The month of February kicked off with the return of young Scot Ronan Pearson. Racing on 51 previous occasions in the UK’s premier motorsport series the #14 achieved what many have not, taking his first BTCC victory at the age of 22. The Fife-born driver will tackle a new challenge as the first announced driver for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK for 2025.
Speedworks Motorsport continued the trail of announcements within the BTCC with its second driver for the upcoming campaign being announced two weeks later. The dominant Independents Drivers’ Champion of 2024, Árón Taylor-Smith, has found a new home in the Cheshire-based outfit after coming off of his best season to date.
After both the Scotsman and the Irishman had already formed one of the most exciting driver duos on the 2025 grid, the team would still be sitting on a ‘three-times’ bigger deal for another certain Scotsman the very next month.
Along with exciting and positive news also came news that long-time BTCC fans were sad to see as Colin Turkington announced he would not be returning for the 2025 campaign. The four-time champ said, “I don’t have too much more to say at this point except that this decision just feels right for me. I reflect on so many amazing memories and life experiences that only the BTCC could have given me.
“Thank you to the BTCC, thank you BMW and thank you to WSR.”
As one driver left the WSR fold a new face would also walk into the team. Charles Rainford completes the WSR line-up for 2025, partnering current champion Jake Hill and newcomers Aiden Moffat and Daryl DeLeon. The BTCC debutant has been fighting at the forefront in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB in recent seasons before hitting his peak with a second-place finish in the standings only last year.
With announcements coming thick and fast it was only one day earlier that BTCC returnee Dan Lloyd declared he would be making his way back onto the grid with Restart Racing. The Huddersfield racer will drive a Hyundai i30N, which he last drove in the series in 2022, partnering Chris Smiley who also last raced the same car in 2021.
Fan favourite news was next on the list as One Motorsport announced its official return to BTCC action with two Honda Civic Type Rs. Last competing in 2023, the Brackley-based squad will be on the grid once more after going through its one-year planned sabbatical.
The end of the month saw a double-deal come to fruition as the three-time Teams’ Champions NAPA Racing UK completed its line-up with two familiar faces. First to hear the noise was Dan Rowbottom, followed by Sam Osborne, as the duo will kick off their third year with the team.
All of the news continues to come to life as everyone begins to finalise plans before the season opener at Donington Park on 26/27 April.
