Rowbottom, who took one victory during a two-year stint with the Team Dynamics Honda squad in 2021-22, will partner three-time champion Ash Sutton plus Dan Cammish and Sam Osborne in Motorbase’s squad of Ford Focus ST machinery.
The 34-year-old Midlander replaces Ollie Jackson, who is returning to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB but will retain a BTCC Motorbase presence through his Mountune engine company, which prepares the Fords’ powerplants.
Motorbase’s confirmation of Sutton and Cammish is no surprise since they were previously announced as being on multi-year contracts starting in 2022, while Osborne is the son of team owner Pete Osborne.
All four will line up under an expanded NAPA Racing umbrella, which covered just Sutton and Cammish in 2022.
Rowbottom got his first taste of the Focus in a filming day at Anglesey recently, and is expected to begin his testing programme soon.
Motorbase team manager Oly Collins told Autosport: “We’ve all seen what Dan can do in the Honda and there’s no reason why he can’t continue that form.
“To have Dan [Cammish] and Ash as the benchmark is as good as anyone can get. That’s what led him to the team, I think.”
“To say I’m excited is an understatement,” said Rowbottom. “The opportunity for not only myself, but for my long-term title partners Cataclean is superb.
“I’ve always been a NASCAR fan, so when NAPA joined BTCC, on a personal level that struck a chord for me, so to be able to continue the next steps of my career with NAPA Racing UK and Cataclean is an enormous privilege and something that words can’t quantify.
“I have no doubt that we can get on with job and challenge for race wins in the 2023 season and cement ourselves as BTCC frontrunners once more.”
Motorbase opted to retain the fourth-generation Focus ST, which first hit the track in 2020, for another season after investigating a move to a rear-wheel-drive alternative.
Antonio Carrozza and James Mundy, the engineers for Sutton and Cammish respectively, have been leading the winter development programme on the car with support from Carrozza’s fellow ex-BMR man Tom Powell.
“We certainly haven’t sat still this winter,” added Collins.
“There’s been some good aero work – with a year running hybrid you know where the pros and cons are. We’ve done work in every area, whether that’s engine, cooling, aero.
“There were times when it wasn’t as good as our competitors last year, but we were only a small percentage out. Hopefully all those little percentages we’ve worked on can add up to a big difference.”
Rowbottom’s departure from Dynamics with his coveted Cataclean backing leaves one of the heritage teams of the BTCC still working on its 2023 programme, with three-time champion Gordon Shedden hoping to remain on board with the Honda squad.
“There’s a lot going on behind the scenes, and we’re all working to try and piece something together,” Shedden told Autosport.
Team Hard has also filled a seat in recent days, with Jack Butel arriving at the Kent squad for his fourth season in the BTCC after spending 2021-22 at the wheel of an Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N.
Channel Islander Butel is the fourth driver confirmed by Hard, and will join Dan Lloyd, Bobby Thompson and Dexter Patterson.
BTCC line-up so far
Motorbase Performance Ford: Ash Sutton, Dan Cammish, Dan Rowbottom, Sam Osborne
West Surrey Racing BMW: Jake Hill, Colin Turkington, Adam Morgan, Stephen Jelley
Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai: Tom Ingram, Tom Chilton, Ronan Pearson, Nick Halstead
Team Dynamics Honda: TBA, TBA
One Motorsport Honda: Josh Cook, Aiden Moffat, TBA, TBA
Speedworks Motorsport Toyota: TBA, TBA, TBA
Team Hard Cupra: Dan Lloyd, Bobby Thompson, Dexter Patterson, Jack Butel, TBA
Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall: Andrew Watson, TBA
