Goodyear Wingfoot Award revamped for 2025 as drivers now compete for a Wingfoot trophy at each event, in addition to the season-long title.
Goodyear is set to kick-start the 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season at Donington Park this weekend, where a 24-car grid will usher in a bold new era of touring car racing, now powered entirely by 100% sustainable fuel.
The 30-round campaign will take place over ten weekends, visiting eight of the most iconic venues in British motorsport. Goodyear will once again supply its proven range of soft, medium and hard slick compounds to all teams, alongside a wet-weather tyre designed for maximum performance in all conditions. These specifications were instrumental in setting new qualifying and race lap records at all but four circuits last season.
All rounds in 2025 - with the exception of Thruxton - will feature both the ‘standard’ and a single set of the ‘option’ compound tyres, with the latter mandated for use in any one of the three races during each race weekend. A regulation change for 2025 also requires the top three finishers in Race 1 to use the hardest available tyre compound in Race 2, replacing the previous rule which applied to the top ten finishers.
The soft compound will be available as the ‘standard’ specification at Brands Hatch (Indy), Snetterton, Oulton Park, Croft and Knockhill; and the medium at Donington Park (National and GP), Silverstone and Brands Hatch (GP). The soft compound will be available as the ‘option’ specification at Donington (National), Silverstone and Brands Hatch (GP), medium at Knockhill, and hard at all other tracks.
This season also brings a fresh twist to the Goodyear Wingfoot Award. Drivers will now compete for a Wingfoot trophy at each event in addition to the season-long title. This change adds an extra layer of visibility to the award and will help to celebrate the very performances that make touring car racing at the highest level so thrilling.
The sole tyre supplier partnership between the Goodyear group and BTCC began in 2003 making this one of the most enduring partnerships in motorsport history. The sole tyre partnership was built on success in the pre-millennium open tyre competition era.
Goodyear is ready for a new BTCC era
The 2025 season marks a new era in the BTCC as it becomes the first major UK championship to adopt 100% fossil-free sustainable fuel across the entire grid. This new fuel replaces the hybrid power systems used in the previous three seasons. As a result, the cars will become some 55 kilograms lighter and noticeably more agile.
Michael Butler, Goodyear’s BTCC Event Leader, explains the impact of these changes on tyre performance: “The switch from hybrid power to sustainable fuel is a huge change in the BTCC. It’s a move towards greater environmental responsibility and brings with it a significant influence on how our tyres will behave on track. With a 55-kilogram drop in car weight, we expect a greater difference in lap times between the soft, medium and hard compounds. That gives us more confidence in using the soft compound at more circuits this season.”
Butler adds: “We’re entering what could be the fastest era of cars in BTCC history. The pace in pre-season testing has already seen lap times fall below several current qualifying records. The lighter, more agile cars are allowing drivers to really extract the most from their tyres.”
Reigning champion Jake Hill eyes back-to-back titles
Jake Hill returns to the grid in 2025 as the reigning BTCC champion, aiming to defend his crown in what is expected to be one of the most competitive seasons to date. Hill, who claimed his maiden title in a nail-biting season finale at Brands Hatch in October, is already feeling positive about the impact of the latest regulation changes on tyre performance.
“The soft compound is my favourite tyre,” said Hill. “The BMW tends to be quite gentle on tyres, so having that extra grip from the soft compound is something we really appreciate. That said, we’ve had some very good running on the hard compound in pre-season testing this year and the car seems to be a little bit happier on it compared to last year.
“The regulation changes this season will have a massive impact on tyre behaviour. So far it has forced us to re-think how we set the car up, but it's proving to be a positive change. It should keep the racing interesting to the very end and make things even closer between the drivers,” Hill adds.
Hill also described the significance of Goodyear’s role in the championship: “Our relationship with Goodyear is extremely important. The Goodyear engineers spend a lot of time with us to help us understand why we might be damaging the tyres, or on the other hand, why we might not be pushing them enough.
“Winning the Goodyear Wingfoot Award in 2022 was a great achievement, but I’m also here to win the ultimate crown again. I was fortunate enough to win [the championship] last year, and that’s always the main goal.”
Track action gets underway at Donington Park on Saturday 26 April with two BTCC free practice sessions and qualifying, followed by the opening three races of the season on Sunday 27 April.
2025 Goodyear tyre allocation quick facts:
- All events carry a ‘standard’ and ‘option’ tyre specification. A driver must use one complete set of ‘option’ tyres for the entirety of one race at all rounds (except Thruxton).
- Drivers will be allocated four sets of the medium compound as the ‘standard’ specification and one set of the soft compound as the ‘option’ specification at the season-opening rounds at Donington Park (National).
- Five events will carry the soft compound as the ‘Standard’ specification, four events will carry the medium as ‘Standard’ and only one (Thruxton) will carry the hard compound as ‘Standard’.
- ‘Option’ tyres may be used in any Free Practice session(s) (as well as for the entirety of one race) but are not permitted to be used in Qualifying, except at Donington Park (GP), Silverstone and Brands Hatch (GP).
- Any driver that finishes in the top three of the first race of any round must use the hardest compound tyre remaining available to them in the second race of that round.
