Team Dynamics to miss 2023 BTCC season
Team Dynamics has confirmed that it will not take part in the 2023 British Touring Car Championship season, marking the first time since 2002 that it won’t have been part of the grid.
The future of the team has been the subject of much discussion over the off-season, particularly following the announcement that Dan Rowbottom was to make the move to the Motorbase-run NAPA Racing squad for 2023 – resulting in Dynamics losing the backing he brought from Cataclean.
Former champion Gordon Shedden had said back in January that he was working to try and stay with the Honda squad for a third successive season having returned to the series in 2021, but the Scot will now be missing from the grid when the action kicks off at Donington Park later this month.
Whilst the multiple title winners will not compete in the series this year, Dynamics having an involvement in the 2023 season as it work to support ONE Motorsport – which will now be the sole team running the Honda Civic Type R.
As part of that support, ONE Motorsport – the team previously known as BTC Racing – will utilise the Neil Brown Engineering-developed Honda engine that has been used by Dynamics in recent seasons, as opposed to the TOCA unit it ran last year.
“This has been an extremely difficult decision for us to make as a business,” Team Dynamics owner Matt Neal said. “Unfortunately, with the current economic climate, we have not been able to secure the commercial partnerships we required to commit to the forthcoming BTCC season.
“I’ve been in the BTCC all my life and it has presented us with many fantastic opportunities and memories, so I’m extremely disappointed that we will not be directly involved and saddened for our dedicated employees, partners, fans and supporters.
“However, we still want to keep the Honda brand at the forefront of racing and ultimately winning races. Under our tenure, the brand became one of the most successful manufacturers in the championship, second only to Ford in just half as many years.
“We aim to put to good use our resources and developments made over the winter by supporting ONE Motorsport in 2023 and helping them to win races and challenge for the Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships.”
“We would like to thank everyone involved in the BTCC, especially Alan Gow, who has supported us over the years. We wish all the teams and drivers, particularly ONE Motorsport with Neil Brown Engineering, the best of luck for the forthcoming season. We hope to actively be back in the BTCC in the future.”
Team Dynamics first appeared in the BTCC back in 1992 when it ran Neal in a BMW, and would go on to field Mazda, Ford and Nissan machinery during the Super Touring era – famously scoring an independent win with the latter at Donington Park in 1999.
After a few seasons away from the grid, the team returned to the grid in 2003 with a part campaign running a Vauxhall Astra before starting a relationship with Honda in 2004 that would run through to the present day.
The team took the title on six occasions, with both Neal and Shedden taking three championships apiece, and would score a grand total of 126 wins – second only to Triple Eight on the all-time winners list.
Neal and Shedden scored 52 of those wins apiece, meaning they share the record for most wins with a single team alongside WSR driver Colin Turkington.
Team Dynamics in the BTCC:
First race: Silverstone, 1992
First win: Donington Park, 1999
Drivers Titles: 6
Independent Driver Titles: 5
Jack Sears Trophy Titles: 1
Manufacturers Titles: 5
Teams Titles: 7
Most successful circuit: Brands Hatch (24 wins)
