GOAT Racing have signed rising Italian star Marco Butti as the first of its two drivers for the upcoming KUMHO FIA TCR World Tour to race in a JAS Motorsport-built Honda Civic Type R FL5.
Butti, 18, first raced a TCR car in 2021 but rapidly made a name for himself by stepping up to TCR Europe the following season; his progress continued last year, winning TCR Italy’s Under-25 title and taking three overall race victories on his way to fourth in the standings. He also ran competitively in his two TCR World Tour appearances, recording top-10 finishes at Vallelunga and Macau.
Butti drove the Honda for the first time in testing at Motorland Aragón this week.
Butti said: “I am very excited to join GOAT Racing and to compete in the TCR World Tour full-time. The test in the Honda went very well and I think we can achieve some good results, despite the extremely high level of competition in the World Tour.”
Pepe Oriola, GOAT Racing Team Manager, said: “We're very happy to have Marco on board for this new project. We were very impressed with the maturity and speed he showed during his first test and believe we can really grow together and show the world what we’re capable of.”
Mads Fischer, JAS Motorsport TCR Project Leader, said: “We have seen many young drivers use the Honda Civic Type R TCR as their springboard to success over the past few years and with the ambition shown by GOAT Racing in the TCR World Tour, we are sure Marco can be the latest racer to do this.”