Andrew Jordan to drive the BTCC Hybrid Toyota at Silverstone this weekend

There has been a lot of excitement and anticipation building since BTCC Series Organiser, TOCA, announced that the BTCC Hybrid car would be taking part in this weekend’s race event at Silverstone. 

With that event now upon us we thought it would be helpful to provide some pointers to look out for ahead of its debut… 

LOCATION: Silverstone 
DATE: September 25/26 
CAR: Toyota Corolla – TOCA-Cosworth Hybrid Test Car 
ENGINE: The all-new 2022 ‘TOCA Engine’ - developed and built by M-Sport 
DRIVER: Andrew Jordan 
RACE NUMBER: 2022 

INTRODUCTION: 

This is a demonstration event of the hybrid system - it is not the full competitive debut of the car. The object of this weekend is to replicate full real-time BTCC race event conditions for the hybrid system, as part of the carefully planned ongoing test and development cycle. 

However, be mindful that this car is not in its final specification and is still validating some components and software. Therefore it may be calling into its pit garage more often, for adjustments and data downloading etc. 

ACTIVITY: 

• The car will take part in both BTCC practice sessions, the qualifying session and the three races. 
• It will use electric power to drive from its garage to the pit-lane exit, the first time in each session. 
• Its qualifying time will be disregarded when setting the grid. 
• It will start all races from the pit-lane. 
• It will have hybrid power available – approximately a 10% power increase - for a maximum of 15 seconds per lap. The hybrid deploys when Andrew pushes the hybrid button once full traction has been established. It automatically disengages when braking, or when there is less than full traction or has abnormal steering inputs etc. (Note: that there are many more such parameters built into the system, but those are the basics). 
• It will not get involved in ‘dicing’ with other cars mid-corner or under brakes - unless that driver signals Andrew through or moves over. Otherwise, he will only usually overtake cars under acceleration out of corners or on the straights. 
• It will not provide an ‘aerodynamic tow’ to aid other cars in qualifying or races. 
• Its race results will be invisible as far as points or official results are concerned. 
• The car currently has no external indication as to when the hybrid is engaged – however that feature will be on all cars next year. 

As well, the car is also equipped with the all-new 2022 ‘TOCA Engine’ - developed and built by M-Sport. This new engine has very successfully completed all of its durability and performance programmes (both in-car and on-dyno) in readiness for introduction from next season, for those teams that don’t wish to develop their own engine. 

This is an exciting time for the UK’s premier motorsport series and the dawn of a new era for the BTCC. This weekend’s activity should be celebrated and enjoyed, whilst taking into account that it is just the beginning of the BTCC Hybrid’s competitive life cycle. As always, thanks for your support and enjoy the show!