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What is Subaru doing in the BTCC?

Subaru in the British Touring Car Championship? It is happening in 2016. MATT JAMES examines the Japanese manufacturer's foray into circuit racing with the ambitious Team BMR

By Matt James
BTCC correspondent

There were a few raised eyebrows when the news was announced on Tuesday that Subaru was coming to the British Touring Car Championship in 2016.

Bosses at Team BMR, which is building and operating the Levorg machines, had kept their lips sealed very effectively. And even those people that did guess correctly would not have envisaged an estate version of the car.

The first hints that something was afoot came at the annual teams' meeting, which takes place at the end of every season. A technical amendment, which required a majority approval, was put to the squads at the end of 2015. It asked to allow any car that is fitted with four-wheel-drive as standard to switch to two-wheel-drive configuration on the racetrack.

It was agreed (although there were some predictable dissenters). The manufacturer in question was not indentified until very recently.

But Subaru? It's a rally marque, surely? After all, World Rally champions Colin McRae, Richard Burns and Petter Solberg all steered the perception of the firm from one that produced niche practical cars for rural farmers into one that built proper powerful head-turners. Why the British Touring Car Championship then?

In fact, the BTCC is the perfect fit for where the brand is right now - and indeed, that is why the programme appealed to Subaru so much. Those images of the Impreza and Legacy models ripping through the forests are almost a decade old now. The manufacturer has moved on but the perception, particularly among motorsport fans, hasn't budged.

Subaru's latest model lining up against BMW, Honda, MG and a host of other brands could be the catalyst that, particularly if it is successful, brings the Japanese make bang up to date. It has an initial commitment of three years, too, so it will have a strong lead-time to make an impact.

And there is no question that the ingredients coming together to put the project on the grid have the highest pedigree.

Firstly, there is double champion Jason Plato, who was one of the driving forces behind persuading Subaru to commit. He has a wealth of knowledge of the BTCC, developing cars and racing them at the very front. He is joined in a sister car by fellow two-time title-winner Colin Turkington.

Alongside that, there is the ambitious and hungry team owner and driver Warren Scott. He has put his money where his mouth is in terms of developing the team and tempting the best talent to join him. He has recently opened a new purpose-built 20,000 sq ft premises (which is also now the home of Triple Eight Racing's factory MG team) and has underlined his commitment to staying in the BTCC until he wins it.

But perhaps the ace in Team BMR's (and therefore Subaru's) hand is the technical strength behind the operation. Highly-rated designers and engineers Kevin Berry and Carl Faux joined popular and experienced team manager Alan Cole at BMR's Hertfordshire headquarters in late 2014. It is the BTCC's brains trust.

Berry designed the 2014 championship-winning BMW 125i M Sport of Turkington while Faux was the technical director at Triple Eight Racing and developed the multiple race-winning MG6. There's not a lot those two don't know about running the Next Generation Touring Car machines, and there isn't anyone who knows more about how to operate them trackside than Cole. It will be a formidable force.

Now the people behind the project - Faux and Berry, and drivers Turkington, Plato and Scott - can talk openly about the programme, they are fizzing with enthusiasm. And, this is not just new car bluster either: on the drawing board, the figures stack up to make this a very interesting project.

Plato, particularly, has done his homework.

"If you look at all of the cars that are eligible for the BTCC, then you would most likely pick the Levorg. The dynamics of the car are so strong and, from the initial numbers I have seen, this is going to be almost the perfect touring car," he says.

There are a few things that have got him excited.

Firstly, there is the engine. The flat-four configuration of the boxer motor is unusual in a roadgoing range, and also one that hasn't yet been tried in the BTCC. Alongside the fact it will sound drastically different to any other engine on the entry list, it has some inherent advantages and the strongest of those is the low-down weight of the powerplant. That, for a designer, is manna from heaven.

Then there is the body shape of the car. When the Volkswagen Passats (which morphed into the VW CCs used by Team BMR from 2014 onwards) were first built, one of the main reasons it was picked was because the coefficient of drag far outstripped anything else on the grid. Plato knows that the Levorg - even in its bulky estate configuration - has even less.

And then there is the power to engender support. One of the most impressive things about Subaru's WRC programme was the huge level of public affection it carried with it. OK, so that was probably ramped up in the UK because both McRae and Burns carried the banner for the firm, but it has a heritage and a following that is impressive.

If the BTCC programme can tap in to that, there is a potential new audience for the team, its drivers and the championship.

The only speed bump for the programme could be the schedule from now until the first day of the season at Brands Hatch on April 2. The factory Honda Civic Type-R was late on parade last year and barely made it in time to test at media day at Donington Park in mid-March. The BMR programme has that stress now - and there is an initial build of three cars rather than the two that Honda had.

Faux will not be able to visit the Autosport International show at the NEC this week, because he will be tied to a drawing board. He knows there is a big task ahead.

"We are realistic about the challenges faced delivering success in the most competitive championship in the world," he explains.

"It is with immense determination to return not only the teams but also the only championship BMR have not been eligible for previously, the manufacturers championship.

"It will be something a bit different. The sound is going to be a real distinguishing feature of the car. With the boxer engine, something that has never before been used in the BTCC, we have some major obstacles to overcome.

"Yes the layout has been used successfully before. However that was a different generation and the 2.0-litre FA20 is very new and completely different architecture to what has gone before. We have work to do."

There might be work to do, but the right hands are on the tiller when it comes to turning that work into results. Subaru is perfectly set to create a new chapter in its motorsport history.

Looks like the VW's will be in B-TEC with the old Insignia's.

http://www.touringcartimes.com/2016/01/ ... nt-series/