As I write this I can hear the rain smashing off my patio. The brief periods that it stops seem to bring about a fleeting moment of excitement in an otherwise drab period of the year. It sets the scene perfectly for my mood. The lack of British motorsport for months is the endless rain with the brief excitement of dry spells reflecting the droplets of news we are getting slowly teased with about the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season. So, what do we know so far?
The day after the extremely dark Brands Hatch finale I started a spreadsheet to keep track of confirmed driver and team entries for 2015. But what it doesn’t show is the new rule changes implemented for the new season which are just as intriguing as a new manufacturer entering the series (more about that later). So what’s changed? An increase in success ballast should prevent one driver running away with race weekends and keep the title race open for longer than it was in 2015. Secondly the independent validation of start-line performance and acceleration should help to even out the apparent rear-wheel drive advantage that we heard Jason Plato talking about so frequently last season. Similarly the re-validation of engines by both TOCA and an independent expert should prevent cars such as Dan Welch’s Proton being cut so far adrift at the back of the pack it became a mobile chicane for the leaders down the long straights of Silverstone and Donington. The most widely talked about and most simple change to the rules for 2015 is how the grid for race 2 shall be decided. Fastest laps instead of finishing order from race 1 should ensure a more jumbled grid and more competitive racing. But what about the drivers and teams who will compete to these new rules? The Autosport International in early January should give us a greater idea of who we will see on the grid next season, for now however the confirmed drivers and teams points towards a promising grid for the new season. Dan Welch will be back in his family run Proton following a disastrous 2014. The teams plans to build their own engines backfired (non deliberate pun, honest) leaving Dan and team mate Ollie Jackson stuck at the wrong end of the grid. Jackson has now left the team with his slot being filled by Andy Wilmot. The 34 year old former Fiesta champion has only competed in 3 British Touring Car Championship races before (in 2013 for Team HARD.) but achieved solid Top 20 finishes in all 3 races. Also returning for 2015 will be the ever popular Rob Austin Racing team. Austin hinted on Twitter that his trusty Audi A4, Sherman, would be looking a bit different for 2015 but hasn’t expanded upon those comments. It looks like he’ll be joined once again by friend and former British GT4 Vice Champion Hunter Abbott. Team BMR will be looking to build on strong 2014 and they have already secured the services of race winner Aron Smith and BRDC rising star Jack Goff. Smith, who scored two race victories last season, may well be a dark horse for title whilst Goff will be hoping to start scoring consistent top 10 finishes. With ambitious team owner Warren Scott also investing in 4 Renault Clio cup cars the future looks bright for the Buntingford based outfit. The biggest news of the off-season is the arrival of Infiniti in the series. The ‘Infiniti SupportOurParas’ team will be running two Q50 models for Derek Palmer Jnr and Richard Hawken. Ex Clio cup driver Josh Cook looks set to join in another armed forces backed team- ‘Racing for Heros’ who are also entering cars in all 5 support series. Simon Belcher will be back for a second crack at the series in his ‘Handy Motorsport’ Toyota Avensis whilst Chris Stockton and ‘Power Maxed Racing’ switch to a Chevrolet Cruze Saloon from the rather boxy and unaerodynamic hatchback model. Alex Martin joins ‘Motorbase’ from the Ferrari 458 Challenge series, whilst Mike Bushell replaces the successful but underfunded Dave Newsham at ‘AmdTuning.com’. Adam Morgan scored his first race win at Brands in October and he returns in his Wix supported Mercedes A-Class, Aiden Moffat will also pilot an A-Class for 2015 under the ‘Laser Tools Racing’ banner. Question marks remain over some of the biggest names in the championship however. Matt Neal has dropped hints that Honda Yuasa Racing will return in 2015 with a Civic Type-R model but it looks unlikely that anything will be confirmed before ASI. Reigning champion Colin Turkington’s WSR squad have been rocked by the news that title sponsor Ebay Motors have pulled out casting doubt over the Ulsterman’s future at the team. Sam Tordoff has already been confirmed at the team and he will bring his undoubted quality to a car that proved to be far more reliable than the MG6 he was driving last year however. Speaking of MG it’s looking like all change at the 888 ran outfit as well. With Tordoff confirmed as having joined rivals WSR it’s also looking as if record winner in the series Jason Plato will not be at the team next season. Speculation is rife as to where the double champion will end up. Jeff Smith rejoins Eurotech alongside, one would presume, Andrew Jordan. Presume that is… So there you have it. My mid-December motorsport blues have been temporarily lifted with a shower of BTCC related words. Much more will hopefully become clear during the Autosport International show in January and in the weeks following it. It’s under 100 days until media day at Donington where all will be revealed, not that I’m counting.
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April 2020
CategoriesAuthorI'm Fraser, 22, Sons fan who is now living the dream of reporting on Dumbarton for the Lennox Herald. |