British Touring Car Championship

British Touring Car Championship

Category	Touring cars
Country	United Kingdom
Inaugural season	1958
Classes	Manufacturers & Independents
Drivers	32 (2017)
Teams	17 (2017)
Constructors	Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, MG, Subaru, Toyota, Vauxhall, Volkswagen Note: The constructors in bold are currently represented in the Manufacturers Championship.
Engine suppliers	Turbocharged 2.0 litre I4
Tyre suppliers	Dunlop
Drivers' champion	Gordon Shedden
Teams' champion	Halfords Yuasa Racing
Makes' champion	Honda
Official website	btcc.net/
Current season

The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed as the British Touring Car Championship in 1987.^[1] The championship has been run to various national and international regulations over the years including FIA Group 2, FIA Group 5, FIA Group 1, FIA Group A, FIA Super Touring and FIA Super 2000. A lower-key Group N series for production cars ran from 2000 until 2003.

Type of cars

Touring Cars at a BTCC during race at Brands Hatch, April 2011

History of cars

The championship was initially run with a mix of classes, divided according to engine capacity, racing simultaneously. This often meant that a driver who chose the right class could win the overall championship without any chance of overall race wins, thereby devaluing the title for the spectators – for example, in the 1980s Chris Hodgetts won two overall titles in a small Toyota Corolla prepared by Hughes Of Beaconsfield, at that time a Mercedes-Benz/Toyota main dealer when most of the race wins were going to much larger cars; and while the Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500s were playing at the front of the field, Frank Sytner took a title in a Class B BMW M3 and John Cleland's first title was won in a small Class C Vauxhall Astra.

Super Touring Cars

In 1990, the BTCC introduced a class for cars with an engine displacement up to 2.0 litres which would later be adopted by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and become the Super Touring regulations that were used in various championships in Europe and around the world. In their first year, these cars were run alongside a second class which continued to allow larger engines and was once again dominated by the Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500, however from 1991 they became the only cars eligible to compete. The new one-class system was popular with manufacturers from the beginning with six manufacturer supported teams from BMW, Ford, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota and Vauxhall entered in the championship. During the first seasons, the cars weren't fitted with aerodynamic aids such as a front splitter or a rear wing which were allowed from 1995 after Alfa Romeo caused controversy a year earlier, when they entered the 155 fitted with a rear wing - an item that was delivered with the road-going version of the 155, however unfitted in its boot. The continuously high number of manufacturer-backed teams meant rapid development on the cars and quickly growing costs to compete which caused several manufacturers to withdraw from the championship until the 2000 season, when only Ford, Honda and Vauxhall remained in the championship. To this day, the 'super touring era' during the 1990s is still looked at as the most successful period of the BTCC. The high number of manufacturer-backed teams provided very close competition, close and hard fought racing on track and many spectators at the circuits.^[2]

BTC Touring and Super 2000 cars

Previous generation BTC Touring cars racing at Brands Hatch, April 2006

In order to reduce the costs to compete in the championship, the organisers introduced new regulations for the 2001 season. The BTC Touring regulations cut costs dramatically but both manufacturer and spectator interest was low. However, the Super 2000 rules were observed for the overall championship from the 2007 season. The 2000s saw cheaper cars than the later Supertouring era, with fewer factory teams and fewer international drivers.

Next Generation Touring Car

In 2009, the BTCC released details of its Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) specification, to be introduced from 2011. The introduction of these new technical regulations were designed to dramatically reduce the design, build and running costs of the cars and engines as well as reducing the potential for significant performance disparities between cars. The NGTC specification also aimed to cut costs by reducing reliance on WTCC/S2000 equipment, due to increasing costs/complexity and concerns as to its future sustainability and direction.^[3]

Current NGTC cars

Andrew Jordan in his NGTC Honda Civic during practice at Thruxton Circuit, April 2012

Currently, the cars used are a mix of 2.0 L saloons (sedans) such as the Toyota Avensis and Chevrolet Cruze, station wagons (estates) such as the Subaru Levorg as well as hatchback cars such as the Honda Civic and Ford Focus, based on models from a variety of manufacturers, using NGTC regulations. S2000 cars continued running in the Jack Sears Trophy until the 2014 season.

Teams

BTCC teams are a mixture of manufacturer entries (currently Honda, MG, BMW, Vauxhall and Subaru) and independent teams such as BTC Norlin, and Motorbase Performance.

In 2010, following Vauxhall's decision to pull out of the series, there were two new works teams, : Chevrolet, run by RML; and Honda, run by Team Dynamics.^[4]

In 2005, Team Dynamics became the first independent outfit to win the BTCC drivers and team championships; Matt Neal won the overall and independent drivers contests in his Team Dynamics Honda Integra. This included finishing all 30 championship races that year, something no other driver had achieved before and only equalled by Adam Morgan some 10 years later in 2015. This ended Vauxhall's run of 4 victories in the drivers and teams championships between 2001 and 2004. Neal and Dynamics were also victorious in 2006, before Vauxhall won the 2007 title with Italian Fabrizio Giovanardi. Team Dynamics also achieved the first overall independents race win in the 'Supertouring' era when Neal won a round of the 1999 BTCC at Donington park, earning the team prize-money of £250,000.

As a result of Matt Neal's championship victories, and the fact that Team Dynamics were designing and building their own S2000 Honda Civic Type R(with unofficial support from Honda), they were no longer entered into the Independents category, and were classed as neither an "independent" or "works" team until the 2009 season, when the Manufacturers championship was renamed Manufacturers/Constructors Championship to allow both Team Aon and Team Dynamics to compete with at the time the sole works entry of Vauxhall.

Cost control measures

There are strict limits to the modifications which can be made to the cars, which are intended to reduce the cost of running a competitive team, which had become prohibitive in the final years of the Super Touring rules. These cost reductions saw a rise in independent entries – teams or individuals entering cars purchased from the manufacturer teams when they update their chassis.

With the introduction of the NGTC rules, all cars share a number of common components provided through a contract with RML Group. This has allowed many independent teams to enter without the need for manufacturer support, and negating the need to source ex-works cars. Teams can install an engine from their marque's broad 'family' of cars, or opt to lease an engine from TOCA, built by Swindon Engines which also helps to make the cost of entry more affordable.

To further keep costs in check, the BTCC uses a single tyre supplier, with Dunlop the current supplier of rubber to all the teams. For dry races, the Dunlop SportMaxx Prime tyre is used, along with the use of the Option tyre (Soft/Hard) mandated at one race each meeting. For wet races, the Dunlop SportMaxx BluResponse tyre is used.

Fuels

The rules previously allowed for a variety of different fuels in a bid to encourage more efficient cars. In 2004 Mardi Gras Motorsport independently entered a Liquified petroleum gas powered Super 2000 Honda Civic Type-R (which was subsequently replaced by a more competitive BTC-Touring Peugeot 406 Coupé, still LPG powered), and in 2005 Tech-Speed Motorsport converted an ex-works Vauxhall Astra Coupé to run on bio-ethanol fuel. In the middle of 2006, Kartworld's owner-driver Jason Hughes converted his 4-cylinder MG ZS to run on Bio-Ethanol, soon followed by the West Surrey Racing cars of championship contender Colin Turkington and Rob Collard, and for the final event at Silverstone, Richard Marsh converted his Peugeot 307 to run on bio-ethanol fuel. Only Hughes continued on this fuel in 2007 and 2008. The regulations also permitted cars to run on diesel; attempted first in the 2007 season by Rick Kerry in a BMW 120d E87 run by Team AFM Racing. In 2008 SEAT Sport UK entered two Turbo Diesel Power SEAT Leons – the first diesel powered manufacturer entered cars. At the start of the 2010 season, it was announced that Team AON racing had converted both of their Ford Focus ST cars to run on LPG.

Under current NGTC regulations, all entrants use Carless HiperFlo 300 which is a 101/102 RON and 89/90 MON unleaded gasoline with approximately 2% oxygen content that meets the FIA ‘Appendix J’ gasoline specification.

Car regulations

VXRacing Vectra being checked by the scrutineers

Current regulations

As of the 2014 British Touring Car Championship, all cars are built to the same regulations:

• Next Generation Touring Car. New set of regulations specifically developed for the BTCC as a way of moving the sport forward and cut costs for competitors. Introduced from 2011, these new technical regulations were designed to dramatically reduce the design, build and running costs of the cars and engines as well as reduce reliance on WTCC/S2000 equipment. NGTC cars initially maintained performance parity with S2000 cars until the 2013 season when full NGTC cars became the main championship class with Hybrid S2000/NGTC cars running in a secondary class. From the 2014 season, only NGTC cars are eligible to compete the BTCC.

Previous regulations

The following regulations have been applied to the championship:

• 1958 - unique BTCC regulations^[1]
• 1959 - FIA Appendix J Category C^[1]
• 1960 - ‘silhouette’ special saloon cars (1000cc)^[1]
• 1961 to 1965 - FIA Group 2^[1]
• 1966 to 1969 - FIA Group 5^[1]
• 1970 to 1973 - FIA Group 2^[1]
• 1974 to 1983 - FIA Group 1^[1]
• 1983 to 1990 - FIA Group A^[1]
• 1991 to 2000 - 2 Litre Touring Car Formula, later becoming FIA Super Touring
• 2001 to 2011 - BTC Touring. The BTCC developed and introduced this specification in 2001, in response to the spiralling costs of the Super Touring specification. However, with the Super 2000 specification being used in the newly reformed World Touring Car Championship, the popularity of the BTC-T spec with top teams and manufactures was short lived. Therefore, from the 2007 season, BTC-T spec cars were no longer allowed to win the championship outright. The 2010 season was meant to be the last year BTC-T cars would be eligible to enter the championship, however Series Director Alan Gow announced a one-year extension to allow BTC-T to compete in 2011 (with their base-weight +50 kg on the 2010 season). Only cars that competed in 2010 would be eligible to race in 2011.^[5]
• 2004 to 2013 - Super 2000. Regulations first introduced to the BTCC in 2004, allowing teams to build cars eligible to race in several different Touring Car Championships, including the World Touring Car Championship. Car built to this specification were eligible to compete until the end of the 2013 season, however the last fully S2000 cars were entered in the 2011 season.
• 2010 to 2013 - S2000/NGTC Hybrid. From the 2010 season, teams with S2000 chassis were allowed to use an NGTC engine with their car. As of the 2012 season, all teams with S2000 chassis, used NGTC turbo charged engines. This hybrid specification was eligible until the end of the 2013 season.

Circuits

Circuits for the 2013 season

Being a national championship, the British Touring Car Championship has visited circuits throughout the United Kingdom over its long history. Currently the series visits nine different tracks in England and Scotland over the course of ten meetings. These tracks are: Brands Hatch (Indy Layout), Donington Park, Thruxton Circuit (the fastest track ever visited by the BTCC, with an average speed of 111.31 mph, set by Andrew Jordan during qualifying in 2014), Oulton Park, Croft Circuit, Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit, Knockhill Racing Circuit, Rockingham Motor Speedway and Silverstone Circuit with a return to Brands Hatch (GP Layout) at the end of the season.

In the past, the BTCC has visited Mondello Park in Ireland and Pembrey Circuit in Wales. A street race around the city of Birmingham known as the Birmingham Superprix, was held in 1989 and 1990. Aintree Motor Racing Circuit, Crystal Palace circuit and Goodwood Circuit have all hosted rounds in the past.

Current season

The 59th British Touring Car Championship will once again consist of 10 rounds with three races at each round, making it a thirty-round competition in total. The racetracks used for the 2016 season will be the same as used for the 2012 season in identical order. The season began on 22 March at Brands Hatch – using the circuit's Indy configuration – and will conclude on 2 October at the same venue, utilising the Grand Prix circuit. This will be the sixth season that cars conforming to the Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) specification will be allowed to compete. The Jack Sears Trophy, which was introduced in 2013 for the top S2000 finisher over the duration of the season, awarded to the Independent driver who achieved the greatest improvement from their respective grid positions over the entire season in 2014 and from 2015 it is awarded to the top rookie.^[6]

Race format

Championship contenders Jason Plato (SEAT) and Fabrizio Giovanardi (Vauxhall) collide during a BTCC race at Snetterton in July 2007. The BTCC is known for being a high-contact series.^[7]

On the Saturday of a race weekend there are two practice sessions followed by a 30-minute qualifying session which determines the starting order for the first race on the Sunday, the fastest driver lining up in pole position.

Each race typically consists of between 16 and 25 laps, depending on the length of the circuit. A race may be extended by three laps if three or more laps have been run behind a safety car.

The grid for race two is based on the finishing order of race one.^[8] For race three, a draw takes place to decide at which place the grid is 'reversed'. This means drivers finishing 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th or 10th in race two could take pole position for race 3 depending on the outcome of the draw. For example, if ball number 7 is drawn, the driver finishing in 7th position in race two starts on pole, 6th place starts in second place, 5th place starts in third etc. Drivers finishing in 8th place and beyond would start race three in their finishing order for race two. The draw is normally conducted by a celebrity or VIP, live on TV. For 2014, this was changed so that the driver who finished Race 2 in 10th position made the draw. Fabrizio Giovanardi has twice^[9][10] managed to put himself on pole position by drawing out number 10.

Before 2006, the driver finishing in 10th place in race two took pole position for race three. This initiated deliberate race 'fixing', whereby some drivers attempted to finished in 10th place during race two to gain pole position in race three. This "reverse grid" rule polarised opinion: some fans enjoy the spectacle afforded by having unlikely drivers on pole position while faster ones have to battle through the field; others feel it detracts from the purity of the racing. For example, some drivers might decide to slow down and let others pass them, thereby improving their own starting position for the "reverse grid" race, which is contrary to the spirit of motor racing – which is to try to come first in every race. It also led to some safety concerns as drivers would slow dramatically on the approach to the finish line, with cars behind forced to take evasive action to avoid collecting slower cars ahead. These factors contributed the rule change for the 2006 season.

Points system

Current points system

Points are awarded to the top fifteen drivers in each race as follows:

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

Previous points system

Points are awarded to the top ten drivers in each race as follows:

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

Television coverage

The BBC screened highlights of every race from 1988 to 2001. The F1 commentator at the time, Murray Walker, commentated. From 1997, some races were screened live with Charlie Cox joining Murray Walker. After 1997 the commentary team was Charlie Cox and John Watson with Murray Walker dedicating his time to Formula 1.

In the UK, ITV covered the series from 2002, with commentary from Ben Edwards and former champion Tim Harvey, with Toby Moody replacing Edwards after he replaced Martin Brundle on the BBC's F1 coverage in 2012 and David Addison replaced Toby Moody^[11] for the 2013 season. In 2006 the ITV coverage included highlights from the first and second race of the day and live coverage of the third and final race. This returned in the second half of 2007, after the first five meetings had been on ITV3 (a digital channel with fewer viewers), with a half-hour late-night highlights show. ITV also has a Sunday night show called Motorsport UK, featuring many of the supporting races. From 2008, the races were screened live on ITV4, along with the support races. ITV has a one-hour highlights programme on the Monday night following the race.

The series is screened in other countries. In Australia, Fox Sports Australia have been covering the BTCC championship since 2000. From 2009 the ITV coverage has screened on ONE HD. Speed TV screened several seasons in the USA over the winter, but this ended when the network became Fox Sports 1 in 2013. BTCC returned to the air in the US with the 2015 season, being aired on CBS Sports Network in condensed, one-hour packages like those aired on Speed. Unlike Speed's offering as the series being winter programming filling the void after the American racing season, CBSSN airs events a week or so after their actual running.

Motors TV used to show all the races live, including some support races, both in the UK and across Europe.^[12] In 2007 Setanta Sports showed all the races live, including the support races; this ceased when the entire day's coverage moved to ITV4.

TV coverage

TV Coverage of 2012 season
Country	TV Network	Language	Qualifying	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Notes
United Kingdom[13]	ITV4 / ITV4 HD	English	No	Live	Live	Live[N 1]	Up to 7 Hours of coverage per meeting (also shows live and delayed coverage of support races). Simulcast High Definition coverage on ITV4 HD
			No	Highlights			90 minute highlight show of all 3 races and qualifying
	ITV Sport Website	English	Live	Live	Live	Live	Live video stream. Highlights available to watch anytime after the race via the Race Archive
	ITV / ITV HD	English	No	Highlights			90 minute highlight show of all 3 races and qualifying. Simulcast High Definition coverage on ITV HD
↑ Race 3 from Oulton Park was only shown live on the ITV Website. On ITV 4 the race was delayed until the evening due to a schedule clash with the French Open Final.[14]

The Austin A105 with which Jack Sears won the 1958 British Saloon Car Championship

TV Coverage of 2011 season
Country	TV Network	Language	Qualifying	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Notes
United Kingdom	ITV4	English	No	Live	Live	Live	6 1⁄2 Hours of coverage per meeting (also shows live and delayed coverage of support races)
			No	Highlights			90 minute highlight show of all 3 races and qualifying
	ITV4 HD	English	No	Live	Live	Live	High Definition coverage for the 2011 season[15] (HD Simulcast of ITV4)
			No	Highlights
	ITV Sport Website	English	Live[16]	Live	Live	Live	Live video stream. Highlights available to watch anytime after the race via the Race Archive
	ITV Player	English	No	Highlights			Replays of each highlights programme for 30 days
	ITV	English	No	Highlights			90 minute highlight show of all 3 races and qualifying
	ITV HD	English	No	Highlights			90 minute highlight show of all three races and qualifying (HD Simulcast of ITV)

TV Coverage of 2010 season
Country	TV Network	Language	Qualifying	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Notes
United Kingdom	ITV4	English	No	Live	Live	Live	6 Hours 30 Mins of Coverage per meeting†
	ITV Sport Website	English	Live‡	Live	Live	Live	Available to watch anytime after the race
	ITV	English	No	Highlights	Highlights	Highlights	Highlights Show
Australia	ONE HD	English		Highlights	Highlights	Highlights	1 hour Highlights Show
United States	Speed TV[17]	English		Highlights			Highlights Show broadcast during the winter (6 December 2010 to 8 February 2010)
Canada	Speed TV	English		Highlights			Highlights Show broadcast during the winter (6 December 2010 to 8 February 2010)
Latin America Uruguay Dominican Republic Venezuela + others	Speed TV (Latin America)	Spanish		Highlights	Highlights	Highlights	Highlights shown from June to December
† 7 hours 30 minutes during the final round at Brands Hatch. ‡ during the final round at Brands Hatch only.

Live timing

Live timing for the BTCC and its support races, as well as testing, is provided by Timing Solutions Ltd from their website. This service allows you to follow free practice and qualifying as well as race day action via a timing screen from your computer or mobile phone.

Previous champions

Currently, five championships are awarded per season. The overall driver's championship is the driver gaining the most points overall throughout the season. Since 1992, the Independents driver championship has also been awarded to the leading non-manufacturer-backed driver. There are also awards for the best overall team, leading manufacturer and, since 2005, the top independent team. Previous championship titles were awarded to the leading "Production" (or "Class B") driver and team between 2000 and 2003. The Jack Sears Trophy was introduced for the 2013 season and was awarded to the highest scoring driver comping in S2000 machinery. For 2014, with S2000 cars no longer eligible to compete, it was awarded to the drive that had made up the most places from their grid position throughout the season. From the 2015 season the Jack Sears Trophy has been awarded to the highest placed rookie driver at the end of the season.

Season	Overall			Independent		Secondary Class
	Drivers' Champion	Manufacturers / Makes Champion[18]	Teams' Champion[18]	Drivers' Champion	Teams' Champion	Drivers' Champion	Teams' Champion
1958	Jack Sears	none	none
1959	Jeff Uren	none	none
1960	Doc Shepherd	none	none
1961	Sir John Whitmore	none	none
1962	John Love	none	none
1963	Jack Sears(2)	none	none
1964	Jim Clark	none	none
1965	Roy Pierpoint	none	Weybridge Engineering Company[19]
1966	John Fitzpatrick	none	Team Lotus[20]
1967	Frank Gardner	none	none
1968	Frank Gardner	none	none
1969	Alec Poole	none	none
1970	Bill McGovern	none	none
1971	Bill McGovern	none	none
1972	Bill McGovern(3)	none	none
1973	Frank Gardner(3)	none	none
1974	Bernard Unett	none	none
1975	Andy Rouse	Chevrolet[21] Triumph[21]	none
1976	Bernard Unett	none	none
1977	Bernard Unett(3)	none	none
1978	Richard Longman	none	none
1979	Richard Longman(2)	BL Mini[22]	none
1980	Win Percy	none	none
1981	Win Percy	none	none
1982	Win Percy(3)	none	none
1983	Andy Rouse	none	none
1984	Andy Rouse	Rover	none
1985	Andy Rouse(4)	Ford	none
1986	Chris Hodgetts	Toyota	none
1987	Chris Hodgetts(2)	Toyota	none
1988	Frank Sytner	BMW	none
1989	John Cleland	Vauxhall	none
1990	Robb Gravett	Ford	none	Frank Sytner
1991	Will Hoy	BMW	none	Will Hoy
1992	Tim Harvey	Vauxhall	none	James Kaye
1993	Joachim Winkelhock	BMW	none	Matt Neal
1994	Gabriele Tarquini	Alfa Romeo	none	James Kaye
1995	John Cleland(2)	Renault	Vauxhall	Matt Neal
1996	Frank Biela	Audi	Audi Sport	Lee Brookes
1997	Alain Menu	Renault(2)	Williams Renault Dealer Racing(2)	Robb Gravett
1998	Rickard Rydell	Volvo	TWR Volvo	Tommy Rustad		Production Class
1999	Laurent Aiello	Nissan(2)	Vodafone Nissan Racing(2)	Matt Neal		Drivers' Champion	Teams' Champion
2000	Alain Menu'(2)	Ford	Ford Team Mondeo	Matt Neal		Alan Morrison
2001	Jason Plato	Vauxhall	Vauxhall Motorsport	none		Simon Harrison	GR Motorsport
2002	James Thompson	Vauxhall	Vauxhall Motorsport(2)	Dan Eaves		James Kaye	Synchro Motorsport
2003	Yvan Muller	Vauxhall	VX Racing	Rob Collard		Luke Hines	Barwell Motorsport
2004	James Thompson(2)	Vauxhall	VX Racing	Anthony Reid
2005	Matt Neal	Vauxhall	Team Halfords	Matt Neal	Team Halfords (Team Dynamics)
2006	Matt Neal	SEAT	Team Halfords(2)	Matt Neal(6)	Team Halfords (Team Dynamics)
2007	Fabrizio Giovanardi	Vauxhall	SEAT Sport UK	Colin Turkington	Team RAC (WSR)
2008	Fabrizio Giovanardi(2)	Vauxhall	VX Racing	Colin Turkington	Team RAC (WSR)
2009	Colin Turkington	Vauxhall(9)	VX Racing(4)	Colin Turkington	Team RAC (WSR)
2010	Jason Plato(2)	Honda	Honda Racing Team	Tom Chilton	Team Aon (Arena Motorsport)
2011	Matt Neal(3)	Honda	Honda Racing Team	James Nash	Triple 8 Race Engineering	Jack Sears Trophy
2012	Gordon Shedden	Honda	Honda Yuasa Racing Team	Andrew Jordan	Pirtek Racing (Eurotech)	Drivers' Champion	Teams' Champion
2013	Andrew Jordan	Honda	Honda Yuasa Racing Team (4)	Andrew Jordan	Pirtek Racing (Eurotech)	Lea Wood	Not awarded
2014	Colin Turkington(2)	MG	eBay Motors	Colin Turkington	eBay Motors (WSR) (4)	Dave Newsham
2015	Gordon Shedden	Honda(5)	Team BMR RCIB Insurance	Colin Turkington(5)	Team BMR RCIB Insurance	Josh Cook
2016	Gordon Shedden(3)	BMW(3)	Team JCT600 with GardX	Andrew Jordan(3)	Motorbase Performance	Ashley Sutton

Manufacturers'/Constructors' championship winners

Year	Make	Nat.	Car	Wins
1975	Chevrolet Triumph		Chevrolet Camaro[23] Triumph Dolomite[23]
1991	BMW		BMW M3	8/14
1992	Vauxhall		Vauxhall Cavalier	5/15
1993	BMW		BMW 318i	8/17
1994	Alfa Romeo		Alfa Romeo 155	9/21
1995	Renault		Renault Laguna	10/25
1996	Audi		Audi A4	8/26
1997	Renault		Renault Laguna	14/24
1998	Volvo		Volvo S40	9/26
1999	Nissan		Nissan Primera	13/26
2000	Ford		Ford Mondeo	11/24
2001	Vauxhall		Vauxhall Astra Coupé	25/26
2002	Vauxhall		Vauxhall Astra Coupé	15/20
2003	Vauxhall		Vauxhall Astra Coupé	11/20
2004	Vauxhall		Vauxhall Astra Coupé	11/30
2005	Vauxhall		Vauxhall Sport Hatch	8/30
2006	SEAT		SEAT León	11/30
2007	Vauxhall		Vauxhall Vectra	10/30
2008	Vauxhall		Vauxhall Vectra	8/30
2009	Vauxhall		Vauxhall Vectra	6/30
2010	Honda		Honda Civic	10/30
2011	Honda		Honda Civic	13/30
2012	Honda		Honda Civic	13/30
2013	Honda		Honda Civic	9/30
2014	MG		MG 6	7/30
2015	Honda		Honda Civic Type R	7/30
2016	BMW		BMW 125i M Sport	4/30

Series sponsors

The BTCC has had several championship sponsors over the years.

Manufacturer/Constructor Entries

The BTCC features entries with the backing, funding and technical support of a motor manufacturer. This can sometimes be a motor racing team running cars of behalf of the manufacturer or cars being run directly by the factory. Below is a timeline of manufacturer/constructor entries from the beginning of the 2-litre era.

Support races

Each BTCC race meeting, the crowds are kept further entertained by the appearance of high-profile supporting championships, known as the TOCA Support Package, from the manufacturers Ford, Ginetta, Porsche and Renault.^[24]

2013 TOCA support package

A Ginetta G50 Supercup car.

Porsche Carrera Cup GB Race at Donington Park

The 2013 TOCA Support Package will consist of five main support championships, which will support the championship at almost every round, along with several smaller championships supporting one or two events. All the support championships are either Single Make Championships or Formula racing.

After previously supported the BTCC in the late 1990s and sporadically since, the British Formula Ford Championship announced its return to the TOCA support package full-time for 2013, supporting all ten rounds of the championship.^[25] For 2013, the championship will undergo several major changes. The biggest change will be the adoption of the new Formula Ford EcoBoost 200 regulations, which will include an increase in the EcoBoost engine power from the previous season, along with the new addition of a fully adjustable aerodynamic package which includes front and rear wings previously never seen before in the British Formula Ford Championship.^[26]

The Ginetta GT Supercup is a GT style, multi class championship. The main class is the G55 class, utilising Ginetta's G55 car. The second class, known as the G50 class, utilises the older and less powerful Ginetta G50. Most weekends in 2013 see three Supercup races with a few rounds hosting only two races. Ginetta also run a championship on the support package that caters for up and coming young talent in the form of the Ginetta Junior Championship. These 14- to 17-year-olds race in identical Ginetta G40J cars with strict regulations which help keep costs down. In 2013, the championship with run two races at all BTCC weekends.

Out of all the current support series, the Porsche Carrera Cup GB is the longest serving support championship. Drivers compete in identical Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Type 997) cars which produce 450 bhp. The three tier championship splits drivers according to their racing experience. Professional drivers compete in the Pro class, with semi-professional and amateur drivers racing in either Pro-Am1 or Pro-Am2. In 2013, the Carrera Cup will hold two races at each BTCC meeting.

Finally, the Renault Clio Cup UK allows aspiring touring car drivers to showcase their talent in this single make series, utilising Clio Renaultsport 200 cars. The championship awards three different titles for drivers. Along with the overall drivers’ championship, younger rookie drivers can chase points for the Graduate Cup and older gentlemen drivers can seek points for the Masters Cup. During 2013, the Clio Cup will hold two races at all BTCC weekends except the rounds at Croft and Knockhill.

Several other championships will also support the BTCC throughout 2013 at one or two meetings. As in 2012, the finale of the Protyre Formula Renault (BARC) Championship will support the BTCC at Silverstone.^[27]

Previous support races

A SEAT Cupra Championship race, at Croft during 2008.

• Formula Renault UK - Early in 2012, the long supporting Formula Renault UK championship announced that it had cancelled its 2012 season after only receiving six entries and hoped to return for the 2013 season.^[28] However, it was reported in the media that the series was ended definitively in September 2012.^[29]
• SEAT Cupra Championship - was a one make series that ran for six years between 2003 and 2008, and as a support package to the BTCC between 2004 and 2008. The series folded after SEAT UK ended its racing activities.
• Formula BMW UK
• Renault Spider Cup
• Formula Vauxhall
• Formula Vauxhall Junior
• Lotus Elise Championship
• Vauxhall Vectra Championship
• Ford Fiesta Championship

See also

• List of British Touring Car Championship records

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to British Touring Car Championship.

• Official site
• BTCC Crazy
• BTCCPages.com
• SuperTouring.co.uk
• SuperTouringRegister.com
• SuperTouringCars.net
• FIA STC Article 262
• TouringCarTimes.com
• BTCC Spotters Guide PDF Download
• Le Touring, Sauce Européenne BTCC, WTCC, DTM and STCC news, rumors and results (In French)
• The Checkered Flag – BTCC news, rumours, interviews and more
• TouringCarRacing.net
• SpeedFreaks.org
• BTCC Russia Russian Fan site
• BTCCHUB BTCCHUB.net – Your BTCC Pit Stop (Beta)
• btcctechnical.wordpress.com
• Relight the fire - Motorsport Magazine, October 2011