Well over the past 4 days, the motorsport world has been flocking to the Autosport International at the Birmingham NEC. This has become the starting event each for announcements of drivets, teams and motorsport programmes at every level.
And the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship regulars did not disappoint.
So lets see a quick rundown of what was announced at the show ahead of the 2014 BTCC season...
1. Rob Austin confirmed a 2 year sponsorship with Exocet for his team. Austin confirmed that Sherman would be in Exocet colours whilst the 2nd Audi would have some Exocet sponsorship. No 2nd driver was confirmed yet.
2. Simon Belcher unveiled the Handy Motorsport run NGTC Toyota Avensis he will be driving this season. The car carries Karcher sponsorship with the colours of Black, White and Green.
3. Dan Welch confirmed that Olllie Jackson would join him at Welch Motorsport this year, piloting the 2nd Proton Persona that is being built. This will be the first season the team has run two NGTC cars.
3. Robb Holland confirmed that he will enter the 2014 BTCC season driving for Rotek Racing in an NGTC version of the new Audi S3. This will be the first full season from the american driver who is hoping Audi will take more of an interest in the series in future.
4. Dave Newshams AmD NGTC Ford Focus was on show as was the NGTC Honda Civic Tourer at the show. Andy Jordans Title Winning Civic and last years NGTC MG6 were also on display.
5. Sam Tordoff confirmed he would be at MG/Triple Eight for a second year, joining Jason Plato and Marc Hynes. Tordoff has also confirmed that he is a member of the KX Academy again this year.
6. Its been confirmed that the Super Touring Car Cup will be on the TOCA support package at the BTCC Oulton Park round later on in the season. The Cup will hold two races over the weekend with the Sunday race being broadcast live during the BTCC programme broadcast on ITV4 HD.
7. Series Boss Alan Gow has confirmed that the BTCC has entered into a partnership with Haymarket Publishing. This means that well known titles such as Autosport, Autocar and Pistonheads will appear on the cars this season.
Now also during the show were the following revelations...
Warren Scott confirmed that he tried to get Colin Turkington to sign for him this season, but to no avail...
Gordon Shedden confirmed that several ex champions were interested in a return to the BTCC this year...
Just to clear that up, to find a BTCC Champion who isnt Andrew Jordan, Gordon Shedden, Matt Neal, Jason Plato or Colin Turkington, you need to look back to 2008 when Fabrizio Giovanardi won his 2nd BTCC title.
If go back further than that to find current drivers who have been BTCC Champions but don't have regular drives, you stumble across 1998 Champion Rickard Rydell and 1997 & 2000 Champion Alain Menu...
Its also been mentioned that Motorbase is chasing to sign at least one of these champions after a large restructuring of the team.
So a few points to consider in the buildup to the season. This week we are also due to hear the plans from Tony Gilham and Team HARD. for the 2014 BTCC season.
In the meantime, keep warm and dry during this winter time!!
Cheers
Phil.
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