COLLARD TARGETS TIN-TOP GLORY AS HE SECURES TOYOTA TOURING CAR SEAT
Second-generation BTCC man aims for career restart after signing Corolla deal for 2022
Ricky Collard says he wants to have a long-term British Touring Car Championship career after confirming a deal with Speedworks Motorsport to handle a Toyota Corolla over the full 30-race season in 2022.
The 25-year-old, who has contested 11 rounds of the BTCC when deputising for father Rob in a WSR BMW in 2018, was on the verge of walking away from motorsport until a last-minute option came along recent and he has now signed for his first campaign in the front-wheeldrive hatchback.
Collard, who took a podium finish in the BMW, explained: “I was ready to move to Australia and wasn’t thinking about racing, but this option came up and I knew it was something I had to grab.
I’ve had bit-part campaigns in
GT racing over the last few years and was getting a bit disillusioned, but now I have one of the plum drives and I can’t wait to get out there.”
Collard will line up alongside Rory Butcher for the Cheshirebased Toyota GB-backed team when the season sparks into life at Donington Park on April 23-24 and he says he can see the BTCC as a long-term option for him.
“The championship has really found its groove again over the last few years and [chief executive] Alan Gow has headed it up superbly,” he said. “I have been around the BTCC paddock supporting my dad since I was a kid and it feels like coming home, in a way. This is something I really want to get my teeth into.”
Collard missed some of the preseason running at Croft last week due to illness, but was scheduled to join the rest of the runners in the official test at Thruxton yesterday (Wednesday).
Team boss Christian Dick said: “[Ricky] has already shown during testing that he is an excellent listener and a very fast learner. I don’t think it will be long at all before he’s right on the money and challenging up at the front of the field.”