After an off-season of rule changes, teams and drivers both coming, going and then coming back again, and a ground-breaking broadcast deal, the British Touring Car Championship finally returns this weekend.
Fresh from one of the strongest performances from a single driver in years, fans will be hoping the 2024 season brings a return to the nail-biting finishes it has become famous for.
So who are the runners and riders? Who do we expect to be at the sharp end? Where and when are they racing?
The 2023 BTCC season saw one of the most dominant performances in recent memory as NAPA Racing UK’s Ash Sutton stormed to victory across the year. Such was the strength of the Alliance Racing-run Ford Focus that the traditional end-of-season showdown, where there’s usually at least four or five drivers with a mathematical shot at the crown, that only two drivers entered the Brands Hatch finale with a chance at lifting the trophy.
The reality is, though, that there was only ever one man who would be leaving with his name in the history books. The 45-point gap Sutton held over rival Tom Ingram meant that the latter needed a near-perfect weekend with the Ford man having the worst weekend of his year.
For the first time since 2015, BMW was not at the top of the Manufacturers/Constructors standings. There was still some success for the 3-Series, though, as Jake Hill and Colin Turkington shared nine wins between them, split six to three, on their way to third and fourth in the points respectively.
One of the biggest headline names on the BTCC entry list for 2024 is the return of former World Champion Rob Huff, who embarks on his first full-time BTCC entry in 20 years.
While there may only be two Toyotas running the works livery compared to the three of last year, there will actually be one extra Toyota on the grid with the formation of the LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ satellite operation.
Aiden Moffat and Josh Cook fill the satellite Corolla seats, moving their old One Motorsport partnership up the grid.
For 2024, there will be twice as much power available to drivers using their boost – which will comprise of a combination of hybrid and turbo boost and will be delivered through the same steering wheel-mounted button previously used.
A new qualifying format inspired by IndyCar will be used from this season, as the BTCC introduces ‘Quick Six’ Qualifying. The field will be split in two based upon whether they ended in an odd or even position in Free Practice 2.
After two separate 10-minute sessions, the top six from each will go into the second 10-minute session, known as the “Top 12”. Finally, the top six from the “Top 12” go into a final “Quick Six” 10-minute session to define the front three rows of the grid for race one.
