Rory Butcher gets full-time 2018 BTCC seat with AMD Tuning

Rory Butcher will contest his first full-season in the British Touring Car Championship in 2018, having sealed a deal with the AmD Tuning MG squad. 

Butcher has made the switch into the UK’s premier Touring Car category having spent the majority of his career in sportscars. The 31-year-old contested the final four events of the 2017 BTCC campaign with Motorbase Performance as replacement for regular driver Luke Davenport, who was injured in a multi-car qualifying accident at Croft. 

He joins returning BTCC driver Tom Boardman, Ollie Jackson and Sam Smelt at the AmD team, which will run MGs from Triple Eight for this season. 

“My move into the BTCC last season was all a bit last minute and I was thrown in at the deep end for my debut on home soil at Knockhill, so I was determined to try and get a place on the grid this year to build on what I learned from the final four rounds of 2017 and to start building a long-term BTCC career,” Butcher said.

“In January, it looked like it wasn’t going to be possible but then I spoke to Shaun about the MG and with a lot of effort from the team and from my sponsors – who were eager to join me in the BTCC - we’ve been able to pull together a deal, which I’m absolutely delighted about.

“The BTCC is such a strong series, particularly this season, that it is hard to make too many predictions about what we can expect to achieve, but the team has shown what it can do in recent seasons and my goal is to regularly fight inside the points and push for some strong results as the season goes on.

“Twelve months ago, I didn’t imagine I would be racing in the BTCC but there is no better place for me to be in terms of profile. The series is the very pinnacle of British Motorsport and I’m really excited about the prospect of a full season on track with AmD in 2018.”

Butcher was a race-winner in the BTCC-supporting Porsche Carrera Cup GB between 2011 and 2013, before moving into international-level sportscar racing in the British GT Championship. 

He also missed out on the 2016 GTE European Le Mans Series title in 2016 by five points, driving for JMW Motorsport alongside Robert Smith and Andrea Bertolini.

“Rory is a driver who we have been talking to for some time, and we are delighted to have concluded a deal for 2018,” AmD Tuning MG boss Shaun Hollamby added. “His career record speaks for itself, and the way he performed last year when he joined the grid in difficult circumstances was hugely impressive.”