Tin-top stars for 'Masters' event

BTCC boss Alan Gow unveiled plans for the event, which will pitch some of the top touring car names in the world against each other in identical SEAT Cupra Championship cars. The event will coincide with the final round of the BTCC at Donington's National circuit on September 25-26, and follows in the footsteps of the highly successful TOCA shoot-outs of '90s.

"I've had the BTCC Masters idea sitting in my head since the '90s when I previously ran the championship and the idea recently surfaced again," said Gow. "So now the time is right to make it happen. Every driver I have spoken to about it has been wildly enthusiastic for the concept and has put it in their diaries already.

"In addition to inviting all our champions since 1990, I will also be inviting a number of 'wild card' drivers. These will be drivers who starred in the BTCC, in that same era, but who didn't win the title. I suppose on that 'hit list' would be drivers such as Nigel Mansell, Steve Soper, Andy Rouse, Patrick Watts, Paul Radisich, Jeff Allam, Derek Warwick, David Brabham, etc. They all had a tremendous presence in the championship. It's in the final planning stage at the moment and we will announce the full list of drivers at a later date.

"This will make for an absolutely stunning event, the likes of which has never been seen before. Just imagine: all the best drivers that the BTCC has seen, all in the one race and all with every bit of their competitive instinct and talent on display.

The race will be held over 20 laps and the winning driver will nominate his favourite charity, to where all the proceeds from the event will be donated.