| BTC Touring | |
|---|---|
| Motor racing formula | |
| Category | Touring cars |
| Country or region | United Kingdom |
| Championships | BTCC |
| Inaugural season | 2001 |
| Status | Defunct |
| Folded | 2011 |
In motor racing, BTC Touring (BTC-T) was the set of new regulations for the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) introduced in 2001 BTCC, after the demise of the Supertouring category.
The cars were based on standard bodyshells, but were allowed significant modifications to turn the car into a racecar and differentiate it from the Super Production class that would run alongside BTC Touring in the 2001 BTCC.
In chronological order of their appearances, the cars were:
A year after the regulations began, the European Touring Car Championship launched its Super 2000 regulations. As the latter allowed manufacturers to have their cars seen internationally, most major companies opted for this, meaning that the BTCC suffered from small grids. In 2004, TOCA allowed Super 2000 cars to compete, with rules designed to equalise the performance of both classes. BTC-T cars were eventually made ineligible to win the main championship from 2007.
The 2010 season was meant to be the last year BTC Touring cars would be eligible to enter the championship, however they were allowed to compete for one more season in 2011, with their base-weight +50 kg on 2010. [1]
The Kwik Fit 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 for the 1987 season. The championship, currently running Next Generation Touring Car regulations, 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 class for production cars ran from 2000 until 2003.
Matthew Neal is a British motor racing driver. Neal is a triple BTCC Champion having won the British Touring Car Championship in 2005, 2006 and 2011. Neal is also a record 6 time BTCC Independents Champion having won the title in 1993, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2005 and 2006. He is also a race winner in the European Touring Car Championship. He is 6' 6" (2 m) tall, making him almost entirely unable to race single-seaters. He is also the Group Marketing Director at Rimstock, the alloy wheel manufacturer founded by his father Steve.
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.
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.
The 2006 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 49th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. As in 2005, there were ten racing weekends at nine different circuits; each round comprising three races, making a thirty round competition in total.
The 2004 Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 47th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.
The 2007 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 50th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. It was won by Fabrizio Giovanardi with 10 race wins and 17 podiums. Going into the final race, Fabrizio Giovanardi was one point behind Jason Plato but a second place for Giovanardi and a fourth place for Plato resulted in Giovanardi taking the championship by 3 points. The Teams' championship was won by SEAT Sport UK, the Manufacturers' championship was won by Vauxhall, the Independents' Trophy was won by Colin Turkington and the Independent Teams' championship was won by Team RAC.
Team Dynamics Motorsport is a UK-based motor-racing team based in Droitwich, Worcestershire; best known for their successes in the British Touring Car Championship, including winning the Overall Drivers title in 2005, 2006 and 2011 with Matt Neal and 2012, 2015 and 2016 with Gordon 'Flash' Shedden. The team was founded by Steve Neal and former driver of Vic Lee Motorsport, Ray Bellm when they acquired its assets in 1993 following its owner's conviction for drug trafficking and subsequent liquidation. For the following season, Bellm, having bought a majority stake in the Silverstone-based motorsport equipment retailer, Grand Prix Racewear, also acquired a McLaren F1 GTR and went his own way.
The 2003 Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 46th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.
Triple Eight Racing was a motorsports team formed in 1996 as Triple Eight Race Engineering, competing in the British Touring Car Championship and the British GT Championship.
The 2002 Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 45th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season which began at Brands Hatch on 1 April and concluded at Donington Park on 22 September.
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.
Tech-Speed Motorsport is a British auto racing team who compete in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and various historic race categories which was founded in 1984.
The 2008 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 51st British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. It was also the first that the championship was sponsored by HiQ. Fabrizio Giovanardi won his second consecutive title.
The Vauxhall Astra Coupe is a BTC-Touring class racing car that was built for the 2001 British Touring Car Championship season by Triple 8 Race Engineering, who ran Vauxhall's official works program. It was the first BTC Touring-specification car to be unveiled in late 2000. Triple 8 had worked on the Astra in the summer of that year and as a result, with 4 cars - 2 with Vauxhall sponsorship and 2 with Egg Banking sponsorship had given themselves a head start on the rest of the field at the start of the 2001 season. In the end, it was far more advanced in its development than anything else in the field, allowing to win 25 out of 26 races in 2001. A 3-way battle for the championship lasted throughout the season, with Jason Plato emerging victorious by 18 points. In fact, so dominant were the cars that the lowest placed Astra driver, Phil Bennett, who finished 4th in the Driver's Championship, was 58 points clear of the next driver.
The BTC-T Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch is a BTC-Touring class racing car that was built for the 2005 British Touring Car Championship season by Triple 8 Race Engineering, who ran Vauxhall's official works program.
In 2005, Team Dynamics took advantage of a loophole in the British Touring Car Championship regulations that allowed cars to enter, whether they were on sale in the United Kingdom or not. They converted a pair of Honda Integra Type R Japanese imports into full blown BTC Touring spec racing cars, using the internals from the moderately successful Honda Civic Type R that had been competing in the BTCC since 2002. The car was an instant hit, winning its debut race at Donington Park despite only having a limited amount of testing. Matt Neal scored points in every single race to take his first BTCC title - the first for a privateer driver in the modern era. He repeated the feat in 2006 and by that point, five cars had been built, all of them race winners in the hands of the Dynamics drivers, before being passed into the hands of various independent teams. The cars remained in the championship until 2011, in the hands of Lea Wood, even finishing 7th at Oulton Park in that final season - an impressive result for a car that had been built 6 years previously. Indeed, it was the last of the BTC-Touring spec cars to be used in the BTCC; and was only finally retired as cars built to these regulations could no longer compete in 2012.
Lea Wood is a British auto racing driver and mechanic, employed at his father's garage based in Hereford. He has competed previously in the British Touring Car Championship.
Next Generation Touring Car, also known as NGTC and by its Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) designation TCN-1, is an FIA and TOCA specification and classification for production based race cars. The specification covers national level touring car racing. The goal of the limited choices in engines and parts in the NGTC classification is to allow more manufacturers and privateers to race by reducing the cost of a competitive car and to reduce reliance on the increasingly expensive Super 2000 equipment. The only significant differences between different models is the external body shells and the use of front- or rear-wheel drive; the suspension, brakes and transmissions are common to all cars, and engines are of uniform performance.
The BTC-T Honda Civic Type-R is a BTC-Touring class racing car that was built for the 2002 British Touring Car Championship season by Arena Motorsport, who ran Honda's official works program.
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