A Guide To The British Touring Car Championship
The 2024 British Touring Car Championship kicks off this weekend at Donington Park and for a fourth successive season, Bristol Street Motors will be chasing title success alongside partners EXCELR8 Motorsport.
As last year, the Team Bristol Street Motors squad comprises of four Hyundai i30 Fastback N cars being driven by 2022 champion Tom Ingram, ex-World Touring Car racer Tom Chilton, rising star Ronan Pearson and former GT racer Nick Halstead.
But what is the British Touring Car Championship?
The BTCC was launched back in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship, making it one of the oldest motorsport championships in the world. Originally, many drivers would drive their cars to the track, compete in the races, and then drive home again afterwards with cars placed into different classes depending on engine size.
In the very first season, the title was only decided after a special shoot-out between Class C champion Jack Sears and Class D champion Tommy Sopwith, with the pair taking part in two five lap races in identical Riley One-Point-Five cars after ending the campaign level on points.
To ensure things were fair, they swapped cars after the first race with the title decided on aggregate times. Sopwith won race one, but Sears won race two to take the title by just 1.6 seconds.
From those early days, the BTCC has continually evolved in the same way that motoring has changed beyond recognition, but one constant has been the all-action racing that continues to this day between packed grids featuring some of the best drivers in the UK.
What about the cars racing now?
The cars currently racing in the BTCC are high-tech machines all designed to a unique set of regulations introduced in 2011 – so long gone are the days of driving to the track and then home again.
Known as Next Generation Touring Cars, each competing model runs a 2.0-litre turbo-charged engine that includes a hybrid system developed by electrical specialists Cosworth, whilst there are a number of spec-parts that are run on every car in order to keep costs in check, and to try and ensure a level playing field.
The switch to NGTC rules made it easier for smaller teams to build their own cars, which would have been prohibitive in the past when major manufacturers were ploughing millions of pounds into racing programmes.
EXCELR8 are a prime example, having designed and built the Team Bristol Street Motors Hyundais in house without manufacturer backing.
What models can I expect to see?
Every car on the grid is based on a family car currently on sale in the UK, with models from Hyundai, BMW, Ford, Toyota, Vauxhall and Cupra all being represented this season.
Honda, Alfa Romeo, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, MG and Subaru are amongst those brands to have featured on the grid in recent years.
So what is the weekend format?
Each of the ten race meetings is held across two days, with a day set aside for practice and qualifying, and then one for racing.
On Saturday, drivers have two 40 minute practice sessions to work on fine-tuning their cars before qualifying takes place later in the day. That qualifying format is split over three segments with the grid split in two for Q1 based on the times set in second practice, with the fastest six from each group going through to Q2. From there, the top six progress into Q3 to fight for pole.
That sets the grid for race one on Sunday with the grid for race set by the finishing order of race one. The grid for race three is then decided by the result of race two, with a random reversal of anything from the top six to top twelve.
The number of positions reversed is determined by pulling a number from a bowl after race two has concluded.
All races on a weekend are of equal length, although additional laps can be added if a safety car is called out.
And who scores points?
Points are scored on a sliding scale of 20-17-15-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 to the top 15 drivers in each race, with the same points for the Independents’ Championship and the Jack Sears Trophy.
When it comes to the overall championship, there are also various bonus points on offer, with a point for pole position (in qualifying), a point for fastest lap in each race and then a point if you lead a lap (which can only be scored by a driver once in a race).
Teams can score in the Overall and Independents’ Teams standings, whilst there is an award for the top Manufacturer/Constructor – meaning a team backed by a manufacturer or which is registered as a constructor of its own cars.
Team Bristol Street Motors is a constructor entry.
I can guess about the Independent drivers, but what’s the Jack Sears Trophy?
It’s a special award to honour the BTCC’s first champion, and is fought for by those drivers who haven’t scored an overall BTCC podium at the start of the year.
Previously, the award was handed out to the driver who made up the most places across the season, and then to the top performing rookie before a lack of rookies one season saw a change to the current rules.
A trophy is given each weekend to the best performing Jack Sears Trophy driver.
How Does The Hybrid Bit Work?
It’s not like a road car where you have either a plug-in or self-charging hybrid system that see the car running with both a conventional petrol engine and an additional electric motor.
The BTCC hybrid operates through the gearbox of the car via a button on the steering wheel, and grants the driver an additional burst of power that can used for a set amount of time each lap, and for a specific number of laps each race.
How much hybrid is available is down to championship position during race one of a weekend, and then the results of the previous race as a weekend progresses.
The idea behind the hybrid system is that it adds an additional element of strategy to a race, with drivers having to decide when to use it, and whether to use it for the purposes of attacking or defending.
So it makes the racing more exciting?
That’s all part of the plan but to be fair, there are few championships that provide as much action even without hybrid thrown into the mix. It’s one of the reasons why touring car racing is so popular, with drivers going wheel-to-wheel on track and races often decided by fractions of second.
The phrase 'rubbing is racing' could have been coined for the BTCC and if you want an idea of why, then check out the video below...
OK – I’m sold. Where do I watch it?
There are ten meetings held each year between April and October at major circuits across the UK, including famous names like Brands Hatch, Donington Park and Silverstone. The series also visits Thruxton, Oulton Park, Snetterton and Croft, whilst once a year there is a trip to Scotland for a round at Knockhill.
Each event is shown live on ITV4 – and occasionally on the main ITV channel – with every BTCC race available to view free of charge. From this season, the touring car races will also be available live on TikTok in a world-first broadcast arrangement.
The extensive ITV coverage goes beyond just the BTCC, with a number of races from the various support packages also being shown.
What are they?
For 2024, the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE, the Porsche Carrera Cup GB and Porsche Sprint Challenge GB and Formula 4 form the regular support package and you’ll be able to see them at the majority of events this season.
Various guest championships will also appear over the course of the year, including the Radical UK Cup, Mini7 Championship, Legends, Pre-66 Touring Cars and Caterhams.
Who should I look out for?
Well for us that’s a simple one to answer, with the Team Bristol Street Motors quartet driving four of the most eye-catching cars on the grid this season.
The livery this season has been designed to tie in with our 100th anniversary and we’re looking forward to seeing it fighting towards the sharp end of the field and battling for the championship title.
The team’s Hyundai i30 Fastback N was designed and built in-house by the EXCELR8 team, and is powered by a bespoke Hyundai engine developed alongside Swindon Powertrain.
A proven race winner, the car carried Ingram to the title in 2022 – and we’re hopeful of more championship silverware during the year ahead.
Want to get behind the wheel of a new Hyundai yourself?