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Champion Sutton (left) switches to Focus, while veteran Plato (centre) will contest his final BTCC season at the wheel of a Civic identical to that of rival Team Dynamics (right)
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New BTCC hybrid era kick
● All cars to get hybrid boost ● Final season for Jason Plato
Stephen Errity
Stephen _ Errity@autovia.co.uk
A NEW chapter in the 64-year history of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) begins at Donington Park this weekend as the UK’s longstanding tin-top series adopts hybrid powertrains for the first time.
The championship’s drivers will be in control of when to deploy the hybrid system using a steering wheel-mounted button; it sees cars receive up to 15 seconds of extra power per lap – a benefit that can be used strategically by the driver to either attack or defend during racing conditions.
On the 29-car grid, reigning champion Ash Sutton has switched to a Ford Focus, turning out for the Motorbase Performancerun NAPA Racing UK team next to series returnee Dan Cammish. Motorbase is also running the Apec Racing Fords of Ollie Jackson and Sam Osborne.
Sutton’s former team Laser Tools Racing has signed Aiden Moffat to spearhead its attack, alongside fellow Scotsman Dexter Patterson. Team BMW is retaining Colin Turkington and Stephen Jelley to pilot its pair of cars, which now wear 330e badges to reflect their hybrid powertrains. A third 330e will be driven by Jake Hill under the ROKiT MB Motorsport banner.
Elsewhere, BTC Racing has unveiled a three-strong line-up of Josh Cook, Jade Edwards and series veteran Jason Plato, who has confirmed he’ll be retiring at the end of what will be his 23rd BTCC season.
EXCELR8 will run four Hyundai i30 Ns for Tom Ingram, Tom Chilton, Daniel Lloyd and Jack Butel, while Matt Neal’s Halfords Racing outfit maintains its pairing of threetime champion Gordon Shedden and Daniel Rowbottom in Honda Civics.
Toyota Gazoo Racing UK is running the multiple race-winner Rory Butcher and Ricky Collard, son of former BTCC stalwart Rob.
Ciceley Motorsport is another BMW entrant, fielding Adam Morgan and BTCC debutant George Gamble, while Power Maxed Racing has Michael Crees and Ash Hand at the wheel of its Vauxhall Astras.
Kent-based Team HARD has no fewer than five cars entered: Cupra Leons for Aron Taylor-Smith, Bobby Thompson, Nicholas Hamilton and Jack Goff, plus an Infiniti Q50 for former British GT champion Rick Parfitt.
The 2022 season will be the first with fan attendance throughout since 2019, after disruption during 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. TV coverage has ramped up, too, with a deal to show two events live on ITV1, in addition to the regular showing of every round, plus the support races, on ITV4.
Speaking ahead of the season, BTCC boss Alan Gow said: “When we announced in 2018 that we’d be integrating hybrid, nobody knew the headwinds that would confront us. The pandemic, ongoing global supply chain issues (particularly with “Being the first touringcar championship in the world to go hybrid meant there were no learnings that we could take from others”
microchips and electronics), disruptions as a result of the terrible invasion of Ukraine and the significant price increases of just about everything across the board have all provided huge challenges to the project.
“So it’s important that I acknowledge and thank the outstanding work that Cosworth, the teams, our suppliers and my technical team have put in to get where we are today. The great effort that everyone has made against all those obstacles is something that we should all be incredibly proud of.
“While hybrid is the headline news for this year, we also have the introduction of a completely new engine by M-Sport, which will be used by half the grid, the new 20 per cent sustainable fuel and allnew Cosworth ECUs and electronics.
“Being the first touring-car championship in the world to go hybrid meant there were no learnings we could take from others, but I’m delighted that we’ve achieved this milestone in the history of the BTCC. ”
Following the Donington curtain-raiser this weekend, the BTCC will make customary visits to Brands Hatch, Thruxton, Oulton Park, Croft, Knockhill, Snetterton and Silverstone over the course of the year.
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CONTENDERS
Title hopefuls Tom Ingram, Josh Cook, Ash Sutton and Colin Turkington at pre-season testing
ks off at Donington
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Antonello Coletta, the head of Ferrari GT racing activities, said: “The new car has an intense testing program ahead of it, but we have already had some good feedback from this session. ”
Jenson Button set for Nitro Rallycross
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The 2009 Formula 1 world champion will pilot one of the series’ new-for2022 FC1-X fully electric supercars for the Xite Energy Racing team, driving alongside fellow Brit Oliver Bennett.
Leclerc out front as Formula 1 heads to Imola
FORMULA 1’s European leg kicks off this weekend with the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the Imola Circuit – the former home of the San Marino Grand Prix.
With Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc leading the driver’s championship comfortably, having taken two wins from the opening three races, a strong turnout from the team’s fanatical Tifosi fanbase is assured.
“I can imagine [the excitement], but I don’t want to think about it too much because it’s still very early in the season, ” the Monagesque driver said ahead of the weekend. “I think it’s extremely important not to put extra pressure on ourselves and not try to overdo things. ”
Britain’s George Russell is currently a distant second in the drivers’ standings, while his Mercedes team is in the same spot in the constructors’ championship.
That’s despite a tough start to the season for the Brackley squad, which has struggled to get a handle on the ‘porpoising’ aerodynamic effect that hit every team to some degree in testing.
Elsewhere, Imola is the first of three Formula 1 weekends this year to feature ‘sprint qualifying’ on Saturday, and for this reason Ferrari is holding off deploying any major car upgrades, with limited testing time to evaluate any additions before qualifying kicks off on Friday.
Red Bull, meanwhile, is looking to shave weight off its 2022 car, said to be one of the heaviest on the grid, and to get to the bottom of the engine issues that have seen Max Verstappen retire twice in the opening three rounds. ON A ROLL Leclerc celebrates victory in Australia with his mechanics
