How the BTCC got its stars back

Two years ago the British Touring Car Championship could boast just two series champions on its grid. And although Jason Plato and Matt Neal have provided some dramatic tin-top moments over the years, it's fair to say the championship needed some fresh blood, and perhaps a dash of foreign flair.

Now it has both. This season, assuming Colin Turkington re-signs with WSR, we will have seven BTCC champions lining up at Brands Hatch next month thanks to the return of Alain Menu and Fabrizio Giovanardi.

That's more than the series managed even during the height of the manufacturer-rich Super Touring era (1994 and '97 both featured six reigning or former champions, plus five future title winners). It's a remarkable turnaround.

HOW WE GOT HERE

There are a number of factors that have made this possible.

The first is the BTCC's television coverage. Even when the category went through its equivalent of the dark ages in the 2000s, it still maintained a good level of spectator support because it was easy to follow.

Even in its early 2000s nadir, the BTCC retained fan loyalty © LAT

When ITV4 decided to show every race live, that support strengthened further. And it's far easier to attract sponsorship as a team or driver when you can point to TV viewers and 30,000-odd fans at the track.

Another key was the introduction of the NGTC regulations in 2011. The number of spec-parts and availability of the Swindon-built TOCA engine allowed teams that had never previously been manufacturers to build their own cars.

There have been a few issues - costs have been higher than initially hoped and some of the parts have proved troublesome - but NGTC has allowed the championship to grow at a time when big manufacturers have been reluctant to commit to touring car programmes.

MG is unlikely to have come in for 2012 without NGTC, while Motorbase, the team that is bringing Giovanardi back, would not have been able to build cars had the rules not changed.

THE SUPER SEVEN

The five champions who were in the BTCC last year are all likely to stay where they are. All were contenders for the title so there is no reason to think reigning champion Andrew Jordan (Eurotech Honda), triple title-winner Matt Neal and his works Honda team-mate Gordon Shedden, MG's Jason Plato, and 2009 champion Colin Turkington won't be in the hunt again.

Neal and Shedden's hopes rely on the new-shape Honda © Paul Harmer

Of those five, only Honda's decision to move to the longer Civic Tourer after two successful years with the hatchback really provides any doubt.

But given how similar the underpinnings of the car (which has already started testing) are to its successful predecessor, it would be a surprise if Shedden and Neal weren't in their usual places up at the front.

Giovanardi and Motorbase make an interesting combination. A glance at the Ford team's results in 2013 suggest a title tilt is out of reach, but it's not that simple.

Motorbase admits it went the wrong way with its Focuses early last year and that lessons have been learned. Certainly the second half of 2013 was much better, and the squad had already showed it could help keep Mat Jackson in the title fight in both 2011 and '12.

Team boss David Bartrum has dug deep to get Giovanardi and is also likely to sign some pretty strong 'support drivers'. He's serious about taking that first elusive BTCC crown and getting the 2007-'08 champion is a sign of intent.

"We both want to win the championship," says Bartrum. "I think the car's ready for that and he's the final piece of our jigsaw."

BMR will go from an S2000 SEAT Leon to fielding Menu in just a year © LAT

The real question mark is over Team BMR, Alain Menu's new home. Warren Scott's outfit, which ran a solo SEAT Leon in 2013, has stepped up to field the VW Passats and Vauxhall Insignias used by Team Hard last year.

Tom Onslow-Cole took the Passat to three podiums last year, but the new car looked some way away from being a championship contender.

Nevertheless, Scott has secured the services of ex-Motorbase engineer Geoff Kingston, who worked with Menu back in 1992, and other teams have been impressed by what they have seen.

Menu certainly seems up for the challenge. "I had a few options or possibilities, but the best, the most interesting and challenging one, was with Team BMR in the BTCC," he says.

BUT DON'T DISCOUNT...

It won't just be about the established BTCC stars in 2014. Former British Formula 3 champion Marc Hynes returns to racing after five years away in a third Triple Eight-run MG6.

He may take some time to get used to the rough-and-tumble of touring cars, but few doubt he will get his head round front-wheel-drive pretty quickly. He did, after all, beat Jenson Button in F3, and he's looking to establish himself.

"Some of the best touring car drivers in the world have been doing this for decades," he says. "This isn't just a hobby for a year, it's something I want to succeed at."

Being with the crack Triple Eight operation, alongside Plato and promising youngster Sam Tordoff, should put Hynes in the position to do that.

After his breakthrough win in 2013, will Austin become a title threat? © LAT

Adding to the feeling of quality is the fact that the turbo boost adjustment will be reduced again this year.

As the quality has gone up - and teams have got more on top of the NGTC regulations - the need for boost variations to spice up the show has diminished.

If you can't run at the front, TOCA is no longer going to assist you as much as it did. That's good, because that had caused the odd problem until fairly recently...

Throw in the new Mercedes of Adam Morgan, one of the stars of 2013, Rockingham race winner Rob Austin's revamped Audi, and Dave Newsham's switch to AmD's newly acquired Focus and it's clear making the top 10 will be quite an achievement this season.

Which is exactly as it should be.

For interviews with Menu and Giovanardi, look out for the February 6 issue of AUTOSPORT magazine