Photo: PSP Images

Ciceley go with unchanged line-up for 2020 campaign

The Ciceley Motorsport team will remain unchanged for the 2020 BTCC season, with Daniel Rowbottom returning for a second year alongside Adam Morgan.

The former Clio Cup racer joined the Mercedes squad for his series debut last year and secured four points finishes and finishing 14th in the Independents’ championship.

Morgan by contrast secured four podium finishes en-route to twelfth place in the overall standings after what proved to be a tricky campaign for the team, which resulted in a mid-season reshuffle of its engineering staff.

Whilst Morgan’s role with the family-run team was to be expected, Rowbotton used the Autosport International Show in Birmingham to confirm that he will remain part of the team again next year as part an unchanged two car line-up.

With the team working over the winter to improve the A Class, Rowbottom said his focus was on improving on the results gained in 2019 to regularly contend for points finishes.

“Getting to the BTCC has been a target for so long, but it was nothing like I expected it to be – it was tough,” he said. “It was a long slog to get into touring cars but we worked to make sure that after my time away from racing, I would be able to sort out the finances to do it properly. My deal was sorted back in November and I have a year in the finances sorted for 2021, which is nice to know.

“Last year was tough and we got some flack with the Mercedes, but I think it was unfairly criticised and that there were areas we could work on to improve. Whilst there was interest from other teams who know I have budget, staying with Ciceley is the ideal choice for me as I feel comfortable in the team, get on well with Adam, and it made no sense to look at moving elsewhere where I would have to relearn everything and get to know people again.

“This season, I want to be in a position to regularly push inside the top ten and looking towards the podium to back up the results that Adam has to move the team forwards. It is a really important season for me to build on the progress I have already made.”

Entry list – 10 January:

No – Driver – Nat – Team – Car

1 – Colin Turkington – GBR – West Surrey Racing – BMW 330i M Sport
3 – Tom Chilton – GBR – BTC Racing – Honda Civic Type R
4 – Sam Osborne – GBR – AmD Tuning – Honda Civic Type R
15 – Tom Oliphant – GBR – West Surrey Racing – BMW 330i M Sport
16 – Aiden Moffat – GBR – Laser Tools Racing – Infiniti Q50
19 – Bobby Thompson – GBR – Trade Price Cars Racing – Audi S3
21 – Mike Bushell – GBR – Team HARD – Volkswagen CC
24 – Jake Hill – GBR – AmD Tuning – Honda Civic Type R
25 – Matt Neal – GBR – Team Dynamics – Honda Civic Type R
27 – Dan Cammish – GBR – Team Dynamics – Honda Civic Type R
31 – Jack Goff – GBR – Team HARD – Volkswagen CC
32 – Daniel Rowbottom – GBR – Ciceley Motorsport – Mercedes A Class
33 – Adam Morgan – GBR – Ciceley Motorsport – Mercedes A Class
41 – Carl Boardley – GBR – Team HARD – BMW 125i M Sport
66 – Josh Cook – GBR – BTC Racing – Honda Civic Type R
77 – Andrew Jordan – GBR – West Surrey Racing – BMW 330i M Sport
116 – Ashley Sutton – GBR – Laser Tools Racing – Infiniti Q50
TBC – James Gornall – GBR – Trade Price Cars Racing – Audi S3

Race numbers subject to confirmation when official entry list is revealed