By Mick Palmer

Josh Cook and Aiden Moffat are set to lead the re-branded BTC Honda team for the 2023 British Touring Car Championship with the duo filling two of a possible four seats at the newly titled Startline One Team.

The move spells the end of the Aiden Moffat TBL allocation which up until the end of last season had been used for the Laser Tools Racing Infiniti Q50 challenge. One Motorsport are hoping to snag one of those licenses to expand the squad to a four car outfit.

“I’m really happy to be signed with Startline Racing by One Motorsport for the 2023 BTCC season,” Moffat said, “Seeing how competitive they were in the Honda Civic FK8 gives me a massive buzz that I just didn’t have last year. A massive thanks to (One Motorsport executives) Steve Dudman, Danny Buxton and Will Powell for making this all work.

“Despite spending so much time in the BTCC, this is the most comfortable I have felt going into a season. Racing is a bit like business, you want to deal with the right people and that’s what we now have for this year with One Motorsport and our new as well as existing partners who are supporting this fantastic opportunity.”

Moffat, who entered the championship aged 16 in 2013, has ran under Laser Tools branding for nine seasons, winning four races, but this will be the first time he races without the support and backing that have carried him through his tenures in association with Ciceley and BMR with the Mercedes A-Class and Q50.

“We’re thrilled to announce the re-branding and delighted to rejuvenate our BTCC line-up and welcome Aiden in, whilst re-signing Josh was an incredibly important step,” Team Principal Buxton said. “Aiden is a class act and I feel he has yet to reach his potential. I’m confident with the support network we’ll provide, he’ll be a front-runner from day one. Josh is raring to go and we’re pushing extremely hard to ensure he has all the winning tools. Together with the exciting Starline LKQ Euro Car Parts partnership, we’re ideally positioned for all challenges in BTCC racing,”

Cook, who joined the team in 2019, looked like a title challenger in the early part of last season, and will be looking to build upon that form. The pair could possibly be re-joined by Jade Edwards as she looks towards a third full season in the category. Recently retired Jason Plato has also been named as a possible returnee for 2023 as he aims to reach 100 BTCC race wins.