Toyota Gazoo Racing UK look to continue momentum on annual Scottish showdown

Motul-backed Toyota Gazoo Racing UK head to Knockhill, Fife this weekend (14-15 August) aiming to maintain their recent momentum in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship.

Oulton Park a fortnight ago proved to be something of a breakthrough for the Speedworks Motorsport squad, with Rory Butcher claiming a first victory of the season to propel himself back into the championship picture.

The 34-year-old heads to home turf this weekend, with the 1.2-mile Fife circuit the scene of several of the Scot’s career highlights to-date, including his first pole position in the BTCC and victories on each of his past two visits.

Equally, the team has a podium finish at Knockhill to its name using the Toyota Corolla last campaign and won in Scotland using the earlier Avensis model.

For Butcher’s team-mate Sam Smelt, the triple header north of the border represents another opportunity to take a step forward as he re-adjusts to life in the UK’s premier in-top series.

Another brace of competitive finishes in Cheshire have put the 24-year-old in good stead, as he looks to repeat his points-scoring performance from earlier in the season.

Sunday’s races are live on ITV4 in the UK at 11:45, 14:40 and 17:25 respectively.

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

“Winning at Oulton Park has given us all a real spring in our step. Every single member of this team has been working their absolute socks off and we knew we were heading in the right direction with the Corolla, but we needed to prove that on-track and it was hugely rewarding to get the job done at our home event, particularly in such commanding fashion.

“Now, of course, we move on to Rory’s home event, and it is fantastic for him to be going to Knockhill having just achieved his first victory of the season, with all the added confidence that brings. I think it’s fair to say no driver on the grid knows Knockhill better than Rory does, and no driver has finished on the podium there more regularly than he has over the past couple of years either.

“As a team, we have generally performed well at Knockhill too, and hopefully with the benefit of Rory’s ‘inside knowledge’, we can unlock even more pace from the Corolla around this unique circuit. It would be wonderful if he can keep his winning run going on home soil – and that is very much the aim.

“Like Rory before Oulton, Sam similarly is now overdue a good result. He has been far more competitive in recent events than the timesheets suggest, but for one reason or another, he hasn’t yet come away with the kind of finishes he deserves. His qualifying form last time out marked major progress, and if he can carry that over to Knockhill – which we have no doubt he can – he will be set for a very good weekend.”

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

“Winning at Oulton Park felt so good. I’d been trying to put on a brave face after previous race weekends, but the truth was that I was struggling a little bit with the car. The whole team has worked tirelessly to adapt the Corolla to my driving style and everybody needed and deserved that result – it has validated all the effort put in behind-the-scenes and taken a big weight off our shoulders. It feels like we have really found a baseline set-up now that suits me, and that we can go into every weekend with a lot of confidence.

“Not only that, but the win honestly couldn’t have come at a better time – at Speedworks’ home track and just ahead of my home event. The BTCC only comes up to Scotland once a year, and the fans turn out in their thousands and really get behind us Scottish drivers. Even just walking through the paddock, everybody wishes you well – it’s the most amazing feeling – and when you get a good result, the excitement and buzz right the way around the circuit is simply incredible. That support definitely gives me a little bit extra, and hopefully I can use it to spur me on.

“We’ll be relatively light still, which is good because additional weight does hurt at Knockhill, especially with the heavy braking zone into the hairpin and big drag uphill to the start/finish line. Last season, I was third in the standings going there, which meant I was lugging around a fair chunk of ballast, but I was more than 40 points away from the championship lead. This year, I’m closer on points but carrying substantially less weight, which is an ideal scenario – the championship position at the moment is almost irrelevant.

“I’ve got to say, to come away with a third win in as many years at Knockhill would just be a dream – so let’s get out there and see what we can do…”

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

“Despite not leaving Oulton Park with the kind of results we should have done given the speed we had, I’m still feeling confident – indeed, Rory’s win gave the whole team a real lift and if anything, I’m even more fired-up now to convert my pace into points. The bottom line is that we’ve taken a step forward that should translate to every track we visit.

“I really enjoy going to Knockhill; there’s no other circuit quite like it, with its blind corners, undulations and bumps. It’s a real challenge to get the car properly dialled-in there and around such a short lap, the times are always super tight. Getting a clear run in qualifying is tricky, but with the difficulty of overtaking, that will certainly be one of our major focusses.

“A short-wheelbase car like the Corolla is exactly what you want somewhere like Knockhill, and whilst the track has traditionally tended to favour rear wheel-drive machinery, Speedworks as a team has achieved consistently good results there. We also had a positive pre-season test at the circuit where I got a lot of laps on the board, so hopefully we can hit the ground running right from the word ‘go’ in FP1 and be as quick if not even quicker than we were at Oulton.

“It will be essential to minimise our errors and maximise our performance, and one of the key factors will be staying out of trouble. That’s sometimes easier said than done at Knockhill, but it’s vital to a successful weekend.”

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