Season Preview: 2019 British Touring Car Championship-Checkered Flag

2021-12-13 14:32:04 By : Mr. Eddie Zheng

Six months have passed since the climax of the 2018 Championship. We are already preparing for another exciting season in 2019 to participate in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship.

In fact, it can be guaranteed that BTCC will throw out its usual high-level drama and excitement, and boredom is far from the vocabulary of everyone in the paddock.

30 drivers from 15 teams participated in 30 rounds in 8 venues, providing a stage for legends, old defenders and newcomers to fight and try to win the most prestigious awards in British motorsports.

During the winter break, confirming that the Rockingham Circuit will be closed means that there is an empty spot on the calendar that can be used for a new track or a second visit to a track that has consolidated itself as the backbone of the BTCC. The second option was selected, so teams and drivers can now visit Thruxton further in August after the first weekend in May.

Success ballast will be adjusted in the new season. Due to the closed nature of the car, the weight of the previous seasons has now been reduced. The previous victory saw an increase of 75 kg, the second 66 kg and the third 57 kg. In 2019, it will reach 54 kg, 48 kg and 42 kg respectively. The fourth to tenth positions also reduced their usual ballast weight.

Drivers must now be more careful in qualifying because if they want to create a red flag to stop the race, their fastest time to that point will be deleted.

The biggest story of the winter is the failure of Eurotech Racing because the main sponsor withdrew their support, which reduced the team's funds. This puts a question mark on the future of Jack Goff and Brett Smith's BTCC career in 2019.

Although it is regrettable that Brett will not return, Jack was given a probation a few days before the media, when he was confirmed to join RCIB insurance with Fox Transportation and participated in the weekend of last year with Carl Bodley.

Mike Bushell, who originally drove the Goff car, had to withdraw due to sponsorship issues and returned to the Renault Clio Cup with the HARD team. However, personal issues mean that Bushell will leave motorsports. This is a huge shame, because it would be great to see him either use the Volkswagen CC to show his progress in the winter or win his third Clio Cup championship. Alas, this is motorsport.

HMS Racing and Rob Austin missed the 2019 season because they missed the registration deadline to get the grid. Alfa Romeo Giulietta is a kind of beauty that has begun to show consistency in the year of automobile development. However, progress will not be seen, and it is hoped that Rob and the HMS team will use their time wisely to design the 2020 return.

Two new teams joined the field in 2019. Excelr8 Motorsport is responsible for the former AmD Tuning MG6 GT and Trade Price Cars Racing to operate the former AmD Tuning Audi S3 Saloons. (Although under the guidance of AmD)

Excelr8 brought two new faces to BTCC. Former MINI Challenge and Clio Cup racer Rob Smith collaborated with several top ten Clio Cup finishers Sam Osborne. Both drivers will be impressed there while allowing their cars to accelerate. The team will learn the BTCC ropes every weekend throughout the season, so you want them to be able to extract performance from the MG within a few days.

Trade Price Cars signed the former Formula One driver and IndyCar driver Mark Blundell (Mark Blundell), which won the drivers coup of the year. Blundell has been enjoying the challenges of front-wheel drive machinery in testing, and he proved that he is not here to make up for these numbers.

Daniel Rowbottom enjoyed his best Clio Cup season ever last year. The Worcestershire racer will now try to convert his power into BTCC, his Cataclean car and Ciceley Motorsport-backed Mercedes-Benz A-Class car.

Ginetta GT4 Supercup champion Michael Crees will also debut GKR Scaffolding and Autobrite Direct on BTCC, and has an undeniable slippery speed in Volkswagen, so Michael will strive to become the best new driver.

Jake Hill is back on the track with Trade Price Cars, which is great news for fans of drivers from Kent. The untapped potential is a general consensus, and some people may say that the Audi S3 may not be the best platform to achieve this goal. However, based on data from the former Eurotech Honda Civic FK2 in the garage next door, we may see some surprises from Jack and new teammate Brendel.

We also welcome Nicholas Hamilton to return to BTCC after a few seasons in the Clio Cup. Participating in the race under the banner of ROKiT Racing with Motorbase, Nic will drive a specially modified Ford Focus RS and is expected to earn valuable points in the first full battle of the championship.

The transfer of drivers from one team to another between seasons is nothing new, and 2019 will see a small number of people trying to adapt to their new environment and impress their new colleagues behind the scenes.

Rob Collard, who will replace the BMW team's long-term service, will be Tom Olifant, who made a deep impression in his debut season last year. Participating in the development of the new BMW 330i M Sport is an exciting time for Tom as a sophomore. He undoubtedly wants to prove to people that he is a suitable candidate.

Due to concussion concerns, Rob Collard's BTCC career was questioned, but when it was announced that he would be one of Sterling Insurance's Vauxhall Astra seats with Power Maxed Racing, it surprised many people.

However, his new teammate made headlines when he confirmed that Jason Plato would return to front-wheel drive after three mediocre seasons in Jason's career.

Plato's withdrawal opened the door for Senna Proctor to become Ashley Sutton's new teammate in the Subaru Levorg GT.

James Cole will not return in 2019. At the Motorsports International Exhibition held at the National Exhibition Center in Birmingham, the bulg-wheat team with Gallagher unveiled Ollie Jackson as Tom Chilton’s new teammate. There is no doubt that Ollie's technical knowledge and speed in a test at the end of last season left a deep impression on them. The Motorbase team hopes that both drivers can maintain good results in order to fight for an independent team championship.

Sam Tordoff moved from Motorbase to Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance to drive a former Eurotech FK2 Civics. If testing time is taken seriously, then the rest of the grid should be very afraid of the potential that this partnership might show. However, since this is just a test, we can break the lap record with a little salt.

One of the revelations in 2018, Josh Cook (Josh Cook) switched from PMR to BTC Racing in a transaction, which seems to happen only two weeks before the official announcement. With excellent racing skills and natural speed, Josh is an exciting prospect of championship, BTC must have quite a lot of drivers, and another rising genius in the form of Chris Smiley.

The three teams launched brand new cars before this season, and last year's two championship contenders hoped to defeat each other in their development battle.

The BMW team announced that they will switch from their successful BMW 125i M Sport to the new BMW 330i M Sport. When your team is trying to bring a brand new project to the forefront, Colin Turkington is definitely the driver you want, and Northern Irishmen Tom Olivent and Andrew Jordan will provide important data throughout the year. As the season progresses, this BMW is expected to become faster and faster.

Toyota GB Team returned triumphantly after 24 years of leaving BTCC, and after the incredible Giant Killing Heroes recently produced by the team and Tom Ingram, the deal with the manufacturer of Speedworks Motorsport is well-deserved.

The Toyota Avensis is gone forever, and the Toyota Corolla GT has already undergone intensive testing programs in the UK and Spain. Although BMW will enjoy the feedback from the three drivers, Toyota will make progress based on Tom's experience. However, considering the talent of their drivers, this new Toyota may be very fast from the beginning.

BTC Racing confirmed that they are working with Team Dynamics Motorsport to build two brand new FK8 Honda Civic Type Rs for Josh Cook and Chris Smiley. After they achieved their first ever victory in the year they drove the FK2 Civic, this newly-modeled Civic is shaping people's hopes of jumping further to the regular podium.

The time for the conversation is over, and now it is finally possible to practice the hype about their opportunities among all the teams and drivers before the new season. Although the usual names will undoubtedly appear again and again throughout the season until they win the championship.

With the BMW team and Toyota GB team developing new cars together with Ginsters, this provides an opportunity for teams with highly developed racing cars to try to get a good start in order to get a sufficient gap ahead when everyone else catches up.

Halfords Yuasa Racing, which owns Matt Neal and Dan Cammish, may be the best in this group. They have an incredible lineup of fast drivers and an exquisite FK8 Civic Type R. This team knows how to win, and only sheer negligence seems to undermine the potential speed.

Adrian Flux Subaru Racing may have the driving talent of 2017 BTCC champion Ash Sutton, but their season in Subaru Levorg GT always starts very slowly. Although the media day test shows that this trend is continuing, you do have to assume that it will click, but hopefully it will not be too late for Ash and Senna.

Tom Chilton performed well in the second half of his 2018 season, and the Surrey driver will upgrade the Ford Focus RS under him. When you stand still, Tom really struggled during the first few hours of the Media Day test, and then the speed started to show.

Rory Butcher quietly achieved consistent results in a car that might not be worth owning, and got a second AmD Civic seat with Tordoff. Just like his teammates, the Scot enjoyed a quick media day test and is very likely to get his first chance on the BTCC podium or victory. On paper, Rory is the author’s favorite Jack Sears trophy.

After doubling their 2017 points in 2018, Team Parker Racing and Stephen Jelley's goal is to go further on their BMW 1 series. When it was announced that they would run with a more powerful engine in 2019, their opportunity was encouraged.

Matt Simpson returns. This will be his first full season of independent operation with his team, the Simpson team. We all know that the FK2 Civic is still one of the best NGTC cars, despite its age and last year’s weekend like Oulton Park, it will be popular...just without all engine problems.

Along with Daniel Rowbottom, two other Mercedes racers, Adam Morgan and Aiden Moffat, may have sporadic race victories or podiums throughout the year. Continuity is undoubtedly a factor in the success of BTCC, these two drivers have been driving their cars for many years. This season may see both puzzles in place.

With Mike Bushell leaving Team HARD before Media Day, Bobby Thompson is now the only driver in the team to participate in the 2019 season after completing the full season in 2018. Showed a strong pace at the end of last season, I hope this situation can return and continue throughout the season.

On the Brands Hatch media day, the cheers and support of the audience were well recorded. The photos of the pits crowded at the time were marked "This is a test day, not a match day."

But this weekend's race will be held in Brands Hatch on April 6th/7th. Another classic season of the British Touring Car Championship is exciting.

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