Rob Huff: ‘Knockhill will be one of the most complicated weekends of the year’

Toyota’s Rob Huff says that this weekend’s annual British Touring Car Championship visit to Knockhill will be ‘one of the most complicated weekends of the season’.

Huff, who scored his second podium finish of the season last time out at Croft, will be returning to the circuit where he made his BTCC comeback last year, when he competed at the Scottish track in a one-off outing for Team HARD.

The 44-year-old has never won at the circuit, but heads to the seventh event of the season in good form, after finishing second in race two at Croft two weeks ago, coming close to a second win of the season.

Due to the unique setting of the circuit, over 250 m above sea level, creating challenges with regard to the weather as well as from the undulations of the circuit, Huff is predicting that the weekend could be a challenging one.

“Knockhill is probably one of the most complicated weekends of the season,” said Huff. “It’s completely unique, not only in terms of its layout and elevation changes but it even has its own little microclimate, which means teams need to be absolutely on-point and ready to make set-up changes at the drop of a hat in accordance with the prevailing conditions.

“It’s a circuit that is massively difficult to get right. There might be just a handful of corners, but every single one of them is a real challenge and it’s very intense driving a BTCC car around Knockhill, let alone in the heat of battle when you’re trying to factor in everything else as well from hybrid deployment to overtaking and defending.

“You have to really monster the circuit’s massive kerbs, too, so all-in-all, there’s a lot going on around what is a very short lap – it’s certainly going to be hectic!

“It’s a track I really enjoy and is where I reignited my passion for the BTCC last year – even if the weather that weekend was enough to put anybody off!

“I’m feeling excited to go back again in a car I’m much more familiar with and that produced some very good results at Croft, thanks to the updates the Speedworks crew managed to bring to the Corolla in a very limited timeframe.

“The Toyota seems to go well at Knockhill, and while there’s a bit more time yet to extract, we’re continually chipping away as we work towards really hitting the ground running in 2025.

“After a 20-year absence, it’s still a learning process for me in the BTCC – but I’m thoroughly enjoying being back!”

Speedworks Motorsport, which runs the Toyota squad, has only once previously won at Knockhill, back in 2017. Team Principal Christian Dick is nonetheless looking forward to the weekend.

“Rain or shine – often both at the same time – Knockhill is always one of the most enjoyable events on the BTCC calendar,” said Dick. “It’s a compact layout but one that packs a real punch – a proper rollercoaster ride that tests drivers to the limit and generates some incredible racing.

“We receive such an enthusiastic reception from the passionate Scottish fans, and hopefully we can put on a fantastic show for them all this weekend.

“Both drivers will benefit from full hybrid allocation in qualifying and race one, although being such a short lap, the biggest challenge will arguably be squeezing all 15 seconds in – it’ll be a question of using it pretty much everywhere they can!”