The silly season is hotting up even further in the BTCC during these autumn* months. It is reminiscent of when a dog drops one on a snowy morning, and for some reason the pervading waft of doo-doo is quite a bit stronger than the equivalent deposit on a sunny summer afternoon. It’s actually very much like some of the chatter we’re hearing from paddock sources – we’re trying not to slip on them. However, there are a few bits of chat that really are a bit more ‘solid’ in a different way when it comes to what we can expect for 2025.
Shall we get some of the more onerous claims out of the way first? How about 2021 Le Mans winner Jose Maria Lopez running a half-season seat share deal in a Speedworks Toyota? Yann Erlacher ditching a decent paying Cyan Racing Lynk & Co TCR ride for the BTCC? BTCC to go worldwide on YouTube behind a UK region lockout next season with live races? I think we can put those into a little black (compostable) doggy bag and plonk them into one of those doggy bins stuck to the side of lampposts. Actually, they’re always full, so do what most of us do – send it flying into the garden of the local radgie on yer way home…..
First things first. The TBL list was out this past Monday – and it makes almost interesting reading. On the face of it it’s Snetterton 2024 with an extra Un-Limited license, and two for the return of One Motorsport. But will the TBL allocation remain as is?
Last season, a cursory question to PMR owner Adam Weaver regarding a 2024 TCR UK racer (who considered a 2024 seat with the team) about running a third car was answered with a quip, ‘if someone writes a big enough cheque?’ Could that still be the case? Could they, or another team grab a TBL from another outfit? One rumour has Speedworks moving one on, and returning to being a three-car squad themselves, another rumour has both One Motorsport entry slots available which seems a bit mad. Or not.
Why would TOCA return to slots to One if they had no intention of coming back? Although no news seems to have leaked from the team since the announcement of a sabbatical in February, multiple sources point to a return. All of them specifically mention the One/BTC chassis with a TOCA M-Sport engine – the Neil Brown Honda engined Dynamics Cars – which the whole team struggled with in 2023 are supposedly not on the agenda. The drivers? The same sources claim three 2024 drivers are vying for the seats. Josh Cook, with either Aiden Moffat or Nick Halstead in the other seat. Mind you, Mr H, along with Ronan Pearson are going to be busy this season – apparently, they’re teaming up to race an Astra, Toyota, Cupra and BMW. No Ford or Hyundai though. Busy lads, they best get onto the treadmills once Christmas is over if the pair of them are going to represent half of the grid.
The other story (as opposed to rumour) is that the mysterious Vortx will take over the two One entries. That’ll be a hard job because they’re also taking two of the Toyotas – with Speedworks remaining as a four car entry under both banners. Vortx will also enter a Cupra as the second Un-Limited seat for Scott Sumpton……
Are you keeping up? There appear to be contradictions here!
The second Un-Limited seat is still to be confirmed. What we do know is that Max Hall is in and that the team picked up a second car last season, but now appears to have access to the Chris Smiley Restart machine. Dexter Patterson has been connected to the drive, but at the moment that is not a certainty.
Speaking of Restart Racing – we spoke in depth with Commercial Director Pete Jones this week – an interesting and entertaining interview you can read here. He spoke highly about Dan Lloyd who is rumoured to be a hot favourite for the drive, but, Jones pointed out that he has become a very, very popular man of late with his phone being used as a conduit for drivers to share their desire to take the seat, and offer him money for the position – but as he states in the interview, there are conditions that are to be met for any prospective racer joining the squad. Once again, here’s the article – yes, we are plugging our own work, it’s whatcha gotta do.
One name connected by people not involved with either wheni t comes to Restart is Adam Morgan, who has also been connected to the other i30 team – Excelr8. Also in that area are names like DeLeon and Zelos.
Another name that is in the wider Tin Top ring is Michael Crees, who posted on Facebook that he’s looking for partners to keep the BTCC dream alive. Other former BTCC names mentioned in conversations, but with no teams attached, include George Gamble and Stephen Jelley.
On a real world note, in a recent EparTrade interview Alan Gow spoke about possible calendar changes or expansion. The BTCC Chief Executive pointed out that ideas such as longer races are repeatedly shot down by fan response, which would indicate that the endurance round that some fans would like to see as a one-off isn’t on the table at the moment. As for extending the season beyond 10 rounds, he said this: “You’ve got to be aware of the teams’ budget. I could easily go to 11 or 12 rounds if I wanted, certainly my broadcaster would be happy doing that but that adds another 10 or 20 percent budget to the teams, and they can’t always get that back. So, if the teams all came to me and said look, we’d like to run another event, we will run another event”
With the plan for the cutting of costs being a driver for the updated NGTC rules coming in 2027, could the knock-on effect mean that the BTCC yearly schedule could, for the first time since 2001, expand beyond 10 rounds in the coming years?
TCR UK – we’ll leave that for now considering the recent announcement by the international bosses of the category – WSC. There are things we know for certain from both parties, and many competitors, but they’ll remain under lock and key. For now……
*Winter in the UK doesn’t officially start until December 21st
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