The 1994 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship season was the 37th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.
The lead up to the 1994 season saw both consolidation and major news amongst the manufacturers. Reigning champions BMW retained Joachim Winkelhock and Steve Soper, and the team would again be managed by works outfit Schnitzer Motorsport. Soper however would miss some races when they clashed with his JTCC programme; his place would then be taken by Roberto Ravaglia. Ford were looking to build on their late 1993 success with Paul Radisich and Andy Rouse, while Toyota added Tim Sugden to their 1993 drivers Will Hoy and Julian Bailey. While Vauxhall retained drivers John Cleland and Jeff Allam they had handed over the running of their works team to Ray Mallock Ltd., who had previously run semi-works cars as Ecurie Ecosse.
Renault also retained their drivers Alain Menu and Tim Harvey, but replaced their Renault 19 with more modern Lagunas. Keith O’Dor continued with Nissan but was joined by ex-Formula One driver Eric van de Poele, who replaced Win Percy. Patrick Watts moved from Mazda to Peugeot, replacing Robb Gravett, while Mazda expanded to a two-car line up with drivers Matt Neal and David Leslie.
Two new manufacturers joined the championship. Tom Walkinshaw made a comeback with Volvo, the Swedish manufacturer surprisingly choosing to run the estate version of their 850 model. 1988 Le Mans winner Jan Lammers and Swedish Formula Three racer Rickard Rydell would be the team’s two drivers. Alfa Romeo was the other manufacturer to join; Italian works outfit Alfa Corse would run two cars for Gabriele Tarquini and Giampiero Simoni. Alfa had produced a unique homologation special version of their 155 model complete with wings and spoilers, significantly improving the aerodynamics of the car. The 155 was to revolutionize Super Touring racing. The rules stated that aerodynamic wings could be used provided they were fitted to a limited number of road cars. Peugeot, Ford and Toyota had all run with rear spoilers in previous years due to this. Alfa exploited the rules by releasing a special edition of the 155 called the 'Silverstone' just to gain the aero advantage. [1] Renault and BMW eventually followed suit by releasing limited "homologation special" editions of their cars, the Laguna Airflow and the 318is, respectively.
The start of the season showed that Alfa Romeo had a substantial advantage over their opponents as Gabriele Tarquini dominated, taking the first five wins of the season. Several complaints and protests were lodged by other manufacturers, and just prior to Oulton Park Alfa were told to run without the aerodynamic aids fitted. Alfa refused and left the circuit in protest, allowing Alain Menu to take Renault’s first win of the season. Eventually matters were resolved and Alfa re-instated after agreeing to run with the spoilers lowered, but having lost out on any points from Oulton Park. Even with lowered spoilers, however, Tarquini was able to keep much of his advantage.
Silverstone hosted the twelfth round of the championship, and there rule changes were exploited by other manufacturers to add aerodynamic aids to their own cars. This levelled the playing field considerably and allowed Joachim Winkelhock to make a bid for victory, overtaking Tarquini and winning the race. Tarquini would only win one more race that season, but was always in contention: it was not so much a matter of if but when the Italian would become champion. When turned out to be the penultimate weekend at Silverstone, where Tarquini’s second place in the first race of the day secured the title for him. The main battle going into the final rounds at Donington Park was for second place, and would stand between Alain Menu and Paul Radisich. Radisich won the first race of the day bringing him up to level on points with Menu, but mechanical gremlins put a stop to his challenge in the second race. Menu thus finished second in the championship from Radisich, with John Cleland in fourth and Simoni in fifth.
| Team | Car | No. | Drivers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturers | |||
 Alfa Corse | Alfa Romeo 155 TS | 1 | Gabriele Tarquini |
| 5 | Giampiero Simoni | ||
 Team Mondeo | Ford Mondeo Ghia | 3 |  Paul Radisich |
| 31 | Robb Gravett | ||
| Vauxhall Sport | Vauxhall Cavalier 16v | 4 | John Cleland |
| 10 | Jeff Allam | ||
| 20 | Anthony Reid | ||
 BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer | BMW 318i | 6 | Steve Soper |
 Peugeot Sport | Peugeot 405 Mi16 | 8 | Patrick Watts |
| 18 | Eugene O'Brien | ||
| Old Spice Nissan Racing | Nissan Primera eGT | 22 | Tiff Needell |
 Team Mazda | Mazda 323F | 24 | Matt Neal |
| Independents | |||
| Team HMSO Cavalier | Vauxhall Cavalier 16v | 25 | Nigel Smith |
| Maxted Motorsport | Toyota Carina E | 29 | James Kaye |
| Roy Kennedy Racing | Vauxhall Cavalier 16v | 30 | Julian Westwood |
All races were held in the United Kingdom.
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Points system | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | |||||||||
| 24 | 18 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||||||||
| Pos | Driver | THR | BRH | SNE | SIL | OUL | DON | BRH | SIL | KNO | OUL | BRH | SIL | DON | Pts | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gabriele Tarquini | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | DNS | WD | 3 | DNS | 1 | 1 | 2 | Ret | DNS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | Ret | 4 | 298 |
| 2 |  Alain Menu | 6 | 18 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 222 |
| 3 | Paul Radisich | Ret | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 2 | 2 | Ret | 14 | DSQ | Ret | DNS | 1 | 9 | 206 |
| 4 | John Cleland | 2 | 3 | 2 | Ret | 7 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | DNS | 5 | 6 | Ret | Ret | DNS | 4 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 177 |
| 5 | Giampiero Simoni | 11 | 2 | DSQ | 3 | Ret | DNS | WD | Ret | DNS | 2 | 2 | Ret | Ret | 9 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 156 |
| 6 | Joachim Winkelhock | 3 | Ret | 7 | Ret | 14 | 14 | 8 | Ret | 8 | 8 | 7 | 1 | Ret | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Ret | DNS | 4 | 3 | 147 |
| 7 | Steve Soper | 4 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 22 | 5 | 12 | Ret | 102 | ||||||
| 8 | Patrick Watts | 7 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 15 | Ret | 8 | 6 | DNS | Ret | Ret | 7 | 11 | 98 |
| 9 | Tim Harvey | 10 | Ret | DNS | Ret | Ret | 8 | Ret | 9 | 10 | Ret | 11 | 4 | DSQ | 4 | 6 | 4 | Ret | 1 | 18 | 5 | 8 | 78 |
| 10 | Jeff Allam | 14 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 19 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 13 | Ret | 8 | 9 | 9 | 13 | 76 |
| 11 | Andy Rouse | 21 | 4 | 3 | DNS | 4 | 19 | Ret | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 | Ret | 11 | 15 | Ret | 11 | DNS | 13 | 8 | 20 | 10 | 66 |
| 12 | Julian Bailey | 20 | 19 | 10 | Ret | 10 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 11 | 9 | DNS | 8 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 66 |
| 13 | Will Hoy | 5 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 6 | Ret | 10 | 7 | Ret | 17 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 12 | DNS | 7 | 7 | 18 | 7 | 48 |
| 14 |  Rickard Rydell | 15 | 22 | 15 | Ret | 19 | 13 | 5 | 11 | Ret | 10 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 10 | Ret | 15 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 27 |
| 15 |  Jan Lammers | Ret | 12 | 16 | 11 | Ret | 16 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 12 | NC | 12 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 17 | 13 | 16 | 18 |
| 16 | Kieth O'Dor | 9 | 11 | Ret | 4 | 8 | DNS | 11 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | DNS | 14 | 14 | 10 | 16 | DNS | 11 | Ret | 22 | 18 | 16 |
| 17 | Eugene O'Brien | Ret | 7 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 16 | 20 | 13 | Ret | Ret | 7 | 13 | 14 | 8 | Ret | 12 | Ret | 14 | ||||
| 18 | Roberto Ravaglia | Ret | Ret | 12 | 9 | Ret | 5 | 10 | |||||||||||||||
| 19 | Tim Sugden | 20 | 12 | Ret | 9 | 7 | 12 | 15 | 14 | Ret | 9 | 10 | 19 | 14 | 9 | ||||||||
| 20 | David Leslie | 8 | 8 | 11 | 17 | 16 | 11 | Ret | Ret | DNS | Ret | 19 | 11 | 6 | |||||||||
| 21 | Tiff Needell | 17 | Ret | 18 | DNS | 10 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 9 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 3 | ||||||||
| 22 |  Eric van de Poele | 13 | DNS | DNS | 9 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 17 | 13 | 14 | 12 | DNS | 2 | |||||||||
| 23 | Matt Neal | 12 | 15 | 17 | 10 | 15 | DNS | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| 24 | James Thompson | Ret | 16 | 18 | Ret | 21 | DNS | 18 | 15 | 10 | Ret | DNS | Ret | 20 | Ret | 18 | Ret | 16 | 19 | 1 | |||
| 25 | Nigel Smith | 18 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 20 | Ret | 16 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 20 | 13 | Ret | 17 | 17 | 19 | 10 | 17 | 16 | 23 | 20 | 1 |
| 26 | Chris Goodwin | 14 | 13 | 14 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 19 | 17 | 17 | Ret | DNS | 18 | 22 | 11 | 19 | 15 | 14 | 21 | 0 | |||
| 27 | Kelvin Burt | 14 | 11 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 28 | Robb Gravett | 11 | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 29 | James Kaye | 16 | 17 | 19 | 13 | 18 | 15 | Ret | 18 | 16 | 15 | 21 | 15 | 12 | 18 | Ret | 18 | Ret | 20 | 13 | 17 | 17 | 0 |
| 30 | Nigel Albon | 17 | Ret | DNS | 16 | 22 | 18 | 22 | Ret | DNS | DNS | Ret | Ret | DNS | 15 | Ret | 12 | 21 | DNS | Ret | 22 | 0 | |
| 31 | Hamish Irvine | 23 | 20 | Ret | 23 | Ret | 21 | Ret | 14 | 13 | Ret | 16 | 21 | DNS | 23 | DNS | 21 | 23 | 0 | ||||
| 32 | Geoff Steel | 22 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 24 | 21 | Ret | 23 | 13 | 0 | |||||||||||
| 33 | Ian Khan | 19 | DNS | DNS | Ret | Ret | 21 | 19 | 20 | 22 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Pos | Driver | THR | BRH | SNE | SIL | OUL | DON | BRH | SIL | KNO | OUL | BRH | SIL | DON | Pts | ||||||||
| Pos | Driver | THR | BRH | SNE | SIL | OUL | DON | BRH | SIL | KNO | OUL | BRH | SIL | DON | Pts | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Kaye | 16 | 17 | 19 | 13 | 18 | 15 | Ret | 18 | 16 | 15 | 21 | 15 | 12 | 18 | Ret | 18 | Ret | 20 | 13 | 17 | 17 | 340 |
| 2 | Nigel Smith | 18 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 20 | Ret | 16 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 20 | 13 | Ret | 17 | 17 | 19 | 10 | 17 | 16 | 23 | 20 | 308 |
| 3 | Chris Goodwin | 14 | 13 | 14 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 19 | 17 | 17 | Ret | DNS | 18 | 22 | 11 | 19 | 15 | 14 | 21 | 274 | |||
| 4 | James Thompson | Ret | 16 | 18 | Ret | 21 | DNS | 18 | 15 | 10 | Ret | DNS | Ret | 20 | Ret | 18 | Ret | 16 | 19 | 158 | |||
| 5 | Nigel Albon | 17 | Ret | DNS | 16 | 22 | 18 | 22 | Ret | DNS | DNS | Ret | Ret | DNS | 15 | Ret | 12 | 21 | DNS | Ret | 22 | 108 | |
| 6 | Hamish Irvine | 23 | 20 | Ret | 23 | Ret | 21 | Ret | 14 | 13 | Ret | 16 | 21 | DNS | 23 | DNS | 21 | 23 | 108 | ||||
| 7 | Geoff Steel | 22 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 24 | 21 | Ret | 23 | 13 | 72 | |||||||||||
| 8 | Ian Khan | 19 | DNS | DNS | Ret | Ret | 21 | 19 | 20 | 22 | 48 | ||||||||||||
| Pos | Driver | THR | BRH | SNE | SIL | OUL | DON | BRH | SIL | KNO | OUL | BRH | SIL | DON | Pts | ||||||||
| Pos | Manufacturer | THR | BRH | SNE | SIL | OUL | DON | BRH | SIL | KNO | OUL | BRH | SIL | DON | Pts | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alfa Romeo / Alfa Corse | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | DNS | WD | 3 | DNS | 1 | 1 | 2 | Ret | 9 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 330 |
| 2 | Renault / Renault Dealer Racing | 6 | 18 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 259 |
| 3 | Ford / Team Mondeo | 21 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | Ret | 11 | DSQ | 13 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 248 |
| 4 | BMW / BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer | 3 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 14 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 242 |
| 5 | Vauxhall / Vauxhall Motorsport | 2 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 13 | Ret | 4 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 224 |
| 6 | Peugeot / Peugeot Sport | 7 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 8 | 6 | Ret | 12 | Ret | 7 | 11 | 167 |
| 7 | Toyota / Toyota Castrol Team | 5 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 137 |
| 8 | Volvo / Volvo 850 Racing | 15 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 19 | 13 | 5 | 11 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 103 |
| 9 | Nissan / Old Spice Nissan Racing | 9 | 11 | Ret | 4 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | DNS | 10 | 14 | 10 | 16 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 69 |
| 10 | Mazda / Team Mazda | 8 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 11 | Ret | Ret | DNS | Ret | 19 | 11 | 31 | |||||||||
| Pos | Driver | THR | BRH | SNE | SIL | OUL | DON | BRH | SIL | KNO | OUL | BRH | SIL | DON | Pts | ||||||||
The Alfa Romeo 155 is a compact executive car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Alfa Romeo between 1992 and 1998. It was unveiled in January 1992 at Barcelona, with the first public launch in March 1992, at the Geneva Motor Show. A total of 195,526 units were made before it was replaced by the 156.
Gabriele Tarquini is an Italian former racing driver. He participated in 78 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on May 3, 1987. He scored a single championship point, and holds the record for the most failed attempts to qualify. He has subsequently raced successfully in Touring Cars, winning the BTCC in 1994, the ETCC in 2003 the WTCC in 2009 and the WTCR in 2018.
Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II was a motor racing Touring Cars category defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for national touring car racing in 1993. It was based on the "2 litre Touring Car Formula" created for the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) in 1990. The FIA organised a World Cup for the category each year from 1993 to 1995, and adopted the term "Super Tourer" from 1995.
Yvan Muller is a French auto racing driver most noted for success in touring car racing. He is a four-time World Touring Car Champion, winning the title in 2008 with SEAT, in 2010 and 2011 with Chevrolet and in 2013 with RML. He was British Touring Car Champion in 2003 with Vauxhall.
Edward James Thompson is a British auto racing driver. He has twice been champion of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), and was third in the 2007 World Touring Car Championship.
West Surrey Racing is a UK-based motorsport team run by New Zealander Dick Bennetts. He is responsible for masterminding the careers of such names as Ayrton Senna, Mika Häkkinen, Jonathan Palmer, Rubens Barrichello, Maurício Gugelmin and Eddie Irvine with his involvement in F3 and a racing academy in the 80s and 90s. Founded in 1981, WSR has won more than 70 races in Formula 3 and more than 100 class and outright wins in the BTCC.
Alain Menu is a Swiss racing driver who is currently working for Team BMR as a driving coach. He was one of the most successful touring car drivers of the 1990s, winning the prestigious British Touring Car Championship twice. He drove for Chevrolet in the World Touring Car Championship between 2005 and 2012 with a best finish of second in 2012.
Paul Radisich is a retired New Zealand racing driver and businessman of Croat origin. He has competed in saloon cars for many years — both European-style tourers and the V8 Supercars of Australia and New Zealand.
Fabrizio Giovanardi is an Italian racing driver. During his career he has won ten touring car titles, including European and British crowns making him the most successful touring car driver worldwide. He has spent the majority of his career racing for Alfa Romeo and Vauxhall.
The 2005 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 48th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. As in 2004, there were ten racing weekends at nine different circuits; each round comprising three races, making a thirty round competition in total.
Triple Eight Racing was a motorsports team formed in 1996 as Triple Eight Race Engineering, which competed in the British Touring Car Championship and the British GT Championship.
The 2001 theAA.com MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 44th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season and marked the beginning of a new era of lower-cost rules and regulations for the series. The season saw a rivalry between Vauxhall teammates Jason Plato and Yvan Muller for the title.
The 2000 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship season featured 24 rounds across 12 meetings, it commenced at Brands Hatch on 9 April and concluded at Silverstone on 16 September.
The 1993 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship season was 36th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.
The 1997 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship was won by Alain Menu of the Williams Renault Dealer Racing team, driving a Renault Laguna. Menu dominated the year, setting a record of 12 wins during the season. The runner up was Frank Biela of Audi Sport UK in an Audi A4 Quattro. Third place was Menu's teammate, Jason Plato. In the independent class the championship was won by Robb Gravett in a Honda Accord.
The 1998 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship featured 26 races across 13 rounds, it commenced at Thruxton on 13 April and ended at Silverstone on 20 September.
The 1996 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship season marked the arrival of Audi to the sport with their four wheel drive A4s. The title was won by Frank Biela, with Swiss driver Alain Menu again finishing in second place and Swede Rickard Rydell in third.
The 1995 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship was won by John Cleland in a Vauxhall Cavalier. The Independents' title was won by Matt Neal in his Team Dynamics Ford Mondeo with fourteen class wins.
The 1999 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship featured 26 races across 13 rounds. It began on 5 April at Donington Park and concluded on 19 September at Silverstone. The driver's title was won by Laurent Aïello in his debut season driving for the Nissan works team, with his teammate David Leslie in second place. Reigning champion Rickard Rydell finished in third place.
The 1994 FIA Touring Car World Cup was the second running of the FIA Touring Car World Cup. It was held on 16 October 1994 at Donington Park in the United Kingdom. Unlike the previous year's edition, the 1994 event was run over just a single race. Paul Radisich won the event for a second time, while Germany was the winning nation. The winning driver was also awarded the RAC Tourist Trophy, the first time the Trophy had been awarded since 1988.