Trackside: British Touring Cars back on top
16 October 2006 But yesterday’s thrilling championship finale before a packed crowd at Silverstone proved the series is on the road to recovery. Trackside’s Keith Collantine was there to see three intense races, the crowning of a champion… and an impromptu wedding proposal. Britain has a strong tradition of touring car racing. For years the British Touring Car Championship was the foremost saloon car championship, attracting entries from Audi to Alfa and Renault to BMW. Even former F1 drivers got in on the action – Nigel Mansell raced a Ford Mondeo in 1993 and 1998, and Derek Warwick, Tiff Needell and Jonathon Palmer all sampled rides.
Today, five years on, the BTCC is finally showing signs of having turned it all around. Spectator numbers have swelled this year as the championship revived its reputation for close, action-packed racing. Crowd favourite Matt Neal in his Honda Integra may have sewn up his second consecutive championship, but he’s been made to work for it. Like every other driver in the series, the more races he’s won, the more ballast he’s had to carry. Title rival Jason Plato in the factory-backed Seat Leon has pushed him all the way. But even Plato – champion in 2001 and a notoriously tough racer – couldn’t keep Neal away from the prize. He could only take eighth in the first race yesterday which handed Neal the title. In the second Plato suffered a driveshaft failure, provoking a huge crash which eliminated team mate James Thompson, and Mike Jordan. A despondent Plato mused afterwards on how many times this year he’s been sat in the pits drinking tea while the race was still going on: “I guess it’s another bloody cuppa for me,” he muttered gloomily after race two.
There was plenty of other entertainment on offer as well. And the crowd roared in approval when BTCC racer Mark Smith proposed to girlfriend Gemma just before the start of the second race. Sadly it wasn’t enough to inspire Smith to a victory in the race… The series is set to get even better next year with the long-awaited changeover to Super 2000 regulations. This will see the kind of cars seen in the World Touring Car Championship eligible to compete – which should further boost entry numbers. It’s great to see the BTCC looking strong and healthy again – here’s to a cracking 2007. Auto Trader links |
But the bubble burst at the turn of the millennium. Costs got out of control, the manufacturers deserted and grid sizes plummeted.
Although the second race had to be stopped and restarted the crowd remained in good spirits. BTCC Sundays pack in three of the top bill touring car races plus Formula Renault single-seaters, the Porsche Carrera Cup, Seat Cupra championship and the Renault Clio Cup – 11 races in all.Page 1
