Who heads the stats from the NGTC era?

It’s hard to believe that five seasons have now passed since the BTCC first introduced NGTC to the touring car world, with the regulations having played a major role in the revitalisation of one of the most popular national series’ in the world.

Anyone who knows me, or has followed my work in recent years, will be well aware of the fact that I love a good statistic, so the fact that the first ten-year period of NGTC has now reached the half way stage seemed as good a place as any to fire up the spreadsheets and see what the stats reveal.

History shows that Gordon Shedden is the first two time champion since the start of the NGTC-era, but delving a bit deeper throws up some interesting data…

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STARTS:

In total, 61 drivers have been entered into the championship in NGTC-spec cars since 2011, when five teams became the ‘guinea pigs’ for the new regulations.

Of those 61, two – Dave Pinkney and Mark Hazell – would fail to actually take part in a race, with Pinkney sidelined by delays to his Rob Austin Racing Audi ahead of the very first NGTC event, and Hazell electing to withdraw from his drive (ironically with the same team) for personal reasons a year later.

Neither of the two drivers who competed in the first NGTC race – Frank Wrathall and Tony Hughes – still race in the series, although Rob Austin and Dan Welch both joined the grid later in the year and are the only two drivers to have raced an NGTC-spec car in each of the five seasons they have been eligible.

It should therefore come as little surprise that Austin has started more NGTC races than anyone else (136), putting him on course to become the first driver to start 150 NGTC races; a feat he should achieve in race two at Croft.

Jason Plato and Gordon Shedden should also hit that landmark this season on Finals Day, having started 120 races apiece since the start of the 2012 campaign.

Andrew Jordan, Adam Morgan, Matt Neal and Welch are the only other drivers to have passed the landmark of 100 NGTC starts.

At the other end of the scale, Tom Barley, Max Coates, Martin Donnelly, Richard Hawken, Barry Horne, John Thorne and Michael Caine have all raced in just one meeting in an NGTC car.

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POINTS:

Of the 59 drivers to take the start of a BTCC race at the wheel of an NGTC car, a total of 46 have picked up championship points.

Of those 46, Rob Austin is the only one to have scored in every season, although his total of 569 is only 11th on the unofficial leader board. It should be noted however, that Austin would have scored more points had the current scoring format been in place in 2011 when he made his debut.

Instead, the points leader is Jason Plato, who sits just one shy of the magical 1,500 mark despite so far failing to lift the title. It’s a close run thing to see who hits that landmark first however, with Gordon Shedden just four points behind.

That comes despite Shedden outscoring Plato in three of the four seasons in which they have raced in NGTC cars; the exception being 2014 when Plato ended the year 50 points better off.

Andrew Jordan, Matt Neal and Colin Turkington are the only other drivers to have broken the 1,000 point barrier; the latter being particularly impressive given he has only competed in three seasons of NGTC competition.

It means his average points per race is actually third on the list behind Plato and Shedden.

Turkington’s 434 points used to take the title in 2015 is the most in a single season, with Shedden’s 348 last year being the lowest tally to take the title.

That score of 348 is actually Shedden’s lowest score of the NGTC era, and would have failed to earn a top three championship finish in any of the other NGTC seasons (where the top 15 scored).

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WINS:

Despite not winning the title since the switch to NGTC, it should come as little surprise to see that Jason Plato heads the list of race winners, having take to the top step of the podium 26 times.

It means he also tops the list of average wins in a season with 6.5.

Gordon Shedden is second on the list with 20 wins ahead of Colin Turkington on 17, although the latter has a better wins per season average (5.6 to 5.0).

The trio share the record for most NGTC wins in a season (8), while a total of 15 drivers have taken victories.

In total, 112 races have been won by NGTC cars since they debuted in the championship back in 2011.

Matt Neal was the first NGTC winner when he took victory in race two of the season opener at Brands Hatch in 2012, whilst win 50 went to Jason Plato in race one of Finals Day in 2013. Jack Goff’s win for MG at Snetterton last year was the 100th NGTC victory.

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PODIUMS:

He may have most points and most wins, but Jason Plato doesn’t have the most podiums to his name.

Instead, that honour goes to Gordon Shedden, who has finished inside the top three an impressive 56 times – nearly half of his appearances in an NGTC-spec car.

Plato is the only other driver to have passed 50 NGTC podiums ahead of Matt Neal and Colin Turkington; the latter holding the record for most podiums in a single season (19 in 2014).

In total, 23 drivers have taken podium finishes in NGTC cars, with Frank Wrathall at Knockhill in 2011 having been the first.

FASTEST LAPS:

Gordon Shedden leads the way amongst the drivers to have set a fastest race lap in an NGTC car, having done so on 22 occasions.

Once again, Jason Plato is his closest challenger, just two behind, with Colin Turkington in third on 16. Turkington holds the record for most fastest laps in a season – an impressive 11 during his title winning campaign of 2014.

Of the 16 drivers to post a fastest lap, Rob Austin was first at Snetterton back in 2011.