Alain Menu believes he is still fast enough to win BTCC titles

Menu and fellow two-time champion Fabrizio Giovanardi returned to the BTCC this year. Neither won a race, with Menu coming out two places better off in the championship standings in 11th, with two podiums to his name.

The 51-year-old Swiss driver believes the progress he and his relatively-young BMR team made during the second half of the season proves it is worth staying on.

"There's a good chance, but if you'd have asked me that in the first half of the season I'd have said no," Menu told AUTOSPORT when asked about his chances of returning in 2015.

"I don't think I've lost much, if any, speed. It I was in one of the top cars I would have been fighting for the championship this year, no question.

"The championship is different from what it used to be, so with one year's experience, in a way it would be a shame to go and do something else."

He admitted that it took him time to settle back into the BTCC, 14 years after his last full-time campaign, and in a series that had changed hugely since then.

"When we started the season, I wasn't ready. Stupid things like starts - we didn't have time to practice or everything we needed to do proper standing starts," said Menu.

"I said my goal was to enjoy myself; well I did not enjoy myself to start with. Some of the driving is too aggressive; completely unnecessary - I just don't understand why some of the guys do it.

"I still love racing, and I wanted to enjoy myself here. Obviously that means winning, I'm not here to make up the numbers - the day I feel like that I'll retire."

The BMR Volkswagen Passat won two races with Menu's team-mate Aron Smith, and Menu is convinced it has the potential to become a consistent frontrunner.

"Without some bad luck, I would have had quite a few more podiums, I'm sure," he said.

"We are not quite there yet to win races on merit. The potential is there, I'm pretty sure.

"The team needs a proper winter of testing and development. A few things will get changed on the car - this team and that car should hit the ground running at Easter next year.

"Whether it's right at the top, like a Honda or MG, I don't know. But potentially it will be."

For plenty more from Menu, plus Giovanardi, champion Colin Turkington and his main rival Jason Plato, as well as comprehensive analysis of the year's biggest stories, check out the bumper 14-page BTCC 2014 review special in this week's AUTOSPORT magazine.