Butcher to drive MG TCR car for Olympics-style Motorsport Games
British Touring Car Championship frontrunner Rory Butcher will race a TCR-spec MG in the FIA's new nation versus nation Motorsport Games event

The inaugural running of the Games, styled as a motorsport equivalent of the Olympics, takes place at Vallelunga on November 1-3 and features events for GT cars and Formula 4 as well as the TCR contest, a Drifting Cup, Karting Slalom Cup and a Digital Cup for Esports.
National governing bodies are invited to nominate drivers and driver pairings to represent their countries. Butcher has won three BTCC races with the AmD Tuning team's Honda this season and is currently fifth in the championship.
"The first contact about this came back in August, and it was Rob Huff who helped put us in touch," he told Autosport.
"It looks like a really exciting event and it will be great to go and race at a cool track like Vallelunga.

"Rob has a lot of contacts in China and he has helped broker this for me, so I am grateful to him. It will be very special to represent Britain and I am grateful that Motorsport UK has put me forward to take this opportunity.
"It is the British Touring Car Championship and the success I have had this year which has helped me to open the door to an opportunity like this. It is great to be able to take other chances and spread my wings a little but onto the international platform.
"It looks like it is going to be a really interesting event and there will be a real mixture of cars and drivers on the grid."
Butcher's use of the MG6 TCR is subject to it receiving FIA homologation in time.
It has achieved podiums in TCR China with Zhen Dong Zhang, who will represent China in the event.
Other names on the initial entry for the touring car element of the Games include TCR Europe frontrunners Luca Engstler and Gilles Magnus, representing Germany and Belgium respectively.

Hill takes dominant maiden BTCC victory in final race at Knockhill
Bushell replaces Tordoff in AmDTuning Honda for rest of 2019 BTCC

Latest news
Bathurst 12 Hour: Van Gisbergen Mercedes leads after first quarter
Shane van Gisbergen’s Triple Eight Mercedes headed Matt Campbell’s Manthey Porsche after three hours of racing at Mount Panorama in the Bathurst 12 Hour.
Tanak scores first Puma win in preparation for WRC Rally Sweden
Ott Tanak claimed his first victory driving an M-Sport Ford Puma after winning the Otepaa Winter Rally in preparation for next week’s World Rally Championship round in Sweden.
Ranking the worst Formula 1 cars to win a grand prix
Cars that rarely looked like contenders for victory have occasionally slipped through the net to become winners of world championship Formula 1 races. But which was the worst of the bunch?
Schumacher radio criticism highlighted F1 privacy change for Russell
George Russell says that the way an off-the-cuff radio remark criticising Mick Schumacher last year became a big deal shows how he is more under the spotlight in Formula 1.
Autosport writers' most memorable moments of 2022
The season just gone was a memorable one for many of our staff writers, who are fortunate enough to cover motorsport around the world. Here are our picks of the best (and in some cases, most eventful) from 2022
How the BTCC's new hybrid era aced its first test
Expectations were high for the start of the British Touring Car Championship’s hybrid power era, and despite nerves and problems to solve prior to its debut the new rules gained widespread approval. Here’s how the first test at Donington Park was passed and the thorough examinations that are to follow
The Ford BTCC superteam combining two reigning TOCA champions
Reigning BTCC champion Ash Sutton and Porsche Carrera Cup GB victor Dan Cammish form a potent line-up at the Motorbase-run NAPA Racing team as the series adopts hybrid power. With Sutton bringing the key components of his title-winning Laser Tools Racing set-up, and Cammish eager to prove a point on his return, their dynamic is set to be one of the season's major talking points
The stalwart tin-top boss still shaping careers more than 40 years on
Veteran team manager Marvin Humphries and former Tech-Speed team boss has worked not only with stars of the British Touring Car Championship, but legends including Gil de Ferran, Hans Stuck and Tom Sneva in a long and varied career that has spanned five decades across tin-tops, single-seaters and sportscars
The grassroots rise that shaped an understated BTCC star
Having started out in club-level competitions alongside his own university engineering studies, Josh Cook's journey to becoming an established frontrunner in the British Touring Car Championship is atypical. But it's these experiences that have moulded the 30-year-old into a humble star, respected throughout the paddock
Ranking the top 10 BTCC drivers of 2021
A refresh in equipment and some returning faces helped contribute to a supremely competitive 2021 British Touring Car Championship campaign. Ash Sutton was crowned a three-time champion, successfully defending his 2020 title, but faced stiff competition in the final year before the switch to hybrid. Autosport picks out the best performers
Why the BTCC's ballast increase couldn't stop champion Sutton
Ballast will be gone from the BTCC next year as hybrid power enters the scene, but for its final season the maximum was increased from 60kg to 75kg. Despite having to carry that nearly all season, Ash Sutton was always the favourite to pocket a third title - the 27-year-old getting his reward for a season of speed tempered by savvy to nail his opportunities
The much-loved tin-top superstar bowing out at 59
OPINION: It's not often that a driver achieves widespread affection for their personality, as well as their on-track performances. One such individual is Gabriele Tarquini, who will soon bring the curtain down on a remarkable career that has yielded touring car titles on the European and global stage - and, famously, in Britain too
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.