The official BTCC website has been catching up with numerous 2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship drivers to get their perspectives on the year ahead. Firstly, AmD's Jake Hill discusses his excitement to be driving for the Essex-based squad, his friendship with team-mate Sam Osborne and the learning curve that is the BTCC.

“I feel like more than ever I’ve got the best chance possible to fight for my first Independents’ Championship," said the 25-year-old. "Rory did it last year and I'm hoping I’ll scoop up a few wins and a couple of podiums along the way and just enjoy it.

“My experience is ever-growing; I’ve learnt a tremendous amount this year fighting with the best and most fierce. There are things I won’t do again, things that I might do more of and just generally learning when to fight and when not to. That’s the biggest thing because that leads to consistency which ultimately leads to a championship being won or not. I’m learning that now.”

See below for the whole interview...

For the final memory in Motorsport News Editor Matt James' top ten moments of the decade, James reminisces about an achievement that clearly had a profound impact on him, resulting in a title which reflects the level of respect the MN editor has for this particular driver and his endeavours: Austin the Maestro.

When: September 15, 2013

Where: Rockingham

OK, so this is a very personal memory, but the roar of approval that went up from the packed Rockingham grandstand as Rob Austin took his Audi A4 across the finish line to claim his first British Touring Car Championship victory in 2013 is something that will stay with me for a long time.

There was as much emotion among the massed ranks of fans as there was from inside the team itself. It was, in part, down to his persona, and in part down to the team’s inclusive attitude when it came to the fans, which quickly earned him a sizeable following.

Austin had made his BTCC debut in 2011 but, far from doing things the easy way, he decided to embrace the new NGTC regulations and run his own team. The crew designed and built the Audi, and took on the job of fielding two cars. It was an almost vertical challenge for the small operation.

There were plenty of stumbles, particularly in the early days when Austin was engineering the car as well as driving it. It was all hands to the pump.

Austin and I had history: I had reported on him in the formative years of his single-seater career in Formula Renault in 1998 and 1999. When rating my top six drivers of 1999, I failed to put Austin in the top six despite the fact he had finished second in the standings – a fact he constantly reminds me of this.

A huge crash at the opening meeting of the 2013 season at Brands Hatch had put a sizeable dent in Austin’s budget for his third campaign at BTCC level, but he launched a T-shirt selling scheme which his fans embraced and that gave him the funds to continue. Later, supporters also the chance to buy a slot on the roof of the German car and have their own message or mugshot (most chose the latter) emblazoned on the machine.

That is why the redemption at Rockingham was so well received and the tears among the team members were genuine.

Austin, who had taken a fifth career podium in the opening race at Rockingham that weekend before blasting into a lead he wasn’t to lose at the start of the second encounter, dedicated the victory to his supporters. He said at the time: “There have been times where we nearly jacked it all in, not through choice. We have been on the verge of bankruptcy and they, the fans, have saved us.”

It was humbling for me too, because I had the real inside story of how hard Austin and his crew had worked to achieve just one win. Nothing comes easy in the BTCC, and being this close to the effort and the dedication involved in success was a real eye-opener.

Matt Neal has today (17 January) confirmed that he will be contesting the 2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, alongside Halfords Yuasa Racing team-mate Dan Cammish.

In what will be his record-breaking 30th campaign in the series, Neal holds the accolade for most seasons of any driver in the history of the championship.

“I can’t believe it’s my 30th year!” said 53-year-old said. “It seems like only yesterday that I was competing in my first championship race and winning my first race. There have been a lot of ups and downs over the years, but the positives far outweigh the negatives. The championship continues to grow in stature, both in the UK and on a world platform and I take my hat off to Alan Gow (Series Chief Executive) for making that happen. The evolving regulations and the adoption of new technologies, like hybrid, fill me with excitement for what is coming downstream.

“Personally, I look back on my years in the BTCC and reflect a little on what could have been —several years I’ve missed out on the title by only a few points, but that’s racing for you! 

“Overall, I look back with a wry grin on my face and feel honoured to have raced against some of the best drivers in the world, there are just too many to mention, but we have been graced with some amazing names and personalities over the years and I have gone head-to-head with them all.

“I go into 2020 as hungry as ever to win my fourth BTCC title and take it to Colin (Turkington), and of course my own team-mate Dan, who continues to impress me with his driving aptitude. We work well as a team and I’d hope that I have played an influential part during his BTCC career in developing him to be the driver he is today. Dan is undeniably quick and the old adage in motorsport is that you always have to beat your team-mate first. So that will be the challenge this season.

“The Honda FK8 Type R is now a pretty potent package in its third season and I can’t wait to get behind the wheel testing again next month. With Honda, Halfords and Yuasa all partnering us again for another season, as well as all our other supporting sponsors, we have the ingredients in place for an exciting year ahead. But will it be my last? We’ll have to wait and see!”

Honda UK Managing Director David Hodgetts is similarly enthusiastic for the forthcoming campaign, as the Japanese manufacturer seeks to build upon its glittering record in the series over the last decade.

“Matt continues to be a fantastic ambassador for Honda and our company philosophy where innovation, teamwork and a ‘challenging spirit’ remain at the heart of our business,” said Hodgetts. “We have developed a great relationship with Matt during ten consecutive seasons together in the BTCC and I very much look forward to more success for the Civic Type-R in 2020."

 

For the penultimate episode of Motorsport News Editor Matt James’ top ten memories from the last ten years of the British Touring Car Championship, we’re looking back to 2018, when Senna Proctor produced an impressive drive at Brands Hatch, from 27th on the grid to the top step of the podium!

When: April 8, 2018

Where: Brands Hatch

There was unbounded joy on the podium for the second British Touring Car Championship race of the season at Brands Hatch in 2018. All three of the men who scaled the rostrum were doing so for the first time after a truly bonkers 27 laps.

They had been the brave ones, the guys with nothing to lose. The wet-but-drying circuit played perfectly into the hands of those who wanted to gamble.

Eventual winner Senna Proctor started 27th on the grid in his Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra. Second place finisher Jake Hill began the event in 25th in his Team Hard Volkswagen CC, while Ollie Jackson – who completed the podium – had started the race in 12th position.

They all knew it was a risk to opt for slick tyres, but one that paid the ultimate reward, and just 11 of the 32 starters went for dry Dunlops.

Proctor’s engineer Rob Peacey steered the tyre decision. “I started on the 14th row of the grid and it was definitely pretty hard from back there,” Proctor explained. “I went out and there were a few drying patches. I had watched the Renault Clio Cup race and the race before that and there had been quite a bit of spray, but when we went out there was much less so I could see that it was drying quite rapidly.

“I said over the radio that there were a couple of drying patches and my engineer said, ‘the slicks are going on, it is non-negotiable’. That was it: he made my decision for me. I questioned it, but by the time the red lights went out, I thought ‘well, we are here now, let’s just do it’.”

It took a while to come to him though. It wasn’t until eight laps to go that the train of slick-tyred cars had climbed into the top 10.

Aiden Moffat (similarly slick-shod) got caught out going into Clearways and slewed sideways, which allowed Hill and Proctor to assume the charge of the dry-tyred racers.

Proctor managed to overhaul Hill (who was struggling with a broken radio and no communication with the pits), but Moffat wasn't out of the picture.

On lap 22, it came to a head: Proctor got inside leader Jack Goff’s Eurotech Honda coming out of Paddock Hill Bend and took the lead, but he only had it for a few seconds as the recovering Moffat jumped them both up the inside a few hundred yards later at Druids.

Even then, the action wasn't done. Proctor got underneath Moffat coming out of Druids on the penultimate lap and the pair made the slightest of touches. Moffat fired hard into the bank, but remarkably the car held together, and he came home in fifth spot.

But the ultimate joy belonged to Proctor in what had been one of the British Touring Car Championship’s blockbuster races.

Today btcc.net continues with Motorsport News Editor Matt James’ top ten memories from the last ten years of the British Touring Car Championship. James today discusses the 'next generation' of drivers which entered the championship between 2015 and 2019, including the unwitting role Jason Plato has played in their careers.

When: 2015-2019

Where: All over the UK

While the British Touring Car Championship has always enjoyed a host of household names – think of Matt Neal, Jason Plato, Gordon Shedden, Colin Turkington and Andrew Jordan – there is always a hunger to find the next generation.

The latter part of the decade saw the emergence of several, but there are arguably two stand-out talents that will be mainstays in the BTCC for many years to come.

Plato probably regrets it now, but he launched Tom Ingram into the successful BTCC driver that he is today.

Plato, with backing from Tesco’s energy drinks brand KX, had a war chest to go and find the next generation of talent through an academy scheme, and the two-time BTCC champion took his role very seriously. It was a scheme which would provide off-track education and support as well as on-track budget.

He gathered together a panel of judges to assess the initial applications, and I was fortunate enough to be among them. Ingram’s application stood out: the then Ginetta Junior racer had started on his career but was always battling a lack of funding. Plato gave him the leg-up he needed and, after claiming three titles in the Ginetta nursery slopes, he finally made the step up to the BTCC in 2014. It was the start of a fruitful relationship with Speedworks which took the cusp of the crown in 2018 and he is now a fully-fledged works driver in the Team Toyota GB Corolla.

Plato is also intrinsically linked to the career of Ash Sutton too. The 2015 Renault UK Clio Cup winner graduated to the BTCC with MG in 2016 and was a winner immediately, but he really hit his stride when partnered with Plato at the Team BMR Subaru squad in 2017. He made a disastrous start with a crash in testing at Pembrey and another at Brands Hatch during the opening event of the season. His engineers had told him he had to avoid getting the nickname “CrAshley Sutton”…

He left Kent following the opening weekend with zero points on the board. But then he really turned it on and six wins propelled him to the crown in just his second year in the top flight. His star had truly begun to shine, and seven wins since then has cemented him as a BTCC fan favourite.

In addition to his Round 19 win at Thruxton, our next #WinItWednesday victor also took the second most pole positions of any other driver in the 2019 campaign.

Despite not taking part in the final three events of the season, Cobra Sport AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing's Sam Tordoff finished an impressive 13th overall at the conclusion of the season.

Click the image below to download…

Continuing with Motorsport News Editor Matt James' top ten memories from the last ten years of the British Touring Car Championship, today we consider the exciting 'Magnificent Seven' in the 2014 BTCC roster. 

When: 2014

Where: All over the UK

January is always a busy month for the British Touring Car Championship. The teams beavering away to fettle cars for the forthcoming season – or, indeed, create brand new ones. It is also a frantic time for the team managers too as they scour the landscape for any likely drivers for the forthcoming campaign. In January 2014, the headlines almost wrote themselves.

Andrew Jordan went into the season as the reigning champion, and he stuck with his family-run Eurotech Racing team to race a Honda Civic Type R. The factory Team Dynamics Honda pairing of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden remained too. Jason Plato, a two-time titleholder, was back in the line-up with the Triple Eight Race Engineering-run MG6.

Colin Turkington, who was fifth on his return to the BTCC in 2013 with a WSR BMW 125i M Sport, was also set for a second term with the German machine.

Taking that crop of talent into account, five champions going door handle-to-door handle was lip-smacking enough, but then the attention ramped up even more.

At that time, Alain Menu was fifth equal in the list of overall race winners with 36 victories. He had been a familiar face in the BTCC paddock in his role as driver advisor with BMR Racing, but when team boss Warren Scott decided to give the then 50-year-old a full-time race drive in a VW CC for 2014, the fans were delighted. The Swiss racer, who had claimed the crown with Renault in 1997 and with Ford in 2000, brought the title-winner count to six.

And then came the real curveball with Italian Fabrizio Giovanardi, who had been forced out of the BTCC following Vauxhall’s withdrawal at the end of 2010, announcing his return. The 2007 and 2008 victor, then 47 years old, inked a deal with David Bartrum’s Motorbase Performance team to handle a Ford Focus. Make that seven champions.

In the end, it was the younger brigade who prevailed with Turkington taking a second title for WSR ahead of Plato and Shedden. The old guard struggled, but Menu made a spectacular return to the podium at Rockingham and that followed that up with another Silverstone. The pace might not have been there for either Menu or Giovanardi, but it was a hugely popular cameo from them both.

As the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship kick-started its 2020 season at Autosport International last week with myriad driver and team announcements, BTCC caught up with Laser Tools Racing’s Aiden Moffat and Ashley Sutton as they unveiled the updated livery for the squad’s pair of Infiniti Q50 touring cars.

“It’s by far the most excited I’ve been at the start of a season,” said Moffat. “Now that we’re building two brand new Infiniti Q50s, expanding Laser Tools Racing to a two-car team, and working with Ash Sutton, it’s all coming together. Ash is bringing his race engineer Tony Carrozza to the team and I’m staying with my race engineer Federico Turrata, so it’s going to be a very exciting year for everyone.

"Engineering-wise, we’ve been working very hard over the winter on building the two new Infinitis and redesigning them literally from the ground up. We’ve much-improved weight distribution and stiffness in the shell, and after a session in the wind tunnel at MIRA in December, the aero is substantially modified and improved.

“Personally, my goal this year is to get back on the top step, to be winning races. Obviously I’m still learning rear-wheel-drive — I haven’t done a full season in rear-wheel-drive yet, so there are tracks this year that I will be driving a rear-wheel-drive car for the first time.

"Ash Sutton, with his experience and the fact that he’s a great person to work with, means that he’s a great person to learn from. But at the same time I’m very confident in my own ability and I’m feeling at home with rear-wheel drive, it feels very suited to me. Deep down, I’m quietly confident I’ll get back up to the front and we’ll have two Laser Tools Racing cars at the front of the grid.

“The advantages of a two-car team are obvious: having a team-mate to work with is going to be a massive help. Knowledge and experience are key — Ash has done three years in the rear-wheel-drive Subaru and won the championship. His engineer Tony Carrozza brings a different way of looking at things for myself and Federico, and for us all to come together it speeds up the process of developing the new Infinitis.”

Fellow Laser Tools Racing driver Sutton also expressed his excitement regarding the development of the two new cars currently being built.

“The car that Aiden ran in 2019 was first brought into the championship in 2014,” said the 25-year-old. “Although Laser Tools Racing updated it to the current NGTC specs, it is, shall we say, a little bit out of date. With the build of the two new cars behind the scenes, a lot of what we have learned with the Subarus, which was a constant evolution, has been carried over into the design of the new Infinitis. That is going to be a key part of pushing this car onto the next level.

“The challenge that we will be up against this year will be understanding and finding our feet with the two new cars. We fully intend to take the fight up to the likes of the BMWs and the Hondas, but there are new names on the grid, as well as drivers in different teams this year, so we don’t really know what to expect for this upcoming season.

“However, I haven’t been this excited since 2017, the year we won the championship. I feel the puzzle is coming together nicely for us to be in the title picture by the end of the season. The key thing for me is to be consistent — yes, everyone wants race wins, but we’ve got to pick points up. Points mean prizes and we’re after that big prize at the end of the year.

“We’ve already made quite an impact, with the expansion of Laser Tools Racing and me joining the team. You’ve got two young drivers that are both very fiery, that’s a combination bound to turn some heads and it seems to be doing that already. I’m all about playing the team game, working together is what makes us grow and will push us further up the grid, bouncing information back and forth, learning from one another and making sure that we look out for each other on the circuit. Touring car racing is very close, rough and tough — to have a team-mate that you can rely on for backup is crucial.”

As we continue to look back at the previous decade, Motorsport News Editor Matt James reveals his top ten memories from the last ten years of the British Touring Car Championship. Today’s episode reviews the re-introduction of estate/tourer cars into the UK’s biggest championship, stirring memories of the famous Volvo 850 Estate from the mid-nineties...

When: 2014 and 2016-2019

Where: All over the UK

The idea came from three-time champion Matt Neal initially. Having raced the hatchback-shaped Honda Civic Type R, he wanted to raise the profile of the factory-backed campaign for 2014 and took a radical decision. Neal and his Team Dynamics team-mate Gordon Shedden would pilot newly built Honda Civic Tourers for 2014.

The team’s technical director Barry Plowman was tasked with creating the estate-shaped machine. He remembers: “I thought Matt was joking when he first told me about the plan. But it soon became clear that he wasn’t. I took a deep breath.”

The challenges with the size of the Tourer meant that the engineers were always trying to work out how best to overcome the difficulties of having all the weight high up over the rear of the car. However, they chipped away and Shedden took three wins, including at the final round of the season at Brands Hatch, and finished third in the points while Neal was a race winner at Knockhill on his way to eighth in the category. Honda was runner up in the Manufacturer-Constructors competition.

Team Dynamics’ off-the-wall thinking wasn’t alone, as the ambitions BMR Racing squad revisited the idea a couple of seasons later.

BMR Racing’s initial plan for 2016 was to use the Subaru WRX, the hatchback shape which had upheld the Japanese firm’s honour in its last years in the World Rally Championship. Boffins at BMR drew up plans for the machine which had an inherent advantage in terms of its dynamics – the low-slung boxer engine meant that the weight distribution of the chassis was always likely to be advantageous. Also, as it is sold as an all-wheel-drive car, it meant the engineers could opt for rear-wheel-drive in its racing version.

Subaru came on board as a manufacturer entry, but it changed the focus a little. It asked BMR Racing to run the Levorg model instead as it tried to spruce up the image of the estate-shaped car.

BMR built a superb machine and it went on to take 21 wins, making it the fifth most successful NGTC-spec car of all time, and it also claimed the overall drivers’ championship with Ash Sutton at the controls in 2017. Subaru was runner up in the manufacturers contest during that season.

Michael Crees will race under the BTC Racing team banner in the 2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, completing the Brackley-based outfit’s extended three-car squad line-up for the campaign.

Kent-based Crees fulfilled his lifelong dream of making the BTCC grid last season after a rapid ascent through the ranks from karting to the UK’s premier motorsport series in only his third year of competitive racing.

Taking two Championship titles in his first two seasons of competition in the Ginetta Racing Drivers’ Club and Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup, where he notched up an incredible eleven class victories and eight further podium finishes, the 36-year-old’s story has been highly impressive.

Crees’ arrival on the BTCC grid last year was met with huge interest, with the ‘Creesy’ name gathering a loyal and ever-increasing fan following. An impressive debut race during the season opener at his home-circuit, Brands Hatch, netted the Broadstairs-racer a top 12 finish on the Indy layout and opened up his point-scoring tally.

Following up with a best-ever ninth-place finish in race three at Silverstone later in the season, Crees surpassed any expectations he had coming into the series, ending the year as the highest-placed rookie driver from the seven newcomers to the BTCC grid.

Having worked hard over the winter to secure the necessary sponsorship, Crees joins experienced, multi-race winning drivers Josh Cook and Tom Chilton as part of the BTC Racing line-up in the squad’s third Honda Civic Type R FK8.

“I couldn’t believe I was even on the BTCC grid last year to be fair! It was a dream come true,” said Crees. “My goal all along was to finish the year as the top rookie, and I achieved that. Getting a 12^th place finish in my first ever BTCC race was incredible, and then following up with a ninth at Silverstone and making it into the top ten in my first year of touring cars racing was really special.

“I’ve been working non-stop to secure a strong budget to be able to secure a deal this year. A week ago it didn’t look like I’d even have a drive. To go from no seat at all, to signing for a front-running team in only my fourth season of racing is amazing.

“I still have a huge amount to learn and to develop my race-craft. Steve [Dudman] and Bert [Taylor] have taken a calculated risk on me, and we’re going to make it work. Last year was a great steppingstone but coming into the FK8 is going to be a hell of a drive. I’m not going to put myself under too much pressure.

“Josh [Cook] and Tom [Chilton] are seasoned pros. I rate Josh highly and Tom is a fantastic driver who’s been around for a long time. I’m just going to be like a sponge and take in as much as I possibly can from them both.”

“I think this is an exciting signing for BTC Racing. Michael joining us completes what I believe is a very strong line-up for 2020,” said joint Team Principal Bert Taylor. “It’s a great opportunity to give a rookie driver the chance to come and learn his craft in a top-flight team and car. 

“Although he’s relatively new to the grid, he brings great energy to the team and willingness to improve. He should learn a lot from Josh and Tom and will benefit greatly from working with them. I feel sure that the three of them will work well together and we can look forward to lots of success as a team.”