BTCC The Contenders: Daniel Rowbottom

2024 saw Daniel Rowbottom with some fairly mixed results, at times putting in stellar performances throughout the year but also had races with unlucky moments and difficult circumstances. However, previous years have shown that Rowbottom can push himself into contention for podiums and even wins on a more frequent basis, so will a return to that in 2025 occur.

Rowbottom started his racing in the Renault UK Clio Cup in 2016 after claiming multiple championships on a karting level. He would compete in half the season where he had consistent points finishes. With a best finish of 5th across just 10 races, he finished in the top 10 in seven of them despite having two retirements. He would finish the year 14th in the standings but his points tally would remain fairly close to drivers who did compete in the full season meaning he very well could have placed much higher.

The following year, Rowbottom would race full time in the Clio Cup where he would continue to pick off solid consistent results. Excluding a DNF at the second race at Croft, Rowbottom would finish every other race that season, claiming a top 10 finish in all but two of them. Rowbottom’s form would only continue to improve throughout the season, taking high end points finishes all year long. Throughout the year he would claim five podiums, four of them would be claimed in the span of five races. This would take him to fifth place in the standings, finishing ahead of multiple race winners and only a handful of points behind second in the standings.

2018 would be Rowbottom’s final year in the series, putting in his best performance yet. Starting the season with a third place, he would follow it up with a second at Donighton Park and another third place at Thruxton. He would stand on the third step of the podium once more at Croft before taking his first win in the series at Snetterton. He would follow it up with another win at the next race weekend at Rockingham before taking another third place at the penultimate event at Silverstone. The final two races at Brands Hatch would see him take the most points of anyone with a win in the first race and a second in the final race of the season, capping of a solid season where he finished every race he competed in, only missing out the second Oulton Park race. Finishing the year in 4th in the standings once more showing consistency but also showing excellent pace as well which would them lead him to a BTCC drive in 2019.

Rowbottom would make his debut in the Cataclean Racing with Cicerley Motorsport run Mercedes-Benz A-Class which was running in the Independents class. While not immediately scoring points overall, he was consistently finishing in the same region, sometimes beating his more experienced teammate in Stephen Jelley. However, in the Independents class, he would score a lot more regularly and consistently. Outside of retirements, he would only miss out on the class points twice in the season leaving him 14th in the standing and with 122 points. In the Jack Sears trophy, he would do even better. While that season was dominated by Rory Butcher and Tom Oliphant in the trophy, he would find himself on the class podium eight times to claim 4th in the Jack Sears Trophy in a strong debut season.

The following year was a tough year for Rowbottom. Initially he was announced to stay at the Cataclean team but due to Covid-19, he was let go by the team and replaced by Jack Butel moved to the Whelen Euro Series of NASCAR. But he would only compete in the Italian rounds of the series, being unable to race any further in the series. He would return to the BTCC in 2021 with Cataclean in the Honda Civic Type R where he would have some astonishing performances. Rowbottom would consistently finish inside the points, taking his first podium at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit only to follow it up with a race win the next race weekend at Oulton Park. He would also take a second place the following race before another high points finish to cap off the weekend. He would take one final podium at Brands Hatch to finish 9th in the Overall Championship but would also take 6th in the Independents Standings. However, he would also triumph in the Jack Sears Trophy taking the title by over 100 points over future teammate Sam Osborne.

In 2022, he would continue to race with Cataclean who now move to a Constructor Entry for the season. While Rowbottom would continue to score points throughout the year, he would not reach the same heights as in 2021, claiming only a single podium all year to leave him 12th in the standings. This would be his last season with Cataclean and Honda as despite a fairly successful partnership, Rowbottom looked to be on the move.

For the upcoming year, Rowbottom would sign with 2022 Teams Championship winners NAPA Racing UK to join former Jack Sears rival Sam Osborne as well as at the time three-time BTCC Drivers Champion Ash Sutton and three-time Porsche Carrera Cup GB Champion Dan Cammish. Between them, the team took 16 out of 30 race wins and 32 podiums throughout the year in a dominant season. Rowbottom would take 7th in the standings only 27 points behind teammate Cammish as he took home a win and four podiums throughout the year, finishing in the top 10 nineteen times throughout the year helping the team to another Teams Championship and Ford to it’s first manufacturer championship 23 years, all while stopping BMW’s run of seven championships in a row.

Last season Rowbottom would claim a few more podiums and finish in the points on 24 occasions but would be unable to claim a win like the previous year. He would finish the season 11th in the standings a single point behind Chilton and less than 10 points behind former World Touring Car Champion Rob Huff in 9th. While Rowbottom would have an overall decent year, heading into 2025 he is staying with NAPA Racing UK as he hopes to find his way up the table and closer to his teammates once again.