BTCC racer Rowbottom gets two more years with NAPA/Alliance after heart surgery

Two-time British Touring Car Championship race winner Dan Rowbottom has committed to the Alliance Racing-run NAPA Ford Focus squad for two more seasons – after receiving open heart surgery at the end of last year.

The 36-year-old joined the team in 2023, when he took a single race win en route to seventh in the championship after turning heads by claiming pole position for the opening round – when no one had a hybrid boost usage restriction.

Rowbottom slid to 11th in the 2024 standings, and after the season finished he underwent a long-postponed operation for open heart surgery due to a condition he has endured since birth.

As the driver who brought the coveted Cataclean sponsorship to the BTCC, Rowbottom has spent much of his time fulfilling commercial duties, but now feels ready to take strides forward at a squad where he is often compared to his team-mates, including quadruple champion Ash Sutton and 13-time race winner Dan Cammish.

“They’ve told me to crack on and be a race driver,” Rowbottom told Autosport. “We’ve been chasing a lot. Since the start of my BTCC career I’ve put so much into the commercial side of it, but now I can relax a bit and everything is positive.”

Regarding the surgery, he added: “I’m quite strong mentally because I’ve had to be, but the last 10 months prior to the operation I knew it was coming, and that it was a journey into the unknown.”

The West Midlander, who rivalled future stars including James Calado and Jean-Eric Vergne during his karting days but had to take a lengthy funding-induced sabbatical from the sport, is aiming to challenge for the championship.

“I don’t give a stuff who I’m compared against,” he said. “I’m not glory-hunting and I’m not being precious. Winning the championship was my target when I was 16-years-old, and I don’t care if I do that and then never win a touring car race again. To win the BTCC is all I want to do.

“I do feel this year that we’ve got a really strong package, just with the car crew, my engineer [veteran Paul Ridgway continues after first linking up with Rowbottom in mid-2024] and myself.

“Over one lap I know I’m quicker than anyone – last year we just never seemed to deliver it when it mattered in qualifying – and I know that if I can deliver it in qualifying, the rest of it will be easy.”

Team owner Pete Osborne said: “Following two seasons inside the NAPA Racing UK/Alliance family, we are delighted that Dan has re-signed for another two years.

“Dan has demonstrated that he is a team player who also has a burning desire to succeed in BTCC. We know he will hit the ground running in 2025 and beyond.”

Sutton and Cammish have long been confirmed at the team for 2025 and 2026, while the fourth and final seat is expected to again be occupied by Osborne’s son Sam.