DRIVER SPOTLIGHT: TOM ONSLOW-COLE

Tom Onslow-Cole made his BTCC return in the latest Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, as the 33-year-old stepped in for RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport’s Ollie Brown.

Having undertaken a seven-year sabbatical from the series, and with 45kg of success ballast on board his Volkswagen CC, Onslow-Cole initially struggled to find the pace to match his BTCC rivals, before breaking into the top 20 from his third race onward.

Driver Fact File

Name: Tom Onslow-Cole BTCC Wins: 7
Team: RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport BTCC Podiums: 36
Car:  Volkswagen CC BTCC Poles: 5
BTCC Debut: Brands Hatch, 2007 BTCC Fastest Laps: 14
BTCC Races: 196 BTCC Points: 977

DRIVER SPOTLIGHT: MIKE BUSHELL

2020 saw Mike Bushell return to the BTCC grid, contesting six rounds under the Power Maxed Car Care Racing banner, and a further three for RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport.

An unfortunate incident during race three at Knockhill resulted in injuries which prevented Bushell from taking part in the rounds at Thruxton, before Team Hard recruited the 31-year-old for Croft, where he went on to break into the points-scoring spots in race two.

Name: Mike Bushell BTCC Wins: 0
Team: Power Maxed Car Care Racing / RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport BTCC Podiums: 0
Car: Vauxhall Astra / Volkswagen CC BTCC Poles: 0
BTCC Debut: Knockhill, 2013 BTCC Fastest Laps: 1
BTCC Races: 77 BTCC Points: 106

DRIVER SPOTLIGHT: ANDY NEATE

Having last contested a BTCC race in 2016, Andy Neate made his series return in 2020, driving one of Motorbase Performance’s new Ford Focus STs alongside team-mates Rory Butcher and Ollie Jackson.

Neate was often in the top 20 during the latest campaign and bagged a pair of points finishes, at Brands Hatch Indy and Oulton Park.

Driver Fact File

Name: Andy Neate BTCC Wins: 0
Team:  Motorbase Performance BTCC Podiums: 0
Car: Ford Focus ST BTCC Poles: 0
BTCC Debut: Brands Hatch, 2001 BTCC Fastest Laps: 0
BTCC Races: 131 BTCC Points: 104

DRIVER SPOTLIGHT: BOBBY THOMPSON

Bobby Thompson obtained his highest number of points in a single BTCC season during the 2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, with the 24-year-old taking top 15 finishes in over half the races he contested.

A strong contender in the Jack Sears Trophy, and with the penultimate event of the campaign on the horizon, Thompson topped the standings. But it was his unfortunate incident during race three at Croft, and resulting concussion, which saw the GKR TradePriceCars.com man ruled out of the final two race weekends.

Driver Fact File

Name: Bobby Thompson BTCC Wins: 0
Team:  GKR TradePriceCars.com BTCC Podiums: 0
Car: Audi S3 BTCC Poles: 0
BTCC Debut: Brands Hatch, 2018 BTCC Fastest Laps: 1
BTCC Races: 80 BTCC Points: 102

DRIVER SPOTLIGHT: NIC HAMILTON

The latest Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship saw ROKiT Racing with Team HARD driver Nic Hamilton secure his maiden BTCC point, on Brands Hatch’s GP configuration.

Brands Hatch would prove a happy hunting ground for the 28-year-old, as he also bagged his best-ever qualifying position with P19 during the season finale on the Indy circuit.

Driver Fact File

Name: Nic Hamilton BTCC Wins: 0
Team:  ROKiT Racing with Team HARD BTCC Podiums: 0
Car: Volkswagen CC BTCC Poles: 0
BTCC Debut: Croft, 2015 BTCC Fastest Laps: 0
BTCC Races: 58 BTCC Points: 1

DRIVER SPOTLIGHT: CHRIS SMILEY

Next up in the Driver Spotlight is Excelr8 Motorsport driver Chris Smiley.

In the Northern-Irishman’s fifth BTCC campaign, Smiley enjoyed a consistent year in the new-for-2020 Hyundai i30N, finishing in a points-scoring position a total of 21 times as well as bagging the car’s first-ever podium at Donington Park.

Driver Fact File

Name: Chris Smiley BTCC Wins: 1
Team:  EXCELR8 Motorsport BTCC Podiums: 6
Car: Hyundai i30N BTCC Poles: 0
BTCC Debut: Brands Hatch, 2016 BTCC Fastest Laps: 1
BTCC Races: 132 BTCC Points: 435

DRIVER SPOTLIGHT: JACK BUTEL

Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools’ Jack Butel contested his maiden campaign in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship this year, with one of the most consistent performances of 2020, finishing 26 of the 27 races.

With several top 20 finishes, the Jersey-racer even broke into the points-scoring positions with a 14th-place finish in race three on Brands Hatch’s legendary ‘Grand Prix’ configuration, and ended the season third in the Jack Sears Trophy title battle.

Driver Fact File

Name: Jack Butel BTCC Wins: 0
Team:  Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools BTCC Podiums: 0
Car: Mercedes-Benz A-Class BTCC Poles: 0
BTCC Debut: Donington Park, 2020 BTCC Fastest Laps: 0
BTCC Races: 27 BTCC Points: 2

DRIVER SPOTLIGHT: ETHAN HAMMERTON

Having previously contested six rounds of the BTCC in 2018, Ethan Hammerton got the opportunity to get back onto the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championshipgrid in 2020, with the 20-year-old taking part in the final two race weekends.

Joining BTCC rookie Paul Rivett in the GKR TradePriceCars.com Audi S3, Hammerton took the seat of Bobby Thompson after he was ruled out of the rounds at Snetterton and Brands Hatch following the concussion caused by his accident at Croft.

Driver Fact File

Name: Ethan Hammerton BTCC Wins: 0
Team:  GKR TradePriceCars.com BTCC Podiums: 0
Car: Audi S3 BTCC Poles: 0
BTCC Debut: Silverstone, 2018 BTCC Fastest Laps: 0
BTCC Races: 12 BTCC Points: 0

DRIVER SPOTLIGHT: TOM CHILTON

Having announced a move to BTC Racing for 2020 at Autosport International earlier this year, Tom Chilton has put in a consistent campaign in the latest Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, regularly finishing in the points.

Alongside steadily adding to his points tally, Chilton secured a trio of podiums throughout the year, as well as bagging a point in the penultimate round, having led the pack for the opening eight laps of the race, despite starting from 12th on the grid.

Driver Fact File

Name: Tom Chilton BTCC Wins: 14
Team: BTC Racing BTCC Podiums: 59
Car: Honda Civic Type R (FK8) BTCC Poles: 10
BTCC Debut: Brands Hatch, 2002 BTCC Fastest Laps: 15
BTCC Races: 384 BTCC Points: 1882

TEAMS AGREE TO 2021 BTCC RULE CHANGES

Qualifying format, tyre options, success ballast and fan enhancements all ratified
Some regulation and procedural tweaks have been agreed ahead of the 2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, following an end-of-season meeting between series organiser TOCA and all participating teams.
 
The headline changes relate to the qualifying format, tyre options, success ballast and fan enhancements, and are outlined as follows:
 
Qualifying Format
 
Following the successful trial of the ‘Top Ten Showdown’ qualifying session at Snetterton during the 2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, the same format will be replicated at Donington Park, Snetterton and Silverstone next season.
 
Replacing the usual 30-minute session at these events only, drivers will have a marginally reduced window of 25 minutes to record their lap times. Following a short five-minute break, the fastest ten competitors will then progress to a ten-minute pole position ‘Top Ten Showdown’ session to determine the top ten places on the grid. 

Tyre Options
 
The ‘Option’ tyre will be phased back-in at four of the ten scheduled 2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship events.
 
2020 saw the option tyre format temporarily shelved due to the hectic schedule of events, which gave teams additional workloads through reduced staffing and more logistical challenges than a regular season.
 
With the 2021 BTCC campaign expected to return to normal protocols, Oulton Park, Croft and Snetterton will see the Goodyear soft tyre used as the ‘Option’ tyre, whilst the Goodyear medium compound is the selected ‘Option’ tyre at Knockhill.
 
Across the four events, the ‘Option’ tyre must be used at least once during race one, race two and race three – ensuring a variation of strategies.
 
Teams do not have to specify before qualifying, the race in which they will use their ‘Option’ tyre, with all choices being declared upon cars leaving the pit-lane.
 
Only the Goodyear medium tyre will be allocated for events at Brands Hatch (x2), Donington Park and Silverstone, whilst only the hard compound will be utilised at Thruxton (x2). 

Success Ballast
 
It was agreed that the maximum success ballast of 75 kilograms will be reintroduced, from the current 60 kilograms, given that cars now demonstrably carry success weight far more capably and competitively than before.
 
Therefore, success ballast for the 2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship will be allocated at the following increments:
 
1st:     75kgs                 
2nd:     66kgs                 
3rd:     57kgs                 
4th:      48kgs                 
5th:      39kgs                 
6th:      33kgs    
7th:      27kgs                 
8th:      21kgs                 
9th:      15kgs
10th:    9kgs                                                                                                          
 
Reverse Garages
 
Following the initiative’s successful introduction at Silverstone in 2019, pit garages will again be reversed for the benefit of fans at events at those venues where it is practical to do so.
 
The move will see the front of the pit garages now face into the paddock area, rather than the pit-lane, meaning teams and drivers will conduct most of their preparation work in clear view of the spectators.
 
This activity will be carried out at venues where the space and layout of the paddock and pit-lane area is both viable and safe. Teams’ transporters will be situated slightly further back from the pit garages, ensuring plenty of space is available for fans to view the cars and stars of the BTCC in their garage environment.
 
 
The 2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship will commence at Brands Hatch on 03/04 April.