M OTO R S P O RT 28 AUTOCAR.CO.UK XX MONTH 2016
Damien Smith R AC I N G L I N E S
Gow took over BTCC in 1991 and helped send its popularity soaring
STATE OF THE BTCC NATION
Series boss tells us why he’s primed for a whole new tin-top era he British Touring Car Championship is just over a week away from the start of its ‘reset’ season. In an echo of Formula 1, Britain’s premier motorsport series has a major technical rule change for 2022 that will shake up its challenge to teams and drivers. Whether it mixes up the competitive order, too, remains to be seen, but as our full preview explains on p54, significant top-order driver and team switches have added to the sense of anticipation. Like everyone, BTCC ringmaster Alan Gow is raring to go. The season will begin a little later than usual this year, at Donington Park on 23/24 April, to give teams more time with the mandatory Cosworth-made hybrid system that has only recently been fitted to all cars on the 30-strong entry list. Hiccups are to be expected, as Gow admits. “I’m looking forward to a race weekend when there are no issues,” he says. “There will be glitches;
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we all know that. We see it in every formula when comprehensive changes are made. If we can come out of a race weekend and say no one had an issue and all the calculations we made on the amount of hybrid [power boost] worked well, that’s what I’m looking forward to.” NO BLINKERS IN THE BTCC
The introduction of hybrid technology is accepted by most as a necessity. “It’s very important,” says Gow. “You can’t ignore what’s going on in the world around you. As our transportation moves increasingly towards hybrid or electrification in whatever form that takes, we have to stay relevant, not just to the manufacturers involved but also to the sponsors and spectators.
“We’re also introducing 20% sustainable fuel [R20], which is a huge thing. That’s double what the government mandates for forecourts. That along with hybrid is a really powerful message to send. “Importantly, we’re not doing it at the expense of the on-track action; it will actually help in that regard. Hybrid is a performance enhancer.” NEW BALANCE ON POWER
Gow is referring to the sliding scale of boost that replaces the success-ballast equalisation that made race weekends so unpredictable. “Teams have got their cars engineered in the last few years to know how to work with different weights,” he says. “All of that now goes out the window. Everyone will be running the same
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Introducing sustainable fuel and hybrids is a really powerful message ❞
base weight, albeit still with 30kg difference between front-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive. The only variable will be the amount of hybrid power available to you, depending on where you are in the championship and previous race. Hopefully it will throw the formbook out the window too. Having said that, the cream always rises to the top.” As always, Gow and his TOCA technical team will react quickly if the new system needs tweaking – although sensibly, kneejerk reactions to any major surprises at Donington will be avoided. “I’ve been very clear with the teams all the way along,” says the boss. “We’ve done a lot of bench simulations and we think what we’ve got is pretty much right. That’s my gut feeling, because none of the teams have come back to us and said: ‘Ah, we think that’s wrong in how this is calculated.’ They will have done their simulations too. “But if we need to massage those numbers through the
