BTCC – Where is it now?

Monday, 24 January 2011 08:24

Though the Sierra Cosworths of the 80’s/90’s era are fondly remembered, it was the advent of the two litre era that shaped touring cars into a series that came close to providing a genuine alternative to F1 for racing drivers around the world.

Apart from Austrailia and Germany, who retained their big-engined series alongside a separate 2 litre championship, most countries adopted the new rules meaning that international teams and drivers could race in other countries with little to no modifications required to the cars. It was a golden era for national motorsport, and made a number of homegrown drivers into household names along with their international rivals – but sadly bears little resemblance to the BTCC as we know it today.

1991 while transitional, still proved that the 2l cars were going to make better racing, as the late Will Hoy triumphed in a season dominated by BMW. The German team had been racing cars in the 2l class of the old touring car rules for years and so had the early advantage, but promising entries from Vauxhall, Toyota and Nissan among others ran them fairly close. 1992 saw Peugeot and Mazda join in, and the playing field slightly levelled by the development of the replacement for BMW’s all-conquering M3, the 318i, which was off the pace slightly in the early rounds. The entry list for 1992 featured numerous national racing stars, in easily recognisable road cars; Andy Rouse and Will Hoy in Toyota Carina’s, Tim Harvey, Steve Soper and a one off appearance from Colin McRae in BMW 318i’s, John Cleland, Geoff Allam and David Leslie in Vauxhall Cavaliers, Rob Gravett in the Peugeot 405, and many more. The racing was fierce and the crowds started growing before the season culminated in the infamous Silverstone finale, in which Cleland, Harvey and Hoy could still win the title. Cleland and Harvey were battling hard, but Harvey’s team mate Soper (often the faster of the two, but not running a full-time campaign) intervened. After being muscled aside in an audacious fashion by the Vauxhall driver, Soper came back into the next corner, cutting across the grass and taking Cleland to the wall – gifting the title to Harvey. And while all this was going on, a few other names were learning their trade down the order. Matt Neal and Alain Menu would both go on the great things in the sport.

1993 saw BMW aim to defend their title by sending over the crack Schnitzer Motorsport team from Germany, pairing Steve Soper with Joachim Winkelhock. Renault joined the party, Menu joined by Harvey in the new cars. Toyota took ex-F1 driver Julian Bailey as Rouse left to spearhead the return of Ford. Nissan increased their involvement, as did Peugeot, while Vauxhall retained a strong presence. Indeed Vauxhall maintained that presence all the way to 2009, when they finally axed the works program. 1994 saw a full works effort from Alfa Romeo, bringing yet another top team to the sport as well as a top driver in eventual champion Gabriele Tarquini. Volvo arrived too with the headline-grabbing 850 Estate driven by Rikard Rydell and Jan Lammers. The year also saw a low-key debut for James Thompson, in a private 405. BTCC and touring cars in general was a hit all over the world, championships in Germany, Italy, Australia, Spain, Scandinavia, as well as a season-ending ‘World Cup’, all running cars that could be raced in any of the others. Though the standard of the racing continued to increase, and the audiences at the track on the television soared, the Alfa was a disruptive influence though, and sowed the seeds that would eventually kill the sport...

In 1995 those seeds started to sprout. The other teams were having to run larger budgets in order to compete with the Alfa Romeos, who had used controversial aerodynamics after utilizing a loophole in the rules. For the new season, the aero parts were made legal across the board – increasing the budget required to run the cars. The Williams F1 team was now running the Renaults, and Tom Walkinsaw was running Arrows in F1 as well as Volvo in BTCC. Between 1995 and 1998 this era of big money and big names came a different kind of golden era. 92-94 had provided the best racing, the ‘normal’ looking cars and many relatable characters, while 95-98 brought the big money and the glamour. The racing intensified further, the domestic drivers having to deal with greater and greater international rivals. Audi arrived with a works car and Frank Biela, while the works teams of Volvo, Renault, Honda, Nissan, Ford, Vauxhall, Peugeot, BMW all made it great to watch. The calibre of the cars and drivers on offer meant the audience was there to stay – even if the aero rules had made overtaking a little more difficult. Worryingly, this had lead to a large number of ‘aggressive’ passes which further increased the costs. 1997 and 1998 were the last great years (featuring Nigel Mansell’s star turn in the rain at Donington – youtube it), 1999 retained the competition without the depth – as the escalating costs took their toll. 2000 saw just 10 regular entries, prompting the organisers to introduce a lower class for less-modified vehicles. It was the end of the Super Touring regulations, since then the BTCC has never fully recovered.

2001, and the championship had lost its star-appeal. Jason Plato won in a very thin field, and although numbers increased in subsequent years, the appeal never fully returned. The TV audience never came back, the crowds never came back, and perhaps the essence of what made the 2ltr era had gone. What began as ‘cars that look like cars’ had become ‘cars that look like Tesco car park at 2am’. More and more drivers were paying to be there, which is inevitable, but not desirable. There appeared to be a slight resurgence on the cards 03-04, but numbers dwindled again for 2005. Matt Neal finally took the title he had spent all of his life chasing, following it up with a second in 06. The arrival of multiple TC champion Fabrizio Giovanardi added an international twist to what had almost become a fully domestic affair, and the racing was pretty good. Still, the contact-racing mentality that rooted in the sport in the late 90’s spoiled the show – too many races ending in triumph for the driver willing to send other cars to the wall. The 2007-2009 period was exciting, although no matching the 90’s heyday, as Giovanardi and Turkington took titles in hotly-contested seasons. As well as a core of 6/7 decent drivers, part-time entries for ex-F1 ace Johnny Herbert and 2-time BTCC champion James Thompson kept the action interesting – and with new Ford and Chevrolet teams (albeit not a works entries) joining the fun as well, everything looked to be on the up.

2010, and the BTCC took a backwards step. Vauxhall left, taking with it one of the BTCC’s greatest exponents. Giovanardi was hurriedly brought back at a moment’s notice for the first round, but his program ended there. Reigning champion Colin Turkington did not even make the grid, his WSR team having to take two pay-drivers to retain their entry. Neal and Plato remained, but the prestige had wandered off again. And then the controversy (stemming largely from Jason Plato moaning about it at every given opportunity) around Ford’s turbo-charged LPG engine threw the whole season into disrepute. Throw in the fact that Ford (known as Team Aon, thanks to the sponsorship money that propelled not only Tom Chilton, but also his younger brother Max – running single seaters) chose to call back Tom Onslow-Cole – seemingly on course for the title – to fall behind his team mate for no reason other than that the money might go away. TOC put a brave face on it, and towed the line as he knew he had to, but it cost him the championship and everyone knew it. A title for Plato in a depleted field, against a team sabotaging itself, in a year where he did nothing but complain, was an unsatisfactory end for anyone with memory of the BTCC of the 90’s and leaves me with little hope for next season.

The most bizarre thing to me, is that those stars of the 90’s are still the grandee names in touring car racing. Tarquini and Yvan Muller are the most recent world champions, despite their age. Alain Menu is still winning races, Rikard Rydell does when he secures a ride. James Thompson continues his nomadic career, winning in anything he can get his hands on. Tim Harvey found a new home in the Porsche Cup, and others like Anthony Reid and Peter Kox still frequent sports car racing with success. Even the drivers now retired or in some cases no longer with us (Hoy, Leslie) are still spoken of fondly by those who saw them. Names like Cleland, Radisich, Warwick, Cecotto, and many more. New drivers come and go but the class of the 90’s continues to be the yardstick. And sadly, it can only point to a lack of talent and interest in the BTCC. To look back is always to see the positives, but to look forward straining for positives and not finding any serves only to remind me that my cynicism is probably correct. The last few years have produced some promising drivers, but they all depend entirely on MONEY. Steven Kane came back for 2010, but had driven well enough in 2008 to deserve to be there in 2009 too. His replacement Jonathan Adam was also quick, but not quick enough to stay without the cash. Dan Eaves, the only man ever to win all three races in the weekend, hasn’t completed a full season since. Talented Irishman Eoin Murray, competing in car he won as his prize for winning European Alfa Romeo Challenge, was dealt with in “classic” BTCC style as he was continually shunted off until the car was no longer repairable. The list of young drivers who have arrived, done well, and then disappeared is frighteningly long. When the only factor is money, there can be no appeal.

So where can the BTCC go? At the moment it is lacking character drivers, decent racing etiquette from its supposed “star drivers”, and cars that look enough like the cars they are based on. The new NGTC rules look good for increasing grid sizes, but pushing everything towards a spec-series is not the way BTCC became great. It became great with cars that looked like road cars, with a myriad of characters in the cars, racing hard but seldom going to too far. If I hear Tim Harvey –now commentating – describe another bulldozing move by Neal/Plato as “that’s classic Neal/Plato”, I might switch off for good. By pip Hammond

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Comments (1)

|2011-01-25 22:24:55 Keith

You aptly demonstrate a considerable understanding of the sport and how it has changed through the ages. I share your vision for a return to the glory days via sensible and obvious sporting decisions. Maybe we can revive our [stolen] idea for the English Counties' Racing Championship...
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