2015 British Touring Car Championship

58th season of the British Touring Car Championship

2015 British Touring Car Championship

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2014

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2015 ToCA Support series:
2015 Ginetta Junior Championship
2015 Ginetta GT4 Supercup
2015 MSA Formula Championship
2015 Porsche Carrera Cup GB
2015 Renault Clio Cup UK

Gordon Shedden, the 2015 Drivers' Champion

The 2015 Dunlop^[1] MSA British Touring Car Championship (commonly abbreviated as BTCC) was a motor racing championship for production-based touring cars held across England and Scotland. The championship featured a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded amateur drivers competing in highly modified versions of family cars which are sold to the general public and conform to the technical regulations for the championship. The 2015 season was the 58th British Touring Car Championship season and the fifth season for cars conforming to the Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) specification.

Colin Turkington was the defending drivers' champion.^[2] West Surrey Racing was the defending teams' champion, and MG the defending manufacturers' champions.

Teams and drivers

Driver changes

Changed teams

• Sam Tordoff, moved from MG/Triple Eight to West Surrey Racing.
• Andrew Jordan, moved to the works MG/Triple Eight team from his family run Eurotech Racing.^[17]
• Colin Turkington and Jason Plato, both moved to Team BMR from West Surrey Racing and MG/Triple Eight respectively.^[19]
• Dave Newsham, moved from AmD Tuning to Power Maxed Racing.^[35]
• Jack Goff, moved from Team BMR to Triple Eight Racing.^[16]
• James Cole, moved from United Autosports to Motorbase Performance.^[23]

Entering/re-entering BTCC

• Mike Bushell, who raced in the Knockhill round in 2013, will compete in his first full season with AmD Tuning.
• Richard Hawken and Derek Palmer Jr., who competed in the HSCC Super Touring Car Championship for historic touring cars in 2014, will enter the championship with Support Our Paras Racing.^[10]
• Jeff Smith will return to the BTCC with Eurotech Racing, having last raced for them in 2013.^[49]
• Andy Wilmot will return with Welch Motorsport, having last raced at Rockingham in 2013 for Tony Gilham Racing.^[28]
• Triple WTCC champion Andy Priaulx will return with West Surrey Racing, having last raced in the series in 2002.^[9]
• Alex Martin, who competed in the Ferrari Challenge in 2014, will enter the championship with Team Parker Racing under the Dextra Racing banner.^[30]
• Kieran Gallagher will return with Team HARD, having last raced with the team at Knockhill in 2013.^[43]
• Josh Cook, who was runner-up in the 2014 Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom season, will make his BTCC debut with Power Maxed Racing under the #RacingforHeroes banner.^[37]
• Ex-motocross rider Stewart Lines will make his BTCC debut with Houseman Racing, having previously raced in the Mini Challenge, Volkswagen Cup and the SEAT Cupra Championship.^[53]
• Nicolas Hamilton, half-brother to Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton and sometime ETCC competitor, will enter the championship with AmD Tuning.^[39] However his entry is considered as guest entry and therefore he won't be eligible for points.

Leaving BTCC

• Ollie Jackson and Nick Foster announced that they would not be returning to the BTCC in 2015.^[54][55] Foster made one-off appearance at Rockingham for Team IHG Rewards Club as replacement for Andy Priaulx, who was unable to participate due to duties in the European Le Mans Series.
• Lea Wood stepped down from his driving duties, to take a management role in his team, Houseman Racing.^[52]
• Chris Stockton stepped down from being team owner and driver of BTC Racing, selling the team to Automotive Brands.^[34]
• Marc Hynes left the championship to concentrate on the revived Manor F1 Team.^[56]
• Alain Menu, Fabrizio Giovanardi and Jack Clarke were unable to find a seat after losing their seats at Team BMR and Motorbase Performance respectively. Menu later returned, replacing the injured Warren Scott for the Brands Hatch season finale.
• Glynn Geddie and Luke Hines left the series after United Autosports left the championship.
• Robb Holland left the championship, having sold his car to AmD Tuning. He later returned to BTCC with Handy Motorsport filling in for Simon Belcher.

Team changes

• Infiniti entered the championship, offering factory support and the Infiniti Q50 as a base model.^[11] The cars are being run by Pro Motorsport under the banner of "Support Our Paras Racing".^[10] The team lost the Infiniti sponsorship and its manufacturer status following the 3rd round.^[41] The team was scaled down to a single entry from the Snetterton round onwards.
• Aiden Moffat Racing switched from a Chevrolet Cruze to a Mercedes-Benz A-Class, built by Ciceley Racing.^[32]
• After initially announcing a return in 2015, BTC Racing was sold to title sponsor Automotive Brands in February. The team switched to a saloon version of the Chevrolet Cruze for 2015, having bought Aiden Moffat's 2014 car.^[34]
• Team HARD re-entered the series having bought a single Toyota Avensis, previously owned by United Autosports.^[43]
• United Autosports left the series after only a single year of participation having sold their licences to Team HARD and Power Maxed Racing respectively.^[43][57]
• Motorbase Performance withdrew from the first half of the season, but rejoined the series from the Snetterton round onwards.^[23]
• Team Dynamics switched from the Honda Civic Tourer to the Honda Civic Type R.^[14]

Rule changes

Organisers outlined a series of rule changes for the 2015 season in October 2014:^[58]

• The amount of success ballast is now implemented to the top ten drivers on the grid and the championship heading into a weekend instead of five. With more drivers now carrying ballast, the weight has been increased with the maximum being 30 kg (66 lb) heavier than in previous years. The maximum success ballast is 75 kg (165 lb) for the championship leader, down to 9 kg (20 lb) for tenth place. Rear-wheel drive (RWD) cars carry their success ballast as far forward in the cabin as possible, in order to better equalise the front to rear weight balance between both drivetrain formats.
• Cosworth and Xtrac independently analyse the start-line performances and in-gear acceleration of front and rear-wheel drive cars with a view to more equalising them through engine management programming.
• All engines have now been re-tested and re-validated by both TOCA and an independent specialist company – resulting in a boost level being set for each car and engine type for the season. As the larger amount of success ballast has a greater effect than before, the lap-time boost level adjustment can be dropped.
• Each car must still use the Dunlop soft tyre for one race at nine events – the Thruxton event does not apply as the soft tyre is not used at the venue – but each car must use them three times in race 1, three times in race 2 and three times in race 3 during the course of the season.
• The grid for race 2 at each event is set in the order of the fastest lap times achieved in race 1. If during race 1 a driver changes one or more tyres of the same type then any quicker lap time (if achieved) after that tyre change is discounted.
• The Jack Sears Trophy will be awarded to the top 'Rookie Driver' of the year.^[59]

Race calendar

The provisional calendar was announced by the championship organisers on 18 August 2014. After using the "International" circuit configuration in 2014, the Oulton Park round will revert to the "Island" layout.^[60]

Results

Championship standings

Notes

• No driver may collect more than one point for leading a lap per race regardless of how many laps they lead.

Drivers' Championship

(key)

Manufacturers'/Constructors' Championship

Teams' Championship

Independents' Trophy

Independent Teams' Trophy

Jack Sears Trophy

Notes

1. From Knockhill onwards Team BMR was known as Team BMR RCIB Insurance
2. Gordon Shedden originally set the fastest lap, but this was disallowed as it was set under yellow flag conditions.^[61]

References

1. "DUNLOP CONTINUE STRONG PARTNERSHIP WITH BTCC". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 18 March 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
2. Gallagher, Ian (12 October 2014). "Colin Turkington secures title in first Brands Hatch race". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
3. Ashby, Chris (5 December 2014). "West Surrey Racing to confirm first 2015 driver imminently". BTCC Crazy. James Mappin. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
4. "TEAM JCT600 WITH GARDX LAUNCHED". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
5. Ashby, Chris (24 March 2015). "WSR-BMW confirmed as manufacturer/constructor entry". BTCC Crazy. James Mappin. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
6. "Rob Collard completes 2015 West Surrey Racing line-up". TouringCarTimes. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
7. "Sam Tordoff joins West Surrey Racing for 2015". TouringCarTimes. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
8. "Experienced driver returns to West Surrey Racing for one-off 2015 BTCC outing". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
9. Gallagher, Ian (8 January 2015). "Andy Priaulx returns to the BTCC with West Surrey Racing". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
10. "Infiniti to enter BTCC with Support Our Paras Racing". TouringCarTimes. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
11. "Infiniti and "Support Our Paras Racing" enter BTCC in 2015". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
12. Charman, James (8 May 2015). "Martin Donnelly to replace Richard Hawken at Thruxton". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
13. Gallagher, Ian (8 January 2015). "Honda to return with Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden in 2015". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
14. "Honda Yuasa Racing unveils new Civic for 2015 BTCC". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 17 March 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
15. "Triple Eight MG return with new line-up and sponsors in 2015". TouringCarTimes. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
16. Gallagher, Ian (25 February 2015). "Jack Goff completes Triple Eight Racing's BTCC line-up". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
17. Gallagher, Ian (7 January 2015). "Andrew Jordan joins Triple Eight Racing for the 2015 BTCC". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
18. Gallagher, Ian (13 August 2014). "Árón Smith renews contract with Team BMR for 2015". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
19. Gallagher, Ian (17 February 2015). "Colin Turkington and Jason Plato sign for Team BMR". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
20. "Alain Menu to replace injured Warren Scott". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
21. Ashby, Chris (9 January 2015). "Warren Scott remaining coy on Team BMR driver line-up". BTCC Crazy. James Mappin. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
22. Gallagher, Ian (21 January 2015). "Motorbase to run Ford EcoBoost engines in 2015 BTCC". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
23. "Motorbase will miss first half of 2015 BTCC". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
24. "Simon Belcher confirms 2015 BTCC drive". TouringCarTimes. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
25. "HOLLAND'S BTCC RETURN WITH HANDY MOTORSPORT". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
26. "SPEEDWORKS SIGN RENOWNED ENGINEER GEOFF KINGSTON FOR 2015 CAMPAIGN". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
27. "TOM INGRAM SECURES SPEEDWORKS RETURN". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
28. "ANDY WILMOT SIGNS FOR WELCH MOTORSPORT". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
29. Gallagher, Ian (13 March 2015). "Welch Motorsport to stick with self-built Proton engines". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
30. Gallagher, Ian (20 November 2014). "Alex Martin to race for Motorbase Performance in 2015". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
31. Charman, James (8 August 2015). "Barry Horne to fill in for Alex Martin at Snetterton". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
32. "Ciceley Racing building Mercedes for Aiden Moffat". TouringCarTimes. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
33. "LASER TOOLS RACING CONFIRMS MERCEDES FOR 2015". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
34. "Ownership change for BTC Racing". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 16 February 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
35. Gallagher, Ian (23 February 2015). "Dave Newsham joins Power Maxed Racing". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
36. Ashby, Chris (1 December 2014). "Josh Cook set to graduate to BTCC with newly-formed #RacingforHeroes team". BTCC Crazy. James Mappin. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
37. Gallagher, Ian (4 March 2015). "Josh Cook to make BTCC debut with Power Maxed Racing". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
38. Gallagher, Ian (12 November 2014). "Mike Bushell joins AmD Tuning for 2015 season". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
39. "Nicolas Hamilton gets BTCC deal for 2015". Downforce Radio. Jake Sanson. 16 March 2015. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
40. "Revised line-up for AMDTuning.com at Brands Hatch". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
41. Charman, James (29 May 2015). "Infiniti and Support Our Paras Racing part company". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
42. Scott, Mitchell (24 June 2015). "Max Coates replaces ex-F1 driver Martin Donnelly in BTCC". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
43. Gallagher, Ian (6 February 2015). "Kieran Gallagher to drive for Tony Gilham Racing in 2015". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
44. Ashby, Chris (5 September 2015). "Team HARD switch to Swindon TOCA engine after reliability woes". BTCC Crazy. James Mappin. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
45. Charman, James (25 September 2015). "Tony Gilham returns to BTCC grid at Silverstone". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
46. "JEFF SMITH RETURNS TO EUROTECH". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
47. Gallagher, Ian (25 March 2015). "Jeff Smith hopes Eurotech engine switch pays off". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
48. Gallagher, Ian (2 March 2015). "Martin Depper remains with Eurotech for 2015". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
49. "Jeff Smith returns to BTCC with Eurotech Racing". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
50. Gallagher, Ian (17 October 2014). "Rob Austin Racing already looking to 2015 season". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
51. Gallagher, Ian (11 February 2015). "Hunter Abbott re-signs with Rob Austin Racing for 2015". Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
52. Gallagher, Ian (29 January 2015). "Lea Wood steps down from driving for 2015 season". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
53. "JWT Performance signs Stewart Lines". TouringCar Times. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
54. Gallagher, Ian (4 January 2015). "Ollie Jackson rules out 2015 BTCC return". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
55. Turner, Kevin (7 January 2015). "WSR BMW British Touring Car Championship racer Nick Foster retires". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
56. Ashby, Chris (18 March 2015). "Marc Hynes takes BTCC sabbatical to concentrate on Manor F1". BTCC Crazy. James Mappin. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
57. "Power Maxed Racing confirms second car for 2015 season". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
58. "Regulation reminder: What's changed for 2015?". Chris Ashby. BTCC Crazy. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
59. "Impressive 2015 BTCC entry list confirmed". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
60. "BTCC 2015 calendar confirmed". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
61. Gallagher, Ian (19 April 2015). "Raft of penalties after Donington Park action". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 19 April 2015.

External links

• Official website
• TouringCarTimes