Damien Smith BTCC boss on seismic season ahead

MOTORSPORT

Damien Smith

RACING LINES

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 T

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; 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 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

❝ Introducing sustainable fuel and hybrids is a really powerful message

year, we will do that. You know what we’re like: we always make changes if we deem it necessary. But we won’t do it on a race-by-race basis; we will take a view after a quarter of the season.”

“Don’t underestimate the other changes coming in,” he adds. “There’s a new TOCA engine built by M-Sport, which 50% of the field will be using. All cars will run the new Cosworth electronics suite. Also, there’s a new on-board race controlsignalling system. So there are a lot of changes, arguably too many, that the drivers will have to work out.”

ROCKING THE STATUS QUO Does Gow face much pushback from hard-pressed BTCC teams who have done so well to emerge from the pandemic still fighting fit?

“There are always an element that don’t like to change the status quo,” says Gow. “But that happens in every formula and championship in the world. It’s human nature: you don’t like change. But they all know we have to make these changes for the good of the BTCC. And these cars are now future-proofed for the next five years, with the new regulations in place until the end of 2026.

“Everyone needs security and surety. We’ve got the ITV TV contract in place, our Goodyear tyres and our technical regulations, so there are no surprises. That’s very important for teams. It’s for their benefit.”

SUTTON’S GOAT CLAIM On the competitive order, Gow is careful to stay neutral, but he’s a racing fan too and relishes the emergence of a new generation of BTCC stars who have challenged the establishment.

“Not to take anything away from the Colin Turkingtons and Jason Platos, but they aren’t

F1 IN AMERICA Las Vegas will join Miami and Austin’s Circuit of the Americas as a Formula 1 race host next year, with a Saturday-night race held on a circuit incorporating Sin City’s glitzy Strip. Three grands prix in one country? F1 finally looks ready to properly crack the US.

VALENTINO ROSSI The retired MotoGP legend had a tricky first race in GT World Challenge Europe at Imola. He missed his WRT pit crew when coming in, forcing him to exit and complete another lap that dropped his Audi R8 LMS down the order. The #46 eventually finished 17th.

BAD WEEK

going to be driving forever,” he says. “These young guys are exciting, some of them are raw and they have a lot ahead of them.”

In our preview, BTCC champion turned ITV commentator Tim Harvey says reigning champion Ash Sutton will have a claim to the unofficial title of BTCC GOAT – greatest of all time – if he can win this year on his switch to front-wheel drive and a Motorbase Ford Focus.

“I agree with Tim,” says Gow. “If Ash can get in that car and produce a championship, or at least prove one of the dominant drivers of the year, that would really underline his talent. A bit like Colin, he gets pigeonholed as good in a rear-wheel-drive car. He will be one of the greatest BTCC drivers of all time if he can pull that off this year.”

Reigning champ has bravely switched to FWD with new team

TOP STEP Nascar Toyota Owners 400

TOP STEP

DENNY HAMLIN DELIVERED a victory for the Nascar Cup Series’ old guard by claiming his first win of 2022 on home territory in Richmond, Virginia.

The 41-year-old threetime Daytona 500 winner took the lead from William Byron with only five laps to run to head fellow veteran Kevin Harvick across the line by just 0.552sec.

The result marks a season upswing for Hamlin, who hadn’t finished in the top 10 this year before arriving at Richmond Raceway, where he fell in love with Nascar in his childhood.

It was his fourth top-tier victory at the short, 0.75-mile oval, where his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team can also boast a strong success record.

Following the Richmond round, Penske Ford driver Ryan Blaney and Hendrick Chevrolet’s Chase Elliott shared the championship lead, ahead of Joe Gibbs Toyota’s Martin Truex Jr.

Adoration breeds success in the case of Hamlin and Richmond

Short oval gave another actionpacked Sunday

MOTORSPORT GREATS MICHELE ALBORETO

The last time Formula 1 raced in Las Vegas, the circuit was an uninspiring layout set around the car park of the Caesars Palace casino. At least the race proved eventful. In that final grand prix of 1982, Michele Alboreto scored his first F1 win and Tyrrell’s first for four years. The Italian won again for the team in Detroit the following year, then made a dream switch to Ferrari, for which he won the 1984 Belgian GP. He challenged Alain Prost for the 1985 title, scoring two wins that season, but never added another before briefly rejoining Tyrrell in 1989. He subsequently raced for Larrousse, Footwork Arrows for three years, BMS Scuderia Italia and finally Minardi, notching up 194 GP starts. Smooth, stylish and popular, Alboreto then won and finally Minardi, notching up 194 GP starts. Smooth, stylish and popular, Alboreto then won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1997, sharing a Porsche WSC 95 with old F1 comrade Stefan Johansson and a young Tom Kristensen. He joined Audi as it began its domination in sports cars, but in the wake of winning the 2001 Sebring 12 Hours, Alboreto was killed when a tyre failed while he was testing at the Lausitzring in Germany. His loss shocked the motorsport world to its core.