BTC Racing gets 2014 BTCC grid slot
BTC Racing will return to the British Touring Car Championship in 2014 with their Chevrolet Cruze hatchback, the team have confirmed.
Writing on Twitter this week, team boss Bert Taylor said the squad have been allocated a 2014 grid slot under the new TOCA BTCC Licence scheme, with long-time driver Chris Stockton behind the wheel of the number 28 machine.
It is the first hatchback Cruze to appear on any touring car grid since the model first arrived in the FIA World Touring Car Championship in 2009. As with all new BTCC machinery, it is built to the Next Generation Touring Car regulations.
The car was originally in development at RML in late 2011, but was never completed due to the team leaving the championship.
The entry marks BTC Racing’s first outing in the BTCC since 2008.
The team joined the championship late in the 2006 campaign, running a pair of Lexus IS200 machines for Stockton and Darren Dowling.
They returned in 2007, with Stockton now partnered by Nick Leason, but a multitude of mechanical woes meant the car rarely threatened the points, despite some heroic efforts by its lead driver.
After a final hurrah for the Japanese model at the start of 2008, the team switched to a pair of SEAT Toledos for Stockton and truck racing expert Stuart Oliver, but did not complete the season.
