The West Surrey Racing team (WSR) has plans shaping up for the 2023 British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and they’re sticking with some familiar faces and some new ones. Jake Hill and MB Motorsport will return to the team in 2023, after a very successful season in 2022 where Hill scored three wins, thirteen podium finishes, five fastest laps, and finished third in the driver points. Hill also won the Goodyear Wingfoot Award for putting the in the strongest qualifying performances over the 2022 season.
Hill is looking to build on his success from 2022 and move things up a notch in 2023. “I really am over the moon to get everything signed, sealed, and delivered so early looking ahead to the 2023 season,” he said. “I am very grateful for the continued support and faith that MB Motorsport have shown in me since 2020 and I have no doubt that we will be taking our BMW 330e M Sport back to the front of the grid once again thanks to our partnership with WSR. For me, last year felt like a year where I truly arrived in the championship. To have that consistency in our program heading into 2023 can only be a huge help, for what will be a first for me in my time in the BTCC. There’s no hiding from what our aim will be heading into the new season.”
WSR has also reported that Adam Morgan will be joining the team in 2023. Morgan has won three previous BTCC races at the wheel of a BMW 330e that was built by WSR, but run by his family-run Cicely Motorsport team. “Having raced WSR-built BMWs for the past two years, I know the car and for the first time in my career, I’ll just be focused on the driving, rather than other team jobs,” said Morgan. “With one exception, every team-mate I’ve had in the BTCC has been a rookie, so there’s always been an expectation on me, as the lead driver, to do the bulk of the set-up work. That won’t be the case at WSR and I’ll be able to learn from that to elevate myself to become the best driver I’ve ever been. I can’t wait to get started.”
The WSR team is one of the most successful in the BTCC series over the last decade, with fifteen titles since 2014 all coming from BMWs that are designed and built in-house. There’s no word yet on whether Colin Turkington will return to the team in 2023. Turkington is one of the most successful drivers in BTCC history, with four championships to his credit. The 2023 BTCC season opens on April 22nd-23rd at Silverstone.—David Haueter
[Photo by West Surrey Racing]
