BTCC 2014: What we've learned so far

This season was one of the most eagerly anticipated in the history of the British Touring Car Championship. Not only did we have the prospect of 31 entries, there were also seven series champions set to do battle.

We've now had two of the 10 rounds - at Brands Hatch and Donington Park - and already some of the pre-season questions are being answered.

Here's what we've discovered so far, with a few new questions to look out for in the coming months.

MENU AND GIOVANARDI WILL NOT WIN THE TITLE

It may seem a bit early to start making championship predictions, but you can't afford to drop too far behind in the current BTCC era.

As it stands, the top five in the table are covered by eight points, with sixth-placed Rob Collard another 22 behind. Returning champions Fabrizio Giovanardi and Alain Menu are 65 and 66 points behind leader Andrew Jordan respectively.

That is probably less of an issue for fledgling team BMR's star signing Menu - who has already said: "I don't think we are ready as a team to win the title" - than it is for Giovanardi and Motorbase.

Their stated intention was for a title push, but the revised Ford Focus has proved tricky to optimise, and Mat Jackson has so far looked more of a threat than the 2007-'08 champion.

With no one looking quite ready to make the step, it's likely the top five 2013 contenders will again battle it out for the title.

Jordan and Jason Plato have been the pacesetters so far, while Colin Turkington's WSR BMW is well placed ahead of the Croft and Knockhill rounds at which the BMW 125i M Sport should again be the car to have.

And Honda duo Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal are right up there too...

THE CIVIC TOURER IS COMPETITIVE

On paper, the pace of the Honda estate - Shedden qualified second at Donington and won race three - shouldn't be a surprise. It is, after all, essentially the same car that won the title in 2012 and '13, but initial testing showed the different aero and weight distribution had a significant effect.

A successful testing programme, however, has brought the Tourer into the ballpark, with podiums for both drivers at each of the opening events.

After Donington, team manager Peter Crolla said: "The Civic Tourer is a very different animal to the hatchback we ran before, so to get its first win in only the second event of the year is really pleasing."

The car should be even more at home on the fast sweeps of Thruxton, so expect one - if not both - of the station-wagon drivers to be in with a shout of the crown come Brands in October.

THE 2014 FIELD IS CLOSE

The increased quality of the field this season is underlined by the tiny gaps in qualifying. If you don't nail your lap or get the set-up quite right this year, you can find yourself plummeting down the order.

The table below, which shows various gaps down the grid in the first two qualifying sessions of 2013 and 2014, indicates the competitiveness at the front of the pack has changed little. What has altered is how much closer the rest of the field is to the pacesetters.

                1st-2nd    1st-10th   1st-20th
Brands 2013     0.096s     0.816s     3.028s
Brands 2014     0.012s     0.259s     0.708s
Donington 2013  0.049s     0.946s     1.793s
Donington 2014  0.131s     0.585s     1.213s

One result of this is that the success ballast is now going to hurt the frontrunners much more.

Jordan took pole at Brands, but was back in seventh with 45kg of ballast at Donington, despite going quicker than the 2013 pole time.

"I think the weight will have a bigger effect [this year] because the grid's going to be closer," he confirmed before wet conditions helped him charge towards the front in the races.

THE VW PASSAT IS FAST

The main question mark over Menu's return was the BMR squad and the Volkswagen Passat, despite Tom Onslow-Cole's three podiums with the new machine in 2013.

But car and team have already exceeded new boss Warren Scott's expectations. He kept on some of the old staff from the Team HARD incarnation of the outfit, but also brought in a number of others, including experienced engineer Geoff Kingston.

"The key thing was to get the right staff in place before going after drivers," said Scott at Brands.

After a promising opening weekend, things looked even better at Donington, with Aron Smith in the top two in both free-practice sessions and a row-three lock-out come qualifying.

"Geoff Kingston and the rest of the team have developed this thing," enthused Smith. "I genuinely think we're one of the best outfits on the grid.

"The car's brilliant. It's in a different league to anything I've ever driven before."

Wet-weather pace is still lacking, but it would be a surprise if a Passat driver did not stand on the top step of the podium at some point in 2014.

And don't discount Jack Goff, either, whose Vauxhall Insignia is also benefiting from the team's good work.

INGRAM IS IMPRESSIVE AND HYNES IS IMPROVING

An interesting sub-plot to 2014 is how well the rookies can get on in such a competitive field. Tom Ingram (pictured) and Marc Hynes are of particular interest, Ingram because of his status as a young rising star with multiple Ginetta titles, and Hynes because of his British Formula 3-winning pedigree.

Ingram has certainly made the more impressive start, planting his Speedworks Toyota Avensis sixth on the grid on his debut. He's been involved in the odd scrape - a victim at Brands and an aggressor at Donington - but he has scored four top-10 finishes in the four races he's finished, and certainly looks like a star of the future.

Hynes struggled with pace and car problems at Brands, before qualifying 10th at Donington. Contact ruined his race efforts, but at least there were signs he is heading in the right direction.

"I think I am becoming more comfortable with front-wheel drive, and we are making revisions that are positive," said Hynes. "The driving is coming to me more naturally now.

"I need to iron out some of the rookie errors and I need to make sure I qualify near the front. If I can, then there's less chance of getting caught up in the midfield scrapes."

...AND SOME QUESTIONS TO LOOK OUT FOR

CAN MOTORBASE BOUNCE BACK?

It's now 19 months since a Motorbase Focus last won a BTCC race. Given the fact the car was quick soon after its debut, has a strong engine, and proven drivers, the Ford's difficulties are tough to fathom.

There has been an engineering change at Motorbase and the hope is that, with Giovanardi and Jackson working together, they can finally get on top of the car.

The main issue is qualifying pace. Jackson flew through the pack in both the wet and dry races at Donington, but in this field the likelihood of getting up to the front from the mid-teens is pretty small.

Perhaps Jackson's pace on the soft tyre in the Donington finale provides a small hint. Is the car too kind to its tyres, giving good degradation on the soft rubber, but causing warm-up issues on the hard in qualifying?

WILL THE MERCEDES DELIVER ON ITS POTENTIAL?

Adam Morgan was pleased with the feel of his new Mercedes A-class from the moment he started testing. A lack of straightline speed hampered him at Brands, but the car's handling appeared strong.

Things were then looking good during qualifying at Donington, with a row-three slot likely until the Merc failed the rideheight test. That resulted in Morgan starting only 17th in race one. Making progress (and avoiding incidents) from there is tough.

The question is, if everything comes together, just how high up can the Three-Pointed Star get?

WILL NGTC GO GLOBAL?

The FIA recently announced it was intending to introduce rules for national-level touring car series.

At Donington, FIA touring car commission president and BTCC boss Alan Gow said: "The FIA has to come up with a set of regulations for national touring cars and is looking at what regulations around the world would be suitable for that."

Given the success of NGTC in Britain, it would be an obvious category to consider.

One obstacle would be the number of GPRM specification parts. Presumably it would be logistically difficult - if not impossible - for the British firm to supply series around the globe.

But that could be overcome by having other approved local suppliers for any given national series. The concept could be exported even if all the parts could not.

Gow hopes the selection of a rules set will be taken at the end of the year, so we won't have to wait long to see if the BTCC can again provide the future direction of touring cars for the world.