Team Dynamics out of BTCC for 2023

The Midlands operation is breaking an unbroken presence as a team in the BTCC dating back almost two decades and which has included six overall drivers’ titles, but will retain a presence via a “support agreement” with fellow Honda set-up One Motorsport.

This means that Brackley-based One, formerly BTC Racing, will gain use of Dynamics’ own Civic Type Rs, of which there are four in total. One will also switch from the customer TOCA engines it has used since 2021 and will take over Dynamics’ bespoke Neil Brown Engineering-produced Honda powerplants.

Two commercial blows have struck Dynamics over the winter - the first was the loss of driver Dan Rowbottom and his Cataclean backing to the Motorbase Performance-run NAPA Racing Ford squad, and the second was the late pull-out of long-time title sponsor Halfords.

Dynamics boss Matt Neal told Autosport: “I told [Motorbase boss] Pete Osborne there’s no hard feelings.

“If it commercially stacks up for Dan to be aligned with NAPA then I get it – it’s their decision, and I was disappointed but I wasn’t going to cry about it.”

Regarding the Halfords pull-out, Neal added: “We’d been doing all the pre-season planning, it was just the contract that hadn’t been signed.

“It was all systems go and then suddenly they’re making mass cutbacks at board level, and the BTCC is a high-profile, big investment.

“I get it. We had some great years with them, and we’ve given them some mega times and exposure.”

Long-term sponsor Halfords has pulled backing from Team Dynamics

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey

Neal added that BTCC series boss Alan Gow has been “extremely magnanimous” about Dynamics’ situation.

Gow himself told Autosport: “If they are in a position to come back next year, we’d find a way to help make it happen for them.”

Dynamics is working on such a plan, with 56-year-old three-time BTCC champion Neal not ruling himself out of a return to the cockpit in 2024.

“We’ve got some big commercial partners we’re talking to, and we’ve got other manufacturers we’ve spoken to who could be interested,” he revealed.

In the meantime, Dynamics will develop its customer racing programmes in contemporary and historic racing, and will field a Lotus Cortina at this month’s Goodwood Members Meeting for Neal and fellow triple BTCC title winner Gordon Shedden.

Dynamics’ support for One Motorsport, which Neal said would include himself and long-time technical chief Barry Plowman, will be low-profile.

“Probably not on a full-time basis, but we’ll be there supporting them in the background,” he said. “I think they’ve got a pretty good crew now.”

Withdrawal leaves Shedden off the grid

Shedden has admitted to Autosport that Dynamics’ withdrawal from the 2023 BTCC means he will not be on the grid this season.

The Scot, who has scored all 52 of his BTCC race wins and three crowns with Dynamics, said that the late loss of Halfords backing left him high and dry.

“We were all set to go, and everything was leading the right way,” said Shedden, “but the timing has unfortunately made a mess of everything.

“If it had happened a month or two before it would have been a different story, but everyone has done their deals.

“It’s very difficult I’ll be honest because British GT and whatever is full, but I’ve got some good historic stuff this year [in the Cortina, his regular Ford GT40 ride, and a Lister-Jaguar appearance at the Le Mans Classic].

“Hopefully I’ll be the first in mind for when people start falling out with each other!

“It’s a year to regroup and reassess and see what opportunities lie ahead for 2024 and beyond.

“It’s a bit of a blow, a really sorry situation – I really feel for Matt and Barry because they’ve put their whole souls into it.”