All change at the top as BTCC returns at Brands Hatch

“A change is as good as a rest” goes the old saying, and never was it truer than when applied to the current crop of British Touring Car Championship drivers. A winter of significant change and precious little rest is now over, with another genuinely unpredictable season set to roar into life at Brands Hatch this weekend.

While 2014 was hotly anticipated for the seven champions on the grid, this year it is as much for the unknowns as it is for the driving quality. We have three former champions in new teams and cars, with a further two in the same team but driving different machinery.

Add to that a driver who defeated the best the World Touring Car Championship could throw at him three years on the bounce, and the stage is set. And a record entry list, albeit with three absences for at least half the year, will provide plenty of competition among the 29-car field.

The biggest headlines are undoubtedly at the sharp end, with nearly all the top drivers from last season switching teams, cars or both. Champion Colin Turkington and vice-champion Jason Plato caused a huge stir when they were announced as team-mates at the ambitious Team BMR squad, with another world-class talent in Andy Priaulx replacing the champion at West Surrey Racing.

The 2013 champion Andrew Jordan replaces Plato at Triple Eight Racing alongside former Clio Cup conqueror Jack Goff, who switched teams with Plato. Continuing the musical chairs is Sam Tordoff, who departs the factory MG squad after two years to partner Priaulx and Rob Collard at WSR.

And rounding off the big changes at the big teams was the news that Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden will race a Civic Type-R for Honda Racing Team, several months before the production car is available in the UK.

Pre-season testing is a notoriously fickle measure of form, but you sensed a quiet optimism from Plato after he pipped Turkington to top spot in last week’s media day test. And while outright pace will be Plato’s goal, gaining solid track time will be the priority for several newcomers.

New manufacturer Infiniti joins with the Q50, working with the Support Our Paras charity to help injured soldiers start a career in motorsport. Series debutants Derek Palmer Jr and Richard Hawken will be looking to get some solid mileage under their belts in a car which only turned a wheel for the first time at Mallory Park today.

Clio Cup alumni Mike Bushell and Josh Cook are the graduates likely to attract most attention, alongside fellow newcomers Alex Martin and Stewart Lines, while Andy Wilmot and Kieran Gallagher return to contest full seasons after single outings in 2013.

Elswhere, several drivers will be looking to establish themselves at the front. Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan ended 2014 among the winner’s circle and will doubtless want to stay there, while Speedworks Motorsport are ones to watch. A fired-up Tom Ingram pilots an all-new Toyota Avensis built under the watchful eye of legendary engineer Geoff Kingston, with the team’s goal of a maiden BTCC podium looking more than attainable.

Add to that fellow winners Árón Smith, Rob Austin, Dave Newsham, Tordoff and Collard, and you have a grid which is arguably as competitive as last year, even without the celebrated pair of Alain Menu and Fabrizio Giovanardi.

Three drivers who won’t be on the grid also make headlines. Nicolas Hamilton will become the first disabled driver to race in the BTCC when he joins at Croft in June, while sadly the grid will be missing a Motorbase Performance entry for the first time since 2005. Mat Jackson and James Cole are hoping to join in from Snetterton, but the team’s home circuit will look that little bit barer without a pair of Ford Focus STs.

The action gets under way with free practice one at 10:00 BST on Saturday, with Sunday set to feature new ballast and reverse grid rules for the first time.

BRITISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRY LIST – BRANDS HATCH

No – Driver – Team Name – Car – Engine Builder/Marque
25 – Matt Neal – Honda Racing Team – Honda Civic Type-R – Neil Brown/Honda
52 – Gordon Shedden – Honda Racing Team – Honda Civic Type-R – Neil Brown/Honda
31 – Jack Goff – Triple Eight Racing – MG6 GT – Swindon/TOCA
77 – Andrew Jordan – Triple Eight Racing – MG6 GT – Swindon/TOCA
22 – Derek Palmer Jr – Infiniti Support Our Paras Racing – Infiniti Q50 – Swindon/TOCA
84 – Richard Hawken – Infiniti Support Our Paras Racing – Infinti Q50 – Swindon/TOCA
1 – Colin Turkington – Team BMR – Volkswagen CC – Swindon/TOCA
99 – Jason Plato – Team BMR – Volkswagen CC – Swindon/TOCA
39 – Warren Scott – Team BMR – Volkswagen CC – Swindon/TOCA
40 – Árón Smith – Team BMR – Volkswagen CC – Swindon/TOCA
6 – Rob Collard – West Surrey Racing – BMW 125i M-Sport – Neil Brown/BMW
7 – Sam Tordoff – West Surrey Racing – BMW 125i M-Sport – Neil Brown/BMW
111 – Andy Priaulx – West Surrey Racing – BMW 125i M-Sport – Neil Brown/BMW
11 – Simon Belcher – Speedworks Motorsport – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA
80 – Tom Ingram – Speedworks Motorsport – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA
12 – Andy Wilmot – Welch Motorsport – Proton Gen-2 – Welch/Proton-M
13 – Daniel Welch – Welch Motorsport – Proton Gen-2 – Welch/Proton-M
14 – Alex Martin – Team Parker Racing – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford Duratec
16 – Aiden Moffat – Aiden Moffat Racing – Mercedes A-Class – Swindon/TOCA
17 – Dave Newsham – Power Maxed Racing – Chevrolet Cruze Saloon – Swindon/TOCA
66 – Josh Cook – Power Maxed Racing – Chevrolet Cruze Saloon – Swindon/TOCA
21 – Mike Bushell – AmD Tuning – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford Duratec
23 – Kieran Gallagher – Tony Gilham Racing – Toyota Avensis – Toyota/Xctechr
30 – Martin Depper – Eurotech Racing – Honda Civic Hatchback – Swindon/TOCA
55 – Jeff Smith – Eurotech Racing – Honda Civic Hatchback – Swindon/TOCA
33 – Adam Morgan – Ciceley Racing – Mercedes-Benz A-Class – Swindon/TOCA
54 – Hunter Abbott – Rob Austin Racing – Audi A4 – Swindon/TOCA
101 – Rob Austin – Rob Austin Racing – Audi A4 – Swindon/TOCA
95 – Stewart Lines – JWT Performance – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA

TIMETABLE (ALL TIMES BST)

Saturday:
Free Practice 1: 10.00-10.40
Free Practice 2: 12:45-13:30
Qualifying: 15:40-16:10

Sunday:
Race One (24 Laps) – 11.47
Race Two (24 Laps) – 14.17
Race Three (24 Laps) – 17:12