Reid reckons BTCC is better off without Menu

Reid scored more points than Ford team mate Menu last year, but lost out on the drivers' title after dropped scores were taken into account.

The Swiss is believed to have been the highest paid driver in the series. According to speculation, he netted more than £500,000 for his championship-winning year behind the wheel of a Mondeo - a figure Reid believes was over-inflated.

"I'm glad Alain [Menu] has left the championship," said Reid, "because his wage demands have really put an economic dampener on things. So it's really good to get back to basics."

Menu announced a surprise move to the German DTM series last week with Opel, as the BTCC gears up to get back-to-basics in 2001. Series owner BMP, which bought TOCA last year, has introduced new regulations in order to cut spiralling costs.

Reid will drive for the MG team this year which, alongside Vauxhall and Peugeot, will be only the third manufacturer to join the series when it fields a brace of Lola-built Rover 45s for the last three rounds of the championship.

Vauxhall Motorsport boss Mike Nicholson agrees that the struggle to find budgets is getting harder and sees reducing the overall costs of competing in the BTCC - including driver wages - as a positive step.

"The industry is struggling a bit at the moment," said Nicholson, "and it is difficult to make it profitable. You have to fight hard for the money, so there is always a lot of pressure to put on a good show."

The BTCC ranks may, however, be further strengthened with a return to the series by Volvo, which is currently developing an S60 with Prodrive to compete in the European Touring Car Championship in 2002. The Swedish manufacturer, owned by Ford, approached TOCA last week with a view to carrying out an evaluation study to also use the car in the British series.