Rob Huff back in BTCC with Toyota

The 44-year-old, who won the WTCC crown in 2012 during a world tin-top career than encompassed 36 race wins across a 19-year span, will form one half of Speedworks’ official Toyota Gazoo Racing GB line-up alongside reigning Jack Sears Trophy champion Andrew Watson.

The other two Speedworks-run Toyota Corolla GR Sports will be fielded under the LKQ banner for Josh Cook and Aiden Moffat.

Huff’s desire for a full-time return to the BTCC for the first time since his rookie touring car season in 2004 with SEAT was made clear when he contested a one-off at Knockhill last August in a Team Hard Cupra.

That outing came six years after another one-off, at Silverstone in 2017, when he scored a podium finish with the Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall team while subbing for Tom Chilton, who was recovering from a gall bladder operation.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to be back in the BTCC,” Huff told Autosport. “It’s where I was inspired by motorsport as a young lad and it was very much where I got my breakthrough at the beginning of my career.

“To be able to come back 20 years later is absolutely brilliant. I’ve always kept an eye on BTCC obviously, just because I’m a huge fan of it and always have been.”

Rob Huff, Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown Cupra Leon

Rob Huff, Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown Cupra Leon

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Huff’s primary focus last year was on the TCR World Tour, in which he narrowly lost out on the title at the final round, but following his Knockhill outing he visited the final two BTCC events at Silverstone and Brands Hatch to open discussions with teams.

Negotiations soon began with Speedworks chiefs Christian and Amy Dick, which led to Huff sampling the Corolla in a wet post-season test at Croft.

“I only wanted to come back to the BTCC in a top team and a car that I feel I can achieve great things in,” added Huff.

“I spoke to pretty much everyone on the grid. I just got a very, very good feeling from Christian and Amy. What they do and the way they go about doing it aligns very much with my own positivity and motivation.”

Huff explained that he could have continued in the TCR World Tour in 2024, despite Audi – with which he was aligned last season with Comtoyou Racing – closing down its customer sport department.

“There were definitely opportunities for me in the world championship, which I have turned down on the basis that I really want to focus on BTCC,” said Huff, who also won the TCR Scandinavia crown on a one-year break from world tin-top competition in 2020.

Rob Huff, SEAT Toledo Cupra, celebrates his Race 1 second place

Rob Huff, SEAT Toledo Cupra, celebrates his Race 1 second place

Photo by: Malcolm Griffiths / Motorsport Images

“I could run both championships – that has been spoken about and there are no clashes – but I don’t want to.”

Speedworks boss Christian Dick said: “It goes without saying that we are thrilled to bring a driver of Rob’s calibre and success on board for the forthcoming campaign.

“His record in the sport speaks for itself – he has raced against, and regularly beaten, the very best in the world, and he is just as razor-sharp now as he was when he started out more than two decades ago.

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“The BTCC is a unique beast that requires a very specific skillset, and we’ve obviously seen quick drivers return before after some time away and struggle to re-adapt, but when Rob rejoined the grid at Silverstone in 2017 and Knockhill last summer, he was immediately back in the groove.

“When he tested the Corolla last year, he instantly felt at home and his wealth of experience of driving different cars will be hugely beneficial as we continue to strive to extract every last ounce of performance out of the Toyota – while offering an invaluable bank of knowledge for Andrew [Watson] to draw upon in his second season in the championship.”