ULTRA-COMPETITIVE FIELD BOASTS A MULTIPLE OF CHAMPIONS AND RACE WINNERS
The 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship has been officially launched at Donington Park (15/16 April), with the UK’s premier motorsport spectacle confirming a stellar line-up for the campaign ahead.
The potential race for a record fifth drivers’ title, a returning world champion, significant increases to the hybrid, a new qualifying format and tyre regulations, plus an enhanced broadcasting strategy have headlined the off-season proceedings.
Three former champions, 13 race winners and no fewer than 15 drivers who have reached the rostrum in the BTCC will take part in the most competitive championship in the UK, so the race for the coveted title is set to provide unmissable action.
Official media duties commenced at Donington Park yesterday, prior to further photography this morning, before the cars took to the track in front of thousands of fans for the final pre-season test session.
The BTCC season officially gets underway here at the same venue on 27/28 April, before setting off on its annual nationwide tour, comprising 30 races across ten events.
Race for the title
Consistency throughout many teams in the BTCC has been one of the main features in recent years with the likes Ash Sutton (NAPA Racing UK), Tom Ingram (Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS), Colin Turkington (Team BMW) and Jake Hill (Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport) all competing with their respective outfits for at least the last three seasons.
Sutton’s all-conquering campaign in 2023 means he is now a record-equalling four-time BTCC Champion, alongside fellow tin-top legend Turkington… setting up an intriguing battle that could result in the first ever five-time champion.
Certainly, the likes of Ingram and Hill will have something to say about that with the former looking to reclaim his crown, whilst the latter targets his first BTCC title.
While continuity may have paid off for some of the big guns, Speedworks Motorsport has chosen to take a different route for 2024, with the squad announcing one of the most exciting line-ups in memory.
It’s an all-new four-car entry for Speedworks with returning World Champion Rob Huff and reigning Jack Sears Trophy Champion Andrew Watson heading up TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK’s challenge, whilst multiple race winners Josh Cook and Aiden Moffat make the switch to the Corolla with LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ.
NAPA Racing UK was the standout outfit of 2023, taking the treble of Drivers’, Manufacturers’/Constructors’ and Teams’ titles and the squad has unsurprisingly announced an unchanged line-up, as Sutton is joined by Dan Cammish, Dan Rowbottom and Sam Osborne – all with trophy aspirations of their own.
Team BMW has maintained its line-up of Turkington and Adam Morgan – the latter will be looking to mount his own challenge during his second season with the squad, whilst a potential third WSR entry could yet be confirmed.
The consistency theme continues at Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS with Ingram being joined once again by Tom Chilton, Ronan Pearson and Nick Halstead.
Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing enjoyed an impressive 2023 – both Árón Taylor-Smith and Mikey Doble stay with the team this season in the chase for outright and Independents’ honours.
Two new squads have also joined the fray – ensuring the popular Cupras remain on the grid – with Restart Racing signing series returnee Chris Smiley and debutant Scott Sumpton, whilst Daryl DeLeon will contest his first full BTCC season with Unlimited Motorsport.
BTCC powers up
BTCC organiser – TOCA – has introduced a number of exciting new regulation changes including the doubling of hybrid boost and a new qualifying format, whilst Goodyear’s option tyres are also set to further spice up the action in 2024.
The BTCC became the first touring car series in the world to introduce hybrid power when it was officially launched in 2022 and this season sees a further focus on overall performance.
The Hybrid Energy Management System (HEM) provides drivers with the ability to deploy the hybrid for a dedicated amount of time per lap in qualifying and for a number of laps in the races – depending on their championship position (for qualifying) and their race finishing position on race day.
Now, from 2024 that same push of the button will have double the amount of power output through a combination of both hybrid and turbo boost, which will provide a whole different complexion to race strategy and performance.
Additionally, the BTCC’s newly introduced ‘Quick Six’ qualifying will feature a number of short ten-minute segments, creating further interest for fans in attendance and the hundreds of thousands more that will be able to watch every qualifying session and race live via ITV Sport.
The format – similar to the one successfully used in IndyCar – will see the cars divided into two groups for the opening qualifying session.
The fastest six from each group will go through to make a 12-car second segment of competition. The top six from that next session will proceed to the grand finale of qualifying each weekend – Quick Six – a final ten-minute dash to determine pole position and the top six grid positions.
Goodyear’s option tyres have also been revised with tyre choice during the races adding a further tactical element to proceedings, whilst the top ten of race 1 at each event will be forced to use the hardest available tyre compound in their next race – making successive victories on a weekend even harder to achieve.
Going global
As the exciting news continued during the off-season, TOCA also announced that every race of the 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship will also be streamed LIVE around the globe via TikTok – in full-screen horizontal mode – thanks to a world-first agreement with its partners at ITV Sport.
This ground-breaking agreement is in addition to the BTCC’s expansive and existing UK television contract with the ITV network, which sees around eight hours of broadcast – live and free – from each event across ITV4 and ITVX, as well as the continued highlights and catch-up offerings across the network.
It is the first ever sport to be streamed live via TikTok by ITV Sport, and it is also thought that it is the first major sporting organisation to stream its entire competition all season across the giant social media platform.
Following its launch in 2016, TikTok has since become one of the world’s most popular online platforms, now reaching more than one billion active monthly users worldwide, with some 45% of those in the 18-34 age group, whilst women make up around 57% of all users – further highlighting ways in which the BTCC will be brought to a new, younger and more diverse demographic.
The announcement is also fantastic news for the BTCC’s loyal global fanbase, as this agreement will see every race in the UK’s premier motorsport championship broadcast live right around the world for the first time in its illustrious 66-year history.
Alan Gow, BTCC Chief Executive, said: “It has arguably been one of the busiest off-seasons in recent memory with several on-track and off-track innovations and announcements set to bring further excitement to the BTCC.
“We have a grid that is firmly focused on a real depth of quality, with so many potential race winners and an ever-growing number of likely title contenders.
“These driver announcements from the teams – combined with the new hybrid-turbo boost, qualifying and option tyre regulations – look set to be the perfect recipe for a hugely competitive and entertaining year ahead.
“I’m also incredibly proud of our ground-breaking move in ensuring that the BTCC will be the first major motorsport championship in the world to have its entire race season streamed live on TikTok around the globe, alongside our fantastic ongoing and absolutely vast UK coverage, which is live and free on ITV4 and ITVX.
“This will introduce the BTCC to a massive new and completely different demographic – a younger and more diverse audience whose engagement is vital for the future of our sport.
“I always look forward to the start of a new season, but this one feels a bit special – I really believe we have a cracking championship ahead of us.”
Click Here to view our 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship Entry List.
