The BTCC Brexit that's thrived for a decade

By:

Marcus Simmons

Feb 24, 2021, 11:49 AM

It won't be long until the current BTCC rules become the longest-lasting the series has ever had. The NGTC regulations are due to celebrate their tenth birthday this year and while not totally perfect for everyone, have been a huge success

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When James Thompson took part in free practice for the 2010 British Touring Car Championship finale at Brands Hatch at the wheel of a brand-new Toyota Avensis, little could this veteran of the series know that he was setting the tone for what will become the longest-lasting BTCC ruleset in history.

The GPRM-run machine was the first car conforming to what at the time was known as the Next Generation Touring Car formula. The word 'Next' has long become inaccurate, hence it is now known simply as NGTC. Its 10th anniversary of competition comes at the start of the 2021 season and, when NGTC makes it through to 2022, it will have outlasted the 11 BTCC seasons of Super Touring.

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Marcus Simmons

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Marcus Simmons is the Deputy Editor of Autosport magazine. As a child he was a regular on the chalk banks of Thruxton – hence his unhealthy obsession with 1970s Formula 2 and F3 – before he became an MSA timekeeper at the age of 17. At 19, his reporting debut for Motoring News arguably overshadowed Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal as the sporting moment of June 1986, and he joined the staff in 1990 after graduating from his degree course in Plymouth. A parallel Formula First career – which was as incident-packed as his childhood exploits in show-jumping and hunter trials – finished when he wrote off his car and put himself in hospital in 1991.

Marcus moved to Autosport in the summer of 1996. Since then he has had two stints as a freelancer and a brief spell as editor of Motor Sport magazine, during which the revered green cover was revived, before he rejoined Autosport in 2008. He lives in Teddington with his wife (who, gratifyingly, grew up within earshot of Castle Combe), daughter, stepson, dog, cat and guitars, and additionally has an adult daughter and stepson.