Team HARD. Racing has today (17 February) announced that Jack Butel would be joining the squad for the 2023 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship.
The 26-year-old enters his fourth season in the UK’s premier motorsport series after making his debut with Ciceley Motorsport back in 2020 and having secured points in each of his prior campaigns.
Butel will be looking to utilise his increasing BTCC experience in his Jack Sears Trophy bid, and will no doubt be buoyed that the honours most recently went to new stablemate Bobby Thompson in the same Cupra machinery he’ll be contesting in 2023.
“I’m back again for another crack at the BTCC and I’m delighted to be able to move across to Team HARD. for this season,” said Butel. “It’s something that I have been looking at doing for a while, but our paths have never quite aligned.
“I’ve watched the team grow stronger and stronger over the years and now is a great time to join them. The Cupra looks fast, there is a buzz around the team and having met a lot of the staff, I know we are going to have a great relationship as we push the team on even further this year.
“They have a great driver line-up this year and I’m excited to start working with the likes of Bobby and Dexter [Patterson] who were very quick last season as well as linking up with Dan [Lloyd] once again who I worked well with last year. Combining all of these factors, I’m confident of a really strong debut season with Team HARD.”
“Jack is a great lad and we’ve been in talks for a few years now to try and get him into one of our Cupra Leons,” added Team Owner Tony Gilham. “I’m delighted to say that 2023 is that year, and we can’t wait to work on making this season the most successful year for Jack in the BTCC to date. He is a driver that we really believe in and we are confident that he will be able to challenge consistently for the Jack Sears this season to help up defend the title won by Bobby in 2022.
“It’s been a very busy off-season for the team with lots of advancements in not only our driver line-up but also our engineering department. The Cupra showed lots of potential in 2022 and we are looking to take the next step towards the front. Jack’s experience in the series is only going to help that progress after spending two years developing the Hyundai I30 Fastback.
“We have a fantastic driver line-up for this season and Jack is going to slip in fantastically with the culture we have developed at Team HARD. over the past couple of years. The whole team can’t wait for the season to start!”
