1998 British Touring Car Championship season

The 1998 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship was a prominent BTCC season during the 'golden era' of touring car racing in Britain. It was eventually won by Rickard Rydell in a Volvo S40 with a round to spare. The runner-up was Anthony Reid in a Nissan Primera. The Michelin Cup for Independents, a championship for privateer entries was won by Tommy Rustad in a Renault Laguna. The video game TOCA 2 Touring Cars is based on this championship season.

Rule changes

• There would now be 2 different types of race, a sprint race and a feature race, with the latter involving a compulsory pit stop.

• Qualifying for the sprint race used a single timed lap system. Drivers would have only one attempt to set a timed lap, and would be alone on the track. Qualifying for the feature race was a normal qualifying session.

• Four wheel drive was outlawed.

Entry list

Team Car No. Drivers Class Rounds Blend 37 Williams Renault Renault Laguna 1 Alain Menu M All 3 Jason Plato M All 21 Tommy Rustad M 13 DC Cook Motorsport I 1–12 Honda Accord 22 Paula Cook I 12–13 Volvo S40 Racing Volvo S40 4 Rickard Rydell M All 14 Gianni Morbidelli M All Team Honda Sport Honda Accord 5 James Thompson M All 50 Peter Kox M All Audi Sport UK Audi A4 7 John Bintcliffe M All 12 Yvan Muller M All Vodafone Nissan Racing Nissan Primera GT 8 David Leslie M All 23 Anthony Reid M All 24 Tiff Needell M 11 Esso Ultron Team Peugeot Peugeot 406 9 Tim Harvey M All 11 Paul Radisich M All Mint Motorsport Vauxhall Vectra 16 Mark Lemmer I 1–7 Mardi Gras Motorsport 9, 11, 13 Honda Accord 17 Roger Möen I 1–7 Brookes Motorsport Honda Accord 28 Lee Brookes I 12 29 Robb Gravett I All Ford Mondeo Racing Ford Mondeo 32 Will Hoy M All 33 Craig Baird M 1–5, 7–10 55 Nigel Mansell M 6, 11, 13 Team Dynamics Max Power Nissan Primera GT 77 Matt Neal I All Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Vectra 88 Derek Warwick M All 98 John Cleland M 1–8, 10–13 99 Flavio Figueiredo M 9

Icon Class M Manufacturer I Independent

Calendar

All races were held in the United Kingdom.

Round		Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team	Winning Independent
1	R1	Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire	13 April	Rickard Rydell	Rickard Rydell	Rickard Rydell	Volvo S40 Racing	Mark Lemmer
	R2			Rickard Rydell	Alain Menu	Alain Menu	Blend 37 Williams Renault	Matt Neal
2	R3	Silverstone Circuit (International), Northamptonshire	26 April	James Thompson	David Leslie	David Leslie	Vodafone Nissan Racing	Robb Gravett
	R4			Jason Plato	James Thompson	Will Hoy	Ford Mondeo Racing	Robb Gravett
3	R5	Donington Park (National), Leicestershire	4 May	Rickard Rydell	David Leslie	John Cleland	Vauxhall Sport	Matt Neal
	R6			David Leslie	David Leslie	David Leslie	Vodafone Nissan Racing	Matt Neal
4	R7	Brands Hatch (Indy), Kent	17 May	Rickard Rydell	Anthony Reid	Rickard Rydell	Volvo S40 Racing	Tommy Rustad
	R8			Rickard Rydell	Anthony Reid	Rickard Rydell	Volvo S40 Racing	Matt Neal
5	R9	Oulton Park (Fosters), Cheshire	25 May	Alain Menu	Alain Menu	Alain Menu	Blend 37 Williams Renault	Tommy Rustad
	R10			Anthony Reid	Anthony Reid	Jason Plato	Blend 37 Williams Renault	Tommy Rustad
6	R11	Donington Park (National), Leicestershire	14 June	Anthony Reid	Rickard Rydell	Anthony Reid	Vodafone Nissan Racing	Robb Gravett
	R12			Anthony Reid	Anthony Reid	John Cleland	Vauxhall Sport	Matt Neal
7	R13	Croft Circuit, North Yorkshire	28 June	James Thompson	James Thompson	James Thompson	Team Honda Sport	Matt Neal
	R14			David Leslie	David Leslie	Rickard Rydell	Volvo S40 Racing	Robb Gravett
8	R15	Snetterton Circuit, Norfolk	26 July	Anthony Reid	Matt Neal	Anthony Reid	Vodafone Nissan Racing	Robb Gravett
	R16			Anthony Reid	Anthony Reid	James Thompson	Team Honda Sport	Robb Gravett
9	R17	Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire	2 August	Rickard Rydell	Anthony Reid	Anthony Reid	Vodafone Nissan Racing	Matt Neal
	R18			Anthony Reid	Anthony Reid	Alain Menu	Blend 37 Williams Renault	Mark Lemmer
10	R19	Knockhill Circuit, Fife	16 August	Anthony Reid	David Leslie	Anthony Reid	Vodafone Nissan Racing	Matt Neal
	R20			Anthony Reid	Yvan Muller	Derek Warwick	Vauxhall Sport	Tommy Rustad
11	R21	Brands Hatch (Indy), Kent	31 August	Anthony Reid	Anthony Reid	Anthony Reid	Vodafone Nissan Racing	Matt Neal
	R22			Rickard Rydell	Anthony Reid	Rickard Rydell	Volvo S40 Racing	Matt Neal
12	R23	Oulton Park (Fosters), Cheshire	13 September	Anthony Reid	Anthony Reid	James Thompson	Team Honda Sport	Tommy Rustad
	R24			Anthony Reid	James Thompson	Anthony Reid	Vodafone Nissan Racing	Matt Neal
13	R25	Silverstone Circuit (International), Northamptonshire	20 September	Rickard Rydell	Anthony Reid	James Thompson	Team Honda Sport	Mark Lemmer
	R26			David Leslie	Rickard Rydell	Anthony Reid	Vodafone Nissan Racing	Paula Cook

Drivers Championship

• No driver may collect more than one "Lead a Lap" point per race no matter how many laps they lead.

Pos. Driver THR SIL DON BHI OUL DON CRO SNE THR KNO BHI OUL SIL Pts 1 Rickard Rydell 1 2* 5 Ret 3 7* 1 1* 2 2 2 Ret 4 1* 5 2* 3 3 Ret 3 3 1* 11 4 2 3 254 2 Anthony Reid 8 13 7 3 Ret 6 2 3 5 3* 1 Ret* 2 3 1 NC 1 6 1 7 1 2* 2 1* 5 1* 239 3 James Thompson 3 3 2 9* 2 4 9 2 Ret 5 Ret Ret 1 5 4 1* 4 5* 2 Ret 2 9* 1 Ret 1 4* 203 4 Alain Menu 5 1* Ret Ret 4 2 3 4 1 4* Ret Ret 3 4 3 Ret 2 1* 3 4 5 3 3 Ret 9 Ret 187 5 Jason Plato 2 4 3 2* Ret 5 4 Ret 4 1* 9 Ret 8 6 2 3 Ret Ret Ret 5 7 4* 6 2 4 6 163 6 David Leslie 7 12 1 Ret Ret 1* Ret 6 3 Ret Ret 2* Ret 2* 6 4 5 2 5 9 4 Ret 4 Ret 13 2* 148 7 Yvan Muller 9 Ret 10 8 6 10 5 15 10 10 7 4* 5 10 15 5 6 10 4 2 11 6 5 3 3 5 110 8 John Cleland 4 6 6 7 1 3* 6 9* 7 6* 5 1* 6 8 9 Ret 13 Ret 8 Ret 9 11 8 Ret 106 9 Derek Warwick 12 5 4 6* 13 8 11 13 11 Ret DSQ 3 9 12 10 Ret 7 Ret 9 1 Ret 14 10 5* 7 10 70 10 Will Hoy Ret 15 9 1* 8 16 7 Ret 8 7 3 Ret 13 9* 8 8 10 12 6 Ret Ret Ret 8 6 10 8 69 11 Gianni Morbidelli 6 11 8 5 12 Ret 13 10 6 9* 6 7 10 7* 7 11 8 4 11 Ret Ret Ret Ret 9 17 Ret 56 12 Peter Kox 10 7 Ret 11 7 Ret 14 7 Ret Ret 4 Ret 7 Ret 16 Ret 13 7 7 14 6 7* 7 Ret Ret 7* 52 13 Matt Neal Ret 10 Ret 16 5 9 Ret 5 Ret 14 Ret 6 12 15 NC 13 12 Ret 8 Ret 9 5 13 7 Ret Ret 35 14 Paul Radisich Ret 8 12 4 11 Ret 8 12 12 13 10 Ret 11 Ret 18 10 9 Ret 10 6 10 10 Ret Ret 6 14 31 15 John Bintcliffe 11 9 14 17 10 14 10 8 9 8* Ret 9 Ret 11 14 7 11 8 Ret 10 13 11 NC Ret 12 Ret 23 16 Tommy Rustad 16 Ret 15 13 17 12 12 14* 13 12 12 8 15 Ret 17 12 14 Ret 14 8 15 13 12 8 11 9 12 17 Tim Harvey 13 Ret 11 18 9 11 Ret 11 Ret Ret Ret Ret 16 18 12 Ret 15 9 15 11 14 8* 14 10 Ret Ret 10 18 Nigel Mansell Ret 5* Ret Ret 14 11 7 19 Robb Gravett 17 16 13 12* 15 Ret 16 17 15 16 8 Ret Ret 14 13 9 16 Ret Ret 12 16 12* 15 12 Ret DNS 7 20 Craig Baird 15 14 Ret 10 14 13 15 Ret 14 11 14 13 11 6 Ret DNS 12 13 6 21 Roger Möen 18 17 16 15 Ret 15 18 16 16 15 11 10 Ret 16 1 22 Flavio Figueiredo 17 11 0 23 Tiff Needell 12 15 0 24 Paula Cook 16 13 16 12 0 25 Mark Lemmer 14 Ret Ret 14 16 Ret 17 Ret Ret DNS Ret Ret 17 17 18 13 Ret 16 15 13 0  – Lee Brookes DNS DNS 0 Michelin Cup for Independents 1 Tommy Rustad 16 Ret 15 13 17 12 12 14 13 12 12 8 15 Ret 17 12 14 Ret 13 8 15 13 12 8 251 2 Robb Gravett 17 16 13 12 15 Ret 16 17 15 16 8 Ret Ret 14 13 9 16 Ret Ret 12 16 12 15 12 Ret DNS 212 3 Matt Neal Ret 10 Ret 16 5 9 Ret 5 Ret 14 Ret 6 12 15 NC 13 12 Ret 8 Ret 9 5 13 7 Ret Ret 211 4 Mark Lemmer 14 Ret Ret 14 16 Ret 17 Ret Ret DNS Ret Ret 17 17 18 13 Ret 16 15 13 95 5 Roger Möen 18 17 16 15 Ret 15 18 16 16 15 11 10 Ret 16 92 6 Paula Cook 16 13 16 12 27  – Lee Brookes DNS DNS 0 Pos. Driver THR SIL DON BHI OUL DON CRO SNE THR KNO BHI OUL SIL Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate Excluded (EX)

• Note: bold signifies pole position (1 point awarded all races), italics signifies fastest lap

* signifies that driver lead feature race for at least one lap (1 point given). Note: All bonus leading points may not be added due to them being added after seeing Season Review footage and some race reports.

Note: No points were awarded for leading in the feature race at Knockhill.

Manufacturers Championship

Teams Championship

External links

• BTCC Pages