BTCC grid hits maximum as three teams grow for 2022
Three of the British Touring Car Championship’s leading teams are expanding their line-ups for 2022, meaning that the grid will increase to a maximum of 32 cars.
Official Toyota team Speedworks Motorsport plus Honda squads Team Dynamics and BTC Racing have each been loaned an additional TBL entrants’ licence for one year by series organiser TOCA.
Speedworks will therefore increase its line-up of Corollas to three, just one year after expanding to a second car. Dynamics has long sought an extra TBL to increase its stable to three Civics, while BTC ramps up its effort to four Type Rs.
The announcement by TOCA brings further intrigue to the BTCC silly season – Speedworks is understood to be continuing with its 2021 race winner Rory Butcher, while speculation insists that Sam Smelt is on his way elsewhere.
At Dynamics, Jack Sears Trophy champion Dan Rowbottom is on a two-year deal, while team boss Matt Neal admitted “there’s a good possibility” that three-time champion Gordon Shedden will remain on board.
When asked whether he might make a return to the driving seat himself, triple title winner Neal would only coyly say “you never know”.
At BTC, sources suggest that Josh Cook – third in the 2021 standings – will stay on to lead the team.
Dynamics is understood to be building a fourth Honda for BTC, while Neal added that for his own team “we’re building two brand-new cars for the [new-for-2022] hybrid, and converting one other”.
Elsewhere, the two Trade Price Cars TBLs appear to have been absorbed by Hyundai team Excelr8 Motorsport, after the two parties’ association in 2021.
Rowbottom and Cook are expected to stay on at Dynamics and BTC
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
The BMR Racing TBL, under which Ash Sutton won the 2021 BTCC title at the wheel of a Laser Tools Racing Infiniti Q50, has been taken over by Aiden Moffat Racing.
That means that the Moffat family of LTR chief Bob Moffat and his son, 2021 race winner Aiden, now own two TBLs.
Boardley Motorsport also retains two TBLs but, with Carl Boardley – the third driver at LTR last season – understood to be leaving the BTCC, sources suggest that these will continue to be used by LTR and Team Hard, as they were in 2021.
As usual, the question of TOCA loaning out its spare TBLs was raised at the post-season teams’ meeting.
Series boss Alan Gow has been on the record about his desire to trim the bumper fields in the BTCC, but admits that he has been scuppered for now.
“At our annual teams meeting last month, the majority of team owners voted for TOCA to provide the loan of our spare TBLs, to help satisfy requirements,” said Gow.
“Therefore, I’ve released our three TBLs on a single-season-only loan basis; one each to BTC Racing, Team Dynamics and Speedworks Motorsport. This means the grid will now increase to its absolute maximum of 32 cars for next season.
“The demand for the BTCC has never been greater. Clearly, this also means I’ve failed to achieve my long-stated aim of reducing the grid size.
“Whilst that remains the goal going forward, admittedly it’s a nice problem to have…”
TBL holders for 2022
Excelr8 Motorsport 4
Team Dynamics 3
Aiden Moffat Racing 2
Motorbase Performance 4
Team Hard 3
Speedworks Motorsport 3
West Surrey Racing 3
Ciceley Motorsport 2
Power Maxed Racing 2
BTC Racing 4
Boardley Motorsport 2
Related video
Oliphant's Australia move leaves top BMW BTCC seat open
Cammish returns to BTCC with NAPA-backed Motorbase squad
How the BTCC's new hybrid era aced its first test
Expectations were high for the start of the British Touring Car Championship’s hybrid power era, and despite nerves and problems to solve prior to its debut the new rules gained widespread approval. Here’s how the first test at Donington Park was passed and the thorough examinations that are to follow
The Ford BTCC superteam combining two reigning TOCA champions
Reigning BTCC champion Ash Sutton and Porsche Carrera Cup GB victor Dan Cammish form a potent line-up at the Motorbase-run NAPA Racing team as the series adopts hybrid power. With Sutton bringing the key components of his title-winning Laser Tools Racing set-up, and Cammish eager to prove a point on his return, their dynamic is set to be one of the season's major talking points
The stalwart tin-top boss still shaping careers more than 40 years on
Veteran team manager Marvin Humphries and former Tech-Speed team boss has worked not only with stars of the British Touring Car Championship, but legends including Gil de Ferran, Hans Stuck and Tom Sneva in a long and varied career that has spanned five decades across tin-tops, single-seaters and sportscars
The grassroots rise that shaped an understated BTCC star
Having started out in club-level competitions alongside his own university engineering studies, Josh Cook's journey to becoming an established frontrunner in the British Touring Car Championship is atypical. But it's these experiences that have moulded the 30-year-old into a humble star, respected throughout the paddock
Ranking the top 10 BTCC drivers of 2021
A refresh in equipment and some returning faces helped contribute to a supremely competitive 2021 British Touring Car Championship campaign. Ash Sutton was crowned a three-time champion, successfully defending his 2020 title, but faced stiff competition in the final year before the switch to hybrid. Autosport picks out the best performers
Why the BTCC's ballast increase couldn't stop champion Sutton
Ballast will be gone from the BTCC next year as hybrid power enters the scene, but for its final season the maximum was increased from 60kg to 75kg. Despite having to carry that nearly all season, Ash Sutton was always the favourite to pocket a third title - the 27-year-old getting his reward for a season of speed tempered by savvy to nail his opportunities
The much-loved tin-top superstar bowing out at 59
OPINION: It's not often that a driver achieves widespread affection for their personality, as well as their on-track performances. One such individual is Gabriele Tarquini, who will soon bring the curtain down on a remarkable career that has yielded touring car titles on the European and global stage - and, famously, in Britain too
The making of the BTCC's newest superstar
Ash Sutton is on the verge of being crowned a three-time British Touring Car Champion; he seems to have it all. But life hasn't always been straightforward for this superstar of touring cars, as Marcus Simmons has been finding out