Alain Menu: “The BTCC is really on the up”

Returning BTCC legend Alain Menu believes he is joining a series which will be more competitive this year than the World Championship he is accustomed to.

The double BTCC champion is back on the grid after 14 years away, following a spell in DTM and eight years as a factory Chevrolet driver in the World Touring Car Championship.

And although he admits that is where he would still be had there been the opportunity, he is excited to be rejoining a series which is on the up.

Menu will be driving a Volkswagen CC for Team BMR, and proved he had lost none of his speed by setting the third fastest time in the official media day test yesterday.

Asked if he ever envisaged a situation where he would return full-time to the BTCC, Menu said: “No, to be honest. I went to DTM for a few years and then the World Championship with Chevrolet. Truth be told, that is where I would have stayed if there had been an opportunity.

“Having said that, the BTCC is really on the up. I can see that today [media day] with the turnout of journalists. As far as the drivers, the cars, and teams are concerned, it will be more competitive this year than the WTCC.”

Addressing the modern incarnation of the BTCC he will be competing in, Menu added: “I did one race meeting at the end of 2007 for Triple Eight, so I know a little bit about how it works. For a start, there are no tyre warmers and we have three races. I need to read the rules properly to make sure I am up to speed with everything.

“So in some respects it will be different, but the tracks are the same. Most of the drivers I don’t know – maybe half of them could be my sons!

“But that’s good. Even in the team, with Aron [Smith] and Jack [Goff], they are young guys, and I am sure their ambition is to be a professional racing driver.

“They are very hungry, which is good. I hope they will push me, and I will push them. But it will be the same for me – I can still learn from the drivers who are younger than me.”

Menu’s most recent experience of touring cars have been the RML-built Super 2000 Chevrolet Lacetti and Cruze, two different animals to the Volkswagen CC he will be campaigning this season.

Asked how they compare, he said: “In a nutshell, these cars are heavier, and you feel it. They are more sluggish; S2000 is more nimble and responsive.

“But it is front-wheel drive, and the basics are very similar. On our car, we need to improve it, but we haven’t had enough time with it yet.

“I am very confident it will come, but I don’t think we are there yet.”

The Swiss was also full of praise for his new team boss Warren Scott, who has gone from campaigning an ageing SEAT to running a four-car BTCC operation in under a year.

He said: “I really like Warren. He’s done even more than he told me he was going to do. I think he and his team will surprise a few people this year.

“I don’t think anyone expected Warren to build up such a nice team, and a professional team. It is good for the championship that people like him get involved, and try to get a team to the level of the best.”

Menu may have nothing to prove to fans of the BTCC, but it is evident the fire still burns in a driver who last year celebrated his 50th birthday.

He said: “Motor racing has been my passion since I can remember. When I was a kid I wanted to be a racing driver, and I have been lucky enough to be a racing driver for 25 years.

“The passion is still there, and that is why I am still around. I love driving, I love racing and I love the atmosphere.

“I want to enjoy myself, but don’t get me wrong – I want to win.”