Rotek Racing have announced that they are to campaign a single Audi A3 Saloon in the 2014 British Touring Car Championship, with American racer Robb Holland set to compete for the entire season for the first time.
Holland, who has previously competed in the BTCC in 2012 and 2013 for Tony Gilham’s Team HARD outfit, had previously set his sights on competing in the WTCC in 2013, having acquired the ex-Arena Motorsport Ford Focus’. However with that series’ change in regulations, Holland has since shifted his focus back to Britain and competing with an NGTC-specification car.
The team will compete with a Saloon version of the Audi A3 with support from Audi Customer Racing and Oakley sunglasses. The move means the team will continue their association with the German manufacturer, having competed with an Audi TTRS in the Thunderhill 25 Hours and the Nürburgring VLN Endurance Race.
Holland admitted that he was pleased to be returning to the British series, where he will become the first American to contest the series for the entire season.
“Being the first American full-time entry in the BTCC is a huge achievement for both myself and Rotek Racing,” said Holland. “This is the culmination of several years of hard work and, because the BTCC is what got me into racing in the first place, joining as a full-time entrant is definitely a dream come true.”
“The BTCC rounds I’ve contested to this point were all done with the view of understanding what the series is about and what it will take for us to be successful in it. We still have a huge amount of hard work to do to make the grid at Brands Hatch and 2014 will definitely be a learning year.”
Holland also added that he hoped the team’s choice of car would generate additional interest in the team.
“Trying to build a new car and develop it with very little testing is a tall ask for anyone and there are still many tracks for me to learn,” added Holland. “That being said, I’m really looking forward to running the Audi S3 saloon. I think it will be a good fit – from a marketing perspective it’s great to be running the S3 at this time. Audi has just launched the car and, as the first of the new generation S3s to race anywhere in the world, I’m really hoping that it will attract a lot of attention from Audi fans across the globe.”
Rotek Racing are inviting fans to choose the team’s 2014 livery from 12 pre-designed artist impressions as part of a competition to be held on their official Facebook page and the BTCC website next week.