BTCC commit to S2000 from 2007
The British Touring Car Championship has announced that the series will be contested by cars complying with Super 2000 regulations from 2007 onwards
Currently, Super 2000 cars race alongside the series' own BTC Touring cars, but from 2007, new cars competing in the series will have to comply with FIA Super 2000 regulations.
However, existing BTC Touring cars will still be allowed to run in the series in 2007 and 2008, but only by independent teams and only with technical restrictions to limit their performance to ensure that Super 2000 cars will be the ones fighting for race wins and the championship.
Super 2000 regulations are already used in other touring car championships including the World Touring Car Championship, which sees large grids of cars from several manufacturers such as Alfa Romeo, BMW, Chevrolet, Ford and SEAT.
By adopting the Super 2000 rules, the BTCC is hoping to attract more entries from manufacturers as they will no longer have to build cars unique to the British series.
BTCC series director Alan Gow commented on the changes: "This is the obvious way forward for the BTCC as most touring car championships throughout Europe will also run to S2000 regulations, as will the World Touring Car Championship.
"I confidently predict that this will massively strengthen the BTCC and I'm very excited about the future this change brings to the championship.
Changes have also been announced for next year's championship. A random draw by the winner of race two will determine the number of places, between six and ten, that are reversed at the front of race three's grid, instead of being fixed at ten as in 2005.
The weight of the BTC Touring cars will increase to 1175 kg, while maintaining the difference in base weight between them and Super 2000 cars that existed at the end of 2005.
Finally, to encourage full-season entries and discourage teams making occasional appearances, cars which do not compete in the series from the start or make sporadic appearances will receive maximum ballast at their first meeting or on their return from a break, with the ballast being reduced over the following two meetings.
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