Eight things to watch in the 2019 BTCC

The British Touring Car Championship blasts into life at Brands Hatch this weekend and the ingredients are already in place for another fascinating campaign.

Last year's contest produced a remarkable 17 different race winners over its 30 races. While that's going to be tough to match, there are a host of new cars and drivers switching teams that will provide a real mix-up to the established order.

Here we pick out eight plotlines that are likely to dominate the upcoming season.

WSR's new BMWs hit the track

It's been a race against time for reigning teams' champion WSR to bolt together three examples of its new-for-2019 BMW 330i M Sport machines. Yet the expert squad had a trio of cars running trouble-free at the BTCC's official pre-season test in late March - and they were rapid too.

Reigning drivers' champion Colin Turkington remains, as does 2013 title winner Andrew Jordan, and they will be joined in the rear-wheel-drive motors by new recruit Tom Oliphant.

The team's previous car, the 125i M Sport, was getting long in the tooth and always struggled for straightline speed given its boxy rear end. Those aero problems will disappear with the booted 3 Series, and WSR's initial number-crunching on data has given it a very positive feeling.

Jordan is bubbling with enthusiasm for the new car: "It feels really comfortable to drive - you can push on and take liberties with it already. That means we have further to go to get to the limit, but it's been a great starting point. All credit to the team."

Tom Ingram is a works driver (at last)

This is the promised land for reigning Independents' Trophy holder Tom Ingram and the Speedworks Motorsport team. The pairing has been doing the hard graft as plucky underdog for five seasons and now it's attracted the backing of Toyota GB to run a brand new factory-supported Toyota Corolla.

Ingram has had a decent pre-season test programme too, with running in Spain to complement mileage in the UK, but knows that this is the very beginning of a journey with the first car that Speedworks has designed and built in-house.

"We're happy with the car," says Ingram. "But we don't know what the ultimate pace is going to be yet. For us, this will very much be a season of two halves.

"During the first half, we'll target points and get our learning done. We will build up a bank of data, and then in the second half of the year we can be going for race wins and podiums. The latter part of the year is when we can stick our head above the parapet and see where we're at."

Team Dynamics Honda's development

The works-backed Team Dynamics Honda Civic Type R FK8 was new to the grid in 2018 and it was a winner in its maiden season in the hands of both Matt Neal and Dan Cammish.

But while there were moments of glory, there were some tracks where the car, which has a longer wheelbase than its predecessor, struggled. That has been the focus of the winter for Team Dynamics: it eschewed its traditional test programme in Spain and preferred instead to concentrate on the venues where it underperformed.

Cammish says that work has reaped rewards: "We are considerably better than we were last year, and we signed off last season very strongly indeed. We have been through the car and left no stone unturned. We've done our learning now and we're ready to take a step forward."

That will be particularly important because WSR and Speedworks Motorsport - two of the big threats from 2018 - will be on the development trail themselves. That might give the Dynamics boys a clear road to exploit all the graft they've put into the FK8 over the winter.

Mark Blundell on the grid

There is a sense of realism from Mark Blundell about his maiden season in a tin-top. The ex-Formula 1 driver and 1992 Le Mans 24 Hours winner knows that there's a lot to get to grips with in the Trade Price Cars Racing Audi S3 - and that's before he's begun to understand the nuances of the BTCC itself.

"Most of the testing I've done has been in the wet, which is frustrating," says Blundell, who will line up alongside Jake Hill at a team that will be engineered by the experienced hands of AmD Tuning.

"I know I still have a great deal to learn about this type of car, and I'm sure that I'll still be learning come the end of the season.

"There are some differences in the driving: you instinctively react when the car starts moving about, but of course this is a front-wheel-drive car, which is a totally different environment for me. I need to get my head around that.

"There will be expectations of how I'll perform too, but that doesn't bother me. If it did, I wouldn't be here. As far as I'm concerned, everything I've done is already in the book and this is just an exciting new adventure."

Jason Plato back to Vauxhall

After some turbulent recent seasons at BMR Racing in its Subaru Levorg, Jason Plato has returned to the marque that brought him the overall crown in 2001: Vauxhall.

He will race alongside Rob Collard in the Power Maxed Racing team. Adam Weaver's squad has huge ambitions and was one of the feelgood stories from the 2018 season, with previous incumbents Josh Cook and Senna Proctor winning races.

Having become regular a race winner, the team wants to kick on and challenge for a title and Plato says he is already feeling the benefits of his switch to a new home.

"There's such a good feeling here," says Plato, a two-time title winner. "I've worked with lots of the guys here before at previous teams, and so we know how each other operates. That automatically brings an element of trust.

"We have worked through a solid test programme, learning what works on the car and, more importantly, what doesn't. It's a neat little package and I think we can be in the mix."

AmD and BTC's step forward with Hondas

Both the AmD Tuning and BTC Racing teams have, on paper, a chance of rattling some of the bigger cages this season with major steps forward.

AmD Tuning has got its hands on the ex-Eurotech Racing Honda Civic Type Rs - the FK2 versions - and has also signed up Sam Tordoff to drive alongside the extremely promising Rory Butcher.

Tordoff stole the headlines on the championship's official test day by topping the timesheets.

"This is the best touring car I have ever driven - I've clicked with it straight away," says the 2016 runner-up, who is another to have undertaken a significant pre-season test programme. "We just roll it out of the truck and it's pretty much in the ballpark. I'm very optimistic."

BTC Racing too has updated Hondas, but it has the brand new FK8 versions and a technical link-up with factory squad Team Dynamics.

The cars have been prepared in new workshops, and the team has fresh investment from Hot Rod racer Steve Dudman, who is now co-owner alongside Bert Taylor. In Cook and Chris Smiley, it also has two proven race winners.

Sutton's new beginning

While other teams have new cars and have made big fanfares ahead of the 2019 campaign, there has been none of that from BMR Racing and Ash Sutton.

He will remain with the factory-backed Subaru Levorg squad alongside new recruit Proctor, but Sutton - the 2017 champion - has had extremely limited pre-season mileage.

The car has an upgraded Swindon Racing Engines-tuned boxer motor for 2019, but only one has been available so far and Sutton's running at the official media test was purely a shakedown for the car and the fresh powerplant.

Sutton will be working with new engineer Antonio Carrozza. He has been promoted from within BMR Racing and has a strong reputation. Work has also been done on the chassis back at base over the closed season.

Sutton knows that no points are awarded over the winter, and so there has been no need to make a splash and shout from the rooftops. It's far better to shout from the top step of the rostrum - and Sutton has all the ability he needs to turn that into a reality.

New rules to consider

There has been a small tweak to the BTCC calendar for this season, which has meant some significant changes to the tyre rules.

Now Rockingham is off the calendar and there are two visits to Thruxton instead, the use of the joker, or 'option', tyre has been revamped. Thruxton is not included in the allocation of joker tyres because all competitors are required to run the harder tyre on the abrasive surface in Hampshire.

The most significant change comes in the three races at Snetterton, where drivers must use the soft, medium and hard compound in each race, and they don't have to nominate before qualifying, as is usually the case. They can decide moments before the races which tyre to use, but can only use each once.

There is also a decrease in the success-ballast levels to reflect the increased competition in the championship. For 2019, the weight will be reduced to 54kg for the leading runner, and drops in increments of 6kg down to 6kg for ninth and 10th place.