In just under a week's time it will finally be upon us, the 2014 British Touring Car Championship season, the most highly anticipated new season for over a decade!
After a staggeringly silly 'Silly Season' the series boasts no less than seven current or former BTCC champions (with 12 titles between them), ten champions of other series and 13 former BTCC race winners (and no Andy Neate!). With only DTM being able to claim as many champions, it makes the BTCC arguably the strongest national championship in the world this year. In fact it has a higher calibre of entry than a number of international and world championships do.
Code:
Entry list:
No Driver Nat Team Car Cl
1 Andrew Jordan ENG Pirtek Racing Honda Civic 2KC I
4 Matt Neal ENG Honda Yuasa Racing Honda Civic Tourer C
5 Colin Turkington NIR eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sport F21 I
6 Mat Jackson ENG Airwaves Racing Ford Focus ST MkIII I
7 Fabrizio Giovanardi ITA Airwaves Racing Ford Focus ST MkIII I
9 Alain Menu SUI CHROME Edition Restart Racing Volkswagen CC I
10 Rob Collard ENG eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sport F21 I
11 Simon Belcher ENG Handy Motorsport Toyota Avensis T270 I
12 Dan Welch ENG STP Racing with Sopp + Sopp Proton Persona I
16 Aiden Moffat SCO Laser Tools Racing Chevrolet Cruze 4dr I
17 Dave Newsham SCO AmD Tuning.com Ford Focus ST MkIII I
18 Nick Foster ENG eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sport F21 I
20 James Cole ENG United Autosports Toyota Avensis T270 I
21 Glynn Geddie SCO United Autosports Toyota Avensis T270 I
28 Chris Stockton ENG Power Maxed Racing Chevrolet Cruze 5dr I
30 Martin Depper ENG Pirtek Racing Honda Civic 2KC I
31 Jack Goff ENG RCIB Insurance Racing Vauxhall Insignia I
33 Adam Morgan ENG WIX Racing Mercedes-Benz A-Class I
39 Warren Scott ENG CHROME Edition Restart Racing Vauxhall Insignia I
40 Árón Smith IRL CHROME Edition Restart Racing Volkswagen CC I
43 Lea Wood ENG Houseman Racing Toyota Avensis T270 I
44 Jack Clarke ENG Crabbie's Racing Ford Focus ST MkIII I
48 Ollie Jackson ENG STP Racing with Sopp + Sopp Proton Persona I
52 Gordon Shedden SCO Honda Yuasa Racing Honda Civic Tourer C
54 Hunter Abbott ENG AlcoSense Breathalysers Racing Audi A4 B8 I
67 Robb Holland USA Rotek Racing Audi S3 8V I
80 Tom Ingram ENG Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis T270 I
88 Sam Tordoff ENG MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save MG6 GT C
99 Jason Plato ENG MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save MG6 GT C
101 Rob Austin ENG Exocet Racing Audi A4 B8 I
888 Marc Hynes ENG Quantel Bifold Racing MG6 GT I
With such an entry list, it's not at all unreasonable to suggest that at least a third and perhaps as much as half of the field will have a shot at the championship, if not race wins.
The season will begin at the historic Brands Hatch Indy circuit in Kent and will visit each of the major circuits around the country, including the long-awaited return of the full Oulton Park International layout, before ending again at Brands Hatch, this time on the GP circuit. The main BTCC centrepiece will be joined by the usual travelling side-show of support categories, namely the Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain, the Ginetta Junior Championship & GT4 Supercup, the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britian and the Renault UK Clio Cup.
Code:
Circuit length: 1.2079 miles
No. of laps: 3x 24
Race distance: 3x 28.9896 miles
Races held: 215
First race: 26/12/1957
First race on current layout: 16/05/1999
Lap record: 46.855, Jason Plato, Renault Laguna, 1999
2013 winners (Indy):
Race 1: Jason Plato
Race 2: Jason Plato
Race 3: Matt Neal
All-time winners:
Drivers:
23: Jason Plato
14: Matt Neal
12: Frank Gardner
8: Tommy Sopwith, Andy Rouse
7: Alain Menu
6: James Thompson
5: Brian Muir, Stuart Graham, Tim Harvey, Rickard Rydell, Fabrizio Giovanardi
4: Jack Sears, Roy Pierpoint, Gordon Spice, Jeff Allam, Joachim Winkelhock, Gabriele Tarquini, Yvan Muller
3: John Sprinzel, John Fitzpatrick, Richard Lloyd, Vince Woodman, Robb Gravett, John Cleland, Frank Biela, Anthony Reid, Colin Turkington, Rob Collard, Mat Jackson
2: Geoff Williamson, Mike Parkes, Jim Clark, Jackie Oliver, Barrie Williams, Colin Vandervell, Pete Lovett, Steve Soper, Will Hoy, Laurent Aiello, Warren Hughes, Tom Chilton
1: Tommy Bridger, Gawaine Baillie, Doc Shepherd, Roy Salvadori, Albert Powell, Bob Olthoff, Jack Brabham, Dennis Leech, Gerry Birrell, Bill McGovern, John Hine, Tony Dron, Nick Whiting, Win Percy, Tom Walkinshaw, Mike Smith, Tim Sugden, Paul Radisich, Simon Harrison*, Phil Bennett, Luke Hines, Rob Huff, Dan Eaves, Tom Onslow-Cole, Andrew Jordan, Árón Smith, Frank Wrathall, Gordon Shedden
Manufacturers:
50: Ford
24: Chevrolet
21: Vauxhall
17: BMW
15: Jaguar, Honda
11: MG
10: SEAT
9: Rover
7: Austin, Volvo
6: Renault
4: Alfa Romeo, Nissan
3: Triumph, Audi, Toyota
1: Borgward, Sunbeam, Mazda, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi, Peugeot*
* - Outright wins in production class (2001)
Timetable
Live Timing
Live Circuit Commentary
Live Stream
