It was announced on Thursday that Jack Butel was set to replace Dan Rowbottom at Ciceley Motorsport now dubbed Carlube Triple R Racing but for the latter it is not the end of his time in the British Touring Car Championship.
Cataclean, one of Rowbottom’s lead sponsors have released a statement as a result and said it was mainly due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and the effects of this. As well as that they aim to ‘reboot’ the partnership in the coming years.
“The decision has been solely based on the current global Covid-19 crisis and the primary objective is to protect the business and protect jobs during these extraordinary times. Cataclean is in a strong position to come through this crisis and has honoured all financial commitments relating to the Championship to the point of their withdrawal.
“Cataclean will continue to work with Dan Rowbottom on other projects, including Research & Development, in his capacity as brand ambassador. Cataclean values its working relationship with Dan, with the ultimate goal of rebooting our successful motorsport partnership as at some time in the future.
“Cataclean would like to thank everybody involved in the BTCC, Ciceley Motorsport, our partners, our supporters, the British Motorsport Marshals Club (BMMC), the support paddock and the wider motorsport community for all their help, guidance and friendship over the past three years.“
Rowbottom also commented on this and lent his full support to the decision to not be involved when the revised schedule begins this weekend at Donington Park.
“I am totally supportive of the business decision to withdraw this year with the focus of returning in subsequent years, I think that we are all feeling the pain from this Worldwide Pandemic and now is the time that we all need to regroup and pull together to protect our future.”