.

Toyota Gazoo Racing UK are aiming to make headlines as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship heads north to the team’s local event at Oulton Park, Cheshire this weekend (31 Jul – 01 Aug).

After a five-week summer break, the UK’s premier tin-top category returns to action around the 2.2-mile Island circuit this weekend, with the team looking to build on consistent, front-running pace at the recent two-day Goodyear Tyre Test at the same venue.

Although the season so far as held its highs and lows for Speedworks Motorsport, based just down the road in Sandbach, the mood in camp is optimistic on a circuit that has yielded strong results for drivers Rory Butcher and Sam Smelt in previous years.

Butcher starred on the series’ visit to Cheshire during 2020’s pandemic-hit season, scoring pole position, which he then converted into a race victory, with an additional podium to follow later that day. The Scot has also shown enviable one-lap pace, adding a fastest lap to his CV to boot.

For Smelt, the trip to Oulton Park during his rookie season back in ’18 yielded his best set of results that season, with the 24-year-old looking to build on recent progress and haul his Motul-backed Toyota Corolla into the points on a regular basis.

Sunday’s action will be broadcast live and free-to-air on ITV4, with three races set to begin at 12:20, 14:45 and 17:00 respectively (all times BST).

Christian Dick, Team Principal, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK, said:

“Our home race weekend is always a special one for us, and it will be even more so this year with – hopefully – a full complement of fans cheering us on from the side of the track. Oulton Park is obviously somewhere we know well and whilst it does tend to favour the rear wheel-drive brigade, we have been successful there in the past. It’s a real drivers’ circuit – tight, twisty and technical – and the tyre test earlier this month gave us plenty of cause for optimism.

“Over the course of the two days, Rory was able to confirm the step forward he had made in race three at Brands Hatch last time out, while Sam showed much improved speed and featured regularly inside the top ten, which is the kind of form we all know he is capable of producing. That should give him a real confidence boost, and we look forward to seeing both cars competing up at the sharp end this weekend.”

Rory Butcher, Driver, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK, said:

“I left Brands Hatch last month with a much more positive feeling, and the test at Oulton allowed us to experiment a little bit more. The weather did its best to disrupt proceedings and dry track time was limited which meant we only managed one proper new tyre run, but it was a productive couple of days nonetheless and I was pleased with the way the Corolla felt in all conditions – in the wet especially, our pace and consistency were really encouraging.

“Although we aren’t sure exactly where we stack up in relation to our competitors as you never know what kind of programme other teams are following, I feel confident that we are in a very good place with the Corolla right now. Myself and my race engineer Paul [Ridgway] are vibing extremely well, and I’m really beginning to get my head around the car – it no longer feels like we’re missing something.

“I have to say, Oulton Park is an awesome circuit and I love going there. It offers an incredible challenge and being so narrow, the barriers always feel extra close and that really gives you a sense of the speed. The layout of the lap also makes it tough to overtake – you either have to line moves up from several corners in advance or try to force the driver ahead into a mistake.

“Track position will be crucial on race day, so qualifying is key, and the circuit’s steep gradients and undulations mean carrying ballast will hurt. Fortunately, we have very little ballast on-board at the moment, so hopefully we can really hit the ground running from the outset and then just focus on fine-tuning, with the firm aim of putting the Corolla right up at the pointy end of the grid.”

Sam Smelt, Driver, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK, said:

“We definitely took a solid step forward at the tyre test. From the first session, things just seemed to ‘click’, and we were quick in the wet and the dry. It was the most comfortable I’ve been in the Corolla yet, which enabled me to push harder, and that was reflected on the timing screens. The car felt generally very strong, and I see no reason why we shouldn’t reproduce that form at the race weekend.

“With Oulton being Speedworks’ local track, we have even more motivation than usual to put on a good performance, and I’m sure we’ll be able to rely upon plenty of ‘home’ support. We got a taste of what it’s like having spectators back at the Goodwood Festival of Speed a few weeks ago, and it will be fantastic to see a full BTCC crowd again for the first time in a long time – at the end of the day, the championship just isn’t the same without the fans.

“I enjoy the challenge that Oulton presents, and I’ve always tended to go pretty well there. It’s a very full-on lap without much opportunity to take a breath – a really physical, fast and flowing layout – and it’s immensely satisfying when you get it right.

“It’s invariably a tough weekend on drivers and cars – Oulton really puts the tyres and brakes through their paces – and qualifying will be even more meaningful than usual given the difficulty of overtaking, so that’s where a lot of our focus will be. Saying that, I feel more confident than ever at the moment, so hopefully we can nail that aspect and then move onwards and upwards from there.”

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