BTCC 2010: Runners and riders

Chevrolet (RML) - Chevrolet Cruze

#2 Jason Plato (GB)

Age: 42
BTCC debut: Donington Park 1997
Starts: 306
Wins: 53
Titles: 1 (2001)
2009: 2nd in BTCC

The red-hot favourite to add to his 2001 crown, and he knows it. Last year's runner-up has works status from Chevrolet bestowed upon the RML-run squad this time and bags of skill and experience in his arsenal as well. He says the new Cruze has more potential than the Lacetti he raced to six wins in '09. How quickly the team can realise it will dictate whether he is a regular winner, or a Champion.

#20 Alex MacDowall (GB)

Age: 19
BTCC debut: Thruxton 2010
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Titles: 0
2009: 2nd in UK Renault Clio Cup

The Clio Cup runner-up is the youngest driver on the grid, but has the potential to spring a few surprises. He gained a reputation for over-aggressive driving in his maiden Clio season, and spent most of last year trying to shake that off with a far more controlled campaign. Needs to absorb everything he can from within the RML fold, and in Plato he has the perfect man to learn from. Don't be surprised if he wins a race on merit in his rookie season.

Honda (Team Dynamics) - Honda Civic

#4 Matt Neal (GB)

Age: 43
BTCC debut: Silverstone 1991
Starts: 406
Wins: 32
Titles: 2 (2005, 2006)
2009: 4th in BTCC

Neal ends a two-year sojourn to Vauxhall to return to father Steve's Team Dynamics squad, which now has works status from Honda. He's determined to rediscover the magic that took him to the '05 and '06 titles. The four-year-old Civic has not reached the heights of its predecessor, the Integra-R, but has a revised aero package and new front and rear suspension and looks racier than ever. You just never count this guy out.

#52 Gordon Shedden (GB)

Age: 31
BTCC debut: Brands Hatch 2006*
Starts: 105
Wins: 10
Titles: 0
2009: 14th in BTCC

Frustrated by a stop-start campaign with three different teams and two different cars last year, but his Knockhill podium in a Clyde Valley Racing SEAT showed he is a long way from being yesterday's man. Not many will remember that the last time he and Neal were paired together at Dynamics (in 2007), Shedden finished ahead of his team-mate in the championship and took four victories to Neal's one. How he'd love a repeat of that.

Motorbase Performance - BMW 320si

#5 Mat Jackson (GB)

Age: 28
BTCC debut: Brands Hatch 2007
Starts: 82
Wins: 11
Titles: 0
2009: 5th in BTCC

Has become one of the BTCC's biggest stars in just three short years and now, after a year alongside Plato in an RML Chevrolet, has a rear-wheel drive BMW to play with again. As smooth and polished as they come, he still needs to add a little more aggression to his driving to become the finished article and, in particular, extract maximum performance from his tyres in qualifying. Just look at what doing exactly that did for Colin Turkington last year. A sure-fire race-winner.

#11 Steven Kane (GB)

Age: 29
BTCC debut: Brands Hatch 2008
Starts: 29
Wins: 0
Titles: 0
2009: F2 test driver, 24th in Belgian touring cars

Potentially the quickest of all the BMW drivers on the grid this year, the versatile Kane has settled back into an S2000 car - and his old team - quickly after a year racing sporadically in other tin-top series'. With a Motorbase squad that has taken a massive stride forward since he last raced for them, he is well-capable of winning a few times. How he copes with the threat of Jackson though, could shape either driver's touring car future.

WSR - BMW 320si

#6 Rob Collard (GB)

Age: 41
BTCC debut: Mondello Park 2003*
Starts: 173
Wins: 4
Titles: 0
2009: 6th in BTCC

Former Independents title-winner moves into the seat vacated by Champion Colin Turkington, and does so off the back of his strongest BTCC campaign to date. Burned his bridges with Motorbase after quitting the squad for WSR just weeks before the season's start, but should have a more consistently quick package as a result. Can he raise his game and go from being a race-winner to a genuine title-contender? David Bartrum will be hoping not.

#44 Andy Neate (GB)

Age: 35
BTCC debut: Brands Hatch 2005
Starts: 3
Wins: 0
Titles: 0
2009: Did not race

Absent from the BTCC since a one-off outing in a Daniels Motorsport Vauxhall Astra in 2005, Neate has shown great courage in returning to the series after a serious Britcar accident 18 months ago that left him comatose for weeks. Don't expect fireworks from him to begin with, but the former Fiesta champion has proved beyond doubt that he's a fighter, and will almost certainly get closer to the pace as the season wears on.

Arena Motorsport - Ford Focus ST

#21 Tom Onslow-Cole (GB)

Age: 22
BTCC debut: Brands Hatch 2007
Starts: 72
Wins: 3
Titles: 0
2009: 21st in BTCC

What a shame that after winning races in his first two seasons, he didn't get a full campaign last year due to budgetary reasons. Mike Earle's squad came to the rescue at Croft last year, and gave him a second shot at success, even if the Focus wasn't up to it. With a heavily improved car and, he hopes, the top engine in the BTCC, he should win races and provide healthy competition for team-mate Chilton, even if he has been behind him in testing.

#23 Tom Chilton (GB)

Age: 25
BTCC debut: Brands Hatch 2002
Starts: 207
Wins: 7
Titles: 0
2009: 13th in BTCC

Made great strides forward with new Focus last year after an appalling start, and even found himself genuinely challenging for victories at the Brands Hatch finale. A mammoth winter testing programme and LPG power gives him his best shot at the title yet, but only if he can curb a little of his aggression behind the wheel. He, above all, should benefit from the new, more durable Dunlop tyres in use this year.

Special Tuning UK - SEAT Leon TFSI

#22 Tom Boardman (GB)

Age: 26
BTCC debut: Thruxton 2010
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Titles: 0
2009: Unplaced in WTCC

After winning one-make SEAT titles in Britain and Spain, and embarking on a WTCC campaign last year (which netted him fifth in the independents championship), Boardman returns home this season for his first crack at the 'proper' BTCC, having won races in the old production class previously. The Special Tuning squad has masses of experience of the Leon after running it in conjunction with SUNRED last year and should its driver going well.

Boulevard Team Racing - Vauxhall Astra Coupe

#27 Martin Johnson (GB)

Age: 47
BTCC debut: Brands Hatch 2009
Starts: 27
Wins: 0
Titles: 0
2009: 22nd in BTCC

Entered the BTCC last year with his father Cliff's Boulevard squad and runs the oldest car in the field, but is still having a whale of a time. The former Clio Cup racer made the most popular move of '09 by passing Fabrizio Giovanardi at the last corner of the race to score a point at Rockingham and prove that nice guys don't always finish last.

Tech-Speed Motorsport - Honda Integra-R

#28 John George (GB)

Age: 49
BTCC debut: Thruxton 2004
Starts: 103
Wins: 0
Titles: 0
2009: Unplaced in BTCC

The mobile phone magnate has a top-line team-mate for the first time and ought to reap wholesale benefits from both Paul O'Neill, and from being part of Marvin Humphries' highly-experienced squad. George went some way to easing his reputation as a crasher last year, but still needs to curb his enthusiasm further if he is to become a regular points scorer.

#29 Paul O'Neill (GB)

Age: 30
BTCC debut: Brands Hatch 2002*
Starts: 102
Wins: 2
Titles: 0
2009: 12th in BTCC

A super bloke who hauled Tech-Speed up the grid last year with some sterling race and qualifying, but was worth more than his one podium finish and too often was robbed of good results through unreliability; anyone remember the podiums that went begging at Thruxton and Croft? The team has an extra year of experience with the Integra, which is still a quick car. What price a win first-time out at Thruxton? You can't say Marvin's boys don't deserve it.

Forster Motorsport - BMW 320si

#30 Martin Depper (GB)

Age: 41
BTCC debut: Thruxton 2010
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Titles: 0
2009: 4th in Mini Challenge

Depper only started racing in 2005, and has spent all of his career racing in the Mini Challenge, which he won in '08. He has no rear-wheel drive experience to speak of, but his car, Mat Jackson's '07 machine, has won races. His level of competitiveness should increase as the season wears on.

#37 Arthur Forster (GB)

Age: 42
BTCC debut: Thruxton 2010
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Titles: 0
2009: 6th in Mini Challenge

A former karting rival of Jason Plato and Allan McNish who gave up racing in the 1908s to start his own business before returning to the tracks much later. Like Depper, the team owner has a Mini Challenge title to his name and has also been the series runner-up three times and won a Britcar race. His car, Jackson's 320si from '08, is a quick one and should give him a chance to threaten for points.

Team Wood Racing - Honda Integra-R

#43 Lea Wood (GB)

Age: 25
BTCC debut: Brands Hatch 2010
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Titles: 0
2009: 1 race in Welsh Sports & Saloons Championship

An unknown in touring car circles, but Wood has won regional titles on dirt tracks in the Minirod series and also claimed a circuit racing crown in Super Silhouettes in 2007 before taking a podium finish in the Clio Cup the following season. He has an ex-Alan Taylor Integra to tame this year and his family-run squad to prepare it. Wood will make his debut at Brands Hatch in May.

Pinkney Motorsport - Vauxhall Vectra

#55 David Pinkney (GB)

Age: 52
BTCC debut: Oulton Park 1987
Starts: 132
Wins: 0
Titles: 0
2009: 18th in BTCC

It's hard to believe that Pinkney first appeared in the BTCC during the RS500 days of the late 1980s, but year after year he keeps coming back, and this time has re-established his own Pinkney Motorsport squad to run a TOCA-engined Vectra. He's had a few problems with the powerplant in testing, but should have solved them by Thruxton, and you can never question his levels of effort.

Eurotech Racing - Vauxhall Vectra

#77 Andrew Jordan (GB)

Age: 20
BTCC debut: Brands Hatch 2008
Starts: 60
Wins: 0
Titles: 0
2009: 10th in BTCC

Failed to produce the goods in a frustrating 2009 season as the third member of the Vauxhall team, but has all the weapons in his armoury to finally deliver on his immense promise this time around. Being back with his father Mike's squad should suit him down to the ground, as is having the same car as he raced last year. Whether he can take his first win will depend on the competitiveness of the new TOCA turbo engine he is using.

Triple 8 Engineering - Vauxhall Vectra

#88 Phil Glew (GB)

Age: 26
BTCC debut: Thruxton 2010
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Titles: 0
2009: UK Renault Clio Cup Champion

How good it is to see the man that was a cut above in Clios get a BTCC opportunity with the best team of the last decade, even if it has lost its Vauxhall works deal. Glew has a real talent for tin-tops, and could lay down a marker or two to some of the old stagers from Thruxton onwards. After all, the Vectra has been the car to beat at the Hampshire speedbowl for the last three years...

#888 TBA

With just a few days to go until Thruxton, team principal Ian Harrison had yet to sign a driver for the team's second entry. He did though, say his wish list was both long and illustrious.

TH Motorsport - Honda Civic-R

#98 Matt Hamilton (GB)

Age: 20
BTCC debut: Rockingham 2009
Starts: 6
Wins: 0
Titles: 0
2009: Unplaced in BTCC, 27th in GT4 European Cup

The former Formula Palmer Audi race-winner made a low-key BTCC debut at the end of '09 in a Civic-R that's nearing antique status. Despite this, he has shown impressive pace and was under a second off Plato at the official Brands Hatch test, which was his first time in the car since last October. He's unlikely to match his aim of a podium finish, but points finishes are certainly achievable.

AmD Technik - Volkswagen Golf Mk5

#99 Shaun Hollamby (GB)

Age: 44
BTCC debut: Thruxton 2010
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Titles: 0
2009: British and Dutch Time Attack events

Hollamby has been a race-winner in everything from Formula First to the VW Cup, and was a champion in Multisports as long ago as 1989, while fitting his day job as a producer for FOM's F1 coverage around it. He brings the Golf back to the BTCC for the first time in 21 years and will win a lot of fans in his ex-Baltic series machine, which has undergone a major aero upgrade by his AmD squad. Don't expect miracles though.

*denotes that debut dates and subsequent stats do not include the BTC production class of 2000-2003.

Read the full preview to this season's British Touring Car Championship in this week's AUTOSPORT magazine, or in the digital edition.