![Rob Huff, Toyota Gazoo Racing UK [Speedworks Motorsport], Toyota Corolla GR Sport NGTC](https://www.touringcars.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Rob-Huff-Speedworks.jpg "Photo: Speedworks Motorsport")
World Touring Car stalwart Rob Huff has been confirmed at Toyota Gazoo Racing UK for the 2024 British Touring Car Championship, with the 2012 World Champion lining up alongside Andrew Watson.
Huff, 44, returns to the BTCC 20 years after he made his touring car début in the championship, following two decades of racing internationally on the touring car world stage.
The Cambridgeshire driver was the 2012 WTCC Champion, and won 29 races – the second most in the series’ history – in the WTCC. He went on to win a further five races in the series’ follow-up incarnation WTCR, and last year he won twice in the TCR World Tour as part of a title challenge with Audi Sport Customer Racing.
Huff first raced in the BTCC in 2004, as team-mate to Jason Plato at SEAT Sport UK, where he won two races on his way to seventh overall in the standings – a strong season that saw him get noticed and move on to the WTCC for 2005 with the Chevrolet RML team.
His only other BTCC outings came in 2017, in a one-off outing at Silverstone with Power Maxed Racing where he reached the podium, and 2023, again in a one-off outing with Team HARD.
“It feels like I’ve come full circle, 20 years on,” said Huff. “I’ve always been a huge supporter of the BTCC – I began my racing career in Britain and I’ve been looking to come back for a little while.
“Last year, I really ramped up those efforts to return; I was given the opportunity to compete at Knockhill, which whetted my appetite for more while allowing me to get my name back in the frame and talk to people face-to-face.
“The main priority for me was to ensure I ended up in a potential championship-winning car with people who share my passion and enthusiasm for the sport – and at TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK, that’s what I believe I’ve found.
“I spoke to pretty much every team in the championship, and I got the best feeling from Christian and Amy [Dick]. I like what they’re doing and how they’re doing it, and when I tested the Corolla at Croft, everything felt very natural and aligned fairly seamlessly.
“I’ve got to say, I’m probably more excited for this new challenge than I have been in a long time – it just feels perfectly right – and I’m delighted to be working with Andrew, too.
“He’s clearly a very quick guy who represents himself very well both on and off-track, and I think he did an absolutely amazing job as a BTCC rookie last year.
“We all share the same values, and we’re all pushing for the same goal, which is to drive the whole team forward and to arrive at Brands Hatch at the end of the season in with a shout of winning the title.
“The competition at the top in the BTCC is always fierce, which means consistency is key. Points win prizes – and ultimately, championships.”
Christian Dick, Team Principal of Toyota Gazoo Racing UK, believes that Huff will adapt better to his return to the BTCC than other returnees have in the past.
“It goes without saying that we are thrilled to bring a driver of Rob’s calibre and success on-board for the forthcoming campaign,” said Dick. “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.
“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 – he gave us quite a run for our money at Silverstone, I seem to recall! I have no doubt at all that he will be firmly in the mix.
“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.
“We’re tremendously excited about the potential in the team this year and can’t wait to get going!”