Record 31 car entry confirmed for 2014 BTCC season

A record 31-car entry has been announced for the 2014 British Touring Car Championship season.

The 2014 line-up was officially unveiled this morning at the championship’s media day at Donington Park, ahead of the only official pre-season test this afternoon.

Unusually in recent BTCC history, the grid was largely confirmed weeks before the season launch, with the third Motorbase Performance Ford Focus ST the only seat yet to be filled.

The 2014 grid features a number of headline stories.

Double champions Alain Menu and Fabrizio Giovanardi both return to the series after 14 and four years respectively, making it seven champions on the grid, alongside Matt Neal, Gordon Shedden, Jason Plato, Colin Turkington and reigning champion Andrew Jordan.

The strongest driver line-up for many years features a total of 13 previous BTCC race winners, and also welcomes six newcomers – Simon Belcher, Hunter Abbott, Tom Ingram, Glynn Geddie, Jack Clarke and Marc Hynes.

There are also two new teams in the shape of United Autosports and Rotek Racing, while BTC Racing return to the series for the first time since 2008.

Although a capacity grid of 32 cars had been mooted, one of the new TOCA BTCC Licences (TBLs) has been retained by the series organisers. TOCA may choose to re-allocate this to a new team or driver wishing at any stage during the season.

The four-hour test session gets under way at 13:00 GMT.

2014 British Touring Car Championship Entry List

No – Driver – Team Name – Car – Engine Builder/Marque
4 – Matt Neal – Honda Racing Team – Honda Civic Tourer – Neil Brown/Honda
52 – Gordon Shedden – Honda Racing Team – Honda Civic Tourer – Neil Brown/Honda
88 – Sam Tordoff – Triple Eight Race Engineering – MG6 GT – Swindon/TOCA
99 – Jason Plato – Triple Eight Race Engineering – MG6 GT – Swindon/TOCA
888 – Marc Hynes – Triple Eight Race Engineering – MG6 GT – Swindon/TOCA
1 – Andrew Jordan – Eurotech Racing – Honda Civic Hatchback – Neil Brown/Honda
30 – Martin Depper – Eurotech Racing – Honda Civic Hatchback – Neil Brown/Honda
5 – Colin Turkington – West Surrey Racing – BMW 125i M – Neil Brown/BMW
10 – Rob Collard – West Surrey Racing – BMW 125i M – Neil Brown/BMW
18 – Nick Foster – West Surrey Racing – BMW 125i M – Neil Brown/BMW
6 – TBC – Motorbase Performance – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford
7 – Fabrizio Giovanardi – Motorbase Performance – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford
44 – Jack Clarke – Motorbase Performance – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford
33 – Adam Morgan – Ciceley Racing – Mercedes-Benz A-Class – Swindon/TOCA
80 – Tom Ingram – Speedworks Motorsport – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA
11 – Simon Belcher – Speedworks  Motorsport – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA
101 – Rob Austin – Rob Austin Racing – Audi A4 – Swindon/TOCA
54 – Hunter Abbott – Rob Austin Racing – Audi A4 – Swindon/TOCA
39 – Warren Scott – Team BMR – Vauxhall Insignia – Swindon/TOCA
31 – Jack Goff – Team BMR – Vauxhall Insignia – Swindon/TOCA
9 – Alain Menu – Team BMR – Volkswagen CC – Swindon/TOCA
40 – Aron Smith – Team BMR – Volkswagen CC – Swindon/TOCA
48 – Ollie Jackson – Welch Motorsport – Proton Gen-2 – Welch/Proton-M
12 – Daniel Welch – Welch Motorsport – Proton Gen-2 – Welch/Proton-M
43 – Lea Wood – JWT Performance – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA
17 – Dave Newsham – AmD Tuning – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford
67 – Robb Holland – Rotek Racing – Audi S3 Saloon – Swindon/TOCA
28 – Chris Stockton – BTC Racing – Chevrolet Cruze Hatchback – RML/Chevrolet
16 – Aiden Moffat – Aiden Moffat Racing – Chevrolet Cruze Saloon – RML/Chevrolet
20 – James Cole – United Autosports – Toyota Avensis – Xctechr/Toyota
21 – Glynn Geddie – United Autosports – Toyota Avensis – Xctechr/Toyota