2001 saw a complete overhaul of the BTCC, aimed at reducing the cost of competition, improving the quality of racing and making the series more appealing to the fans. The running of the championship was taken over by British Motorsport Promoters (BMP), replacing TOCA who had run the series since 1992.
New regulations The escalating costs of
Supertouring in the late 1990s had seen manufacturers withdrawing as they were no longer able to justify spending the vast amounts of money required to stay competitive and in the British championship in particular independent entries had dropped to an all-time low. In 1999 TOCA had begun looking at the next generation of touring car with changes that included simplified aerodynamics, less expensive carbon fibre and more common parts. In June 2000 BMP unveiled plans for the new look formula designed to be "both spectacular and cost effective..." for the sprint race at the following round but wouldn't compete in the feature race either as Vauxhall chose to withdraw him from the weekend.
Formula 3 racer
Andy Priaulx took over his seat for the two races. Peugeot re-entered the series with a trio of
Vic Lee Racing-prepared 406 Coupes driven by
Matt Neal (who left after the first round to compete in the
European Touring Car Championship for
Team Dynamics), Class B graduate
Dan Eaves and touring car veteran
Steve Soper. The team re-expanded to three cars for Donington, as superbike racer
Aaron Slight made a guest appearance whilst evaluating a full-time switch to four wheels the following year.
Alfa Romeo 147 during qualifying for round1 at
Brands HatchMG began development of a pair of ZS' built to the new regulations courtesy of
West Surrey Racing, these made guest appearances in the hands of ex-Ford and Nissan driver
Anthony Reid and former
Formula 3 and
STW racer
Warren Hughes during closing rounds of the season in preparation for a full campaign in 2002. Two small independent teams filled out the Touring class grid ambitiously entering new cars: JSM fielded a pair of Alfa Romeo 147s in an assault headed by 1992 BTCC champion
Tim Harvey in a driver/team manager role. After original intended driver Darren Malkin lost his sponsorship deal prior to the start of the season, the team hired
Tom Ferrier, who had originally signed for Vauxhall. It was planned for Harvey to drive the car when Ferrier was fulfilling other driving commitments in the
European Super Production Championship. The second car was driven by
David Pinkney until he walked away from the team after the Silverstone rounds in June which would see Harvey take over and drive alongside Ferrier. Former independent driver
Mark Blair competed in two rounds in place of Ferrier later in the year. ABG Motorsport entered a Lexus IS200 for
Kurt Luby, with plans to expand to a second car for Brazilian GT racer
Thomas Erdos later in the year. This did not come off and instead Erdos took Luby's drive mid-season when the Englishman walked away from the team, while the running of the car was taken over by Total Motorsport. After a failed attempt to hire former Volvo and Vauxhall works driver
Vincent Radermecker, the car was driven by driver-turned-motoring journalist Steve Sutcliffe as a guest entry in the final round.
BTC-Production With a low entry in the top class, the grid relied largely on the super production specification base Production class (formerly Class B) to boost grid numbers in this transitional year. HTML headed the Peugeot entry with
Roger Moen and
Simon Harrison moving across from the National Saloon Cup,
Tech-Speed Motorsport also entered a pair of 306s for MG-F racers Annie Templeton and young gun
Paul O'Neill, and teenager
Tom Boardman drove a fifth 306 for his family-run team.
Barwell Motorsport fielded a pair of Honda Accords for former works Honda driver 2000 Class B runner up
James Kaye and Peter Cate who was replaced by Simon Graves following the first three rounds.
Tiff Needell appeared in the second car at Oulton Park in August but was ineligible for points. There were also Accords for Total Control Racing's Jim Edwards Jnr and
Synchro Motorsport's
Dave Allan.
Mark Lemmer raced in place of Allan at Croft and Snetterton. The Honda contingent was also bolstered by businessman
John Batchelor's pair of
B&Q-backed Integras, entered for himself (as John B-and-Q) and Nick Beaumont. Joanna Clarke raced in place of Batchelor for three rounds mid season. Nick James also appeared for a handful of rounds in the Integra he raced in the second half of 2000. The Ford Focus was also competitive in the hands of GR Motorsport, who entered a quartet of cars for youngsters
Gareth Howell and
Mat Jackson, and veterans Rick Kraemer and Richard Meins. Mein's car was taken over by future champion
Gordon Shedden for the Knockhill races.
Phil Andrews was also listed as one of the team's intended drivers but never raced.
GA Janspeed entered two Alfa Romeo 156's, campaigned by
Gavin Pyper and
Colin Blair, a third entry for Italian Antonio Russo was also entered but never raced.
Rob Collard returned now driving a self-entered Renault Clio. Cranfield Automotive entered Mitsubishi Carismas for reigning National Saloon champion Toni Ruokonen, James Levy and Sandro Proietti but the latter was replaced by Andy Neate before the season started. Neate only raced at Brands Hatch and Levy only raced at Oulton Park, the rest of the time, Ruokonen was the team's sole entry.
Bintcliffe Sport ran a single Nissan Primera for Matt Kelly but abandoned their efforts early in the year. Later in the season, the first Proton entered in the BTCC, a Satria run by
TH Motorsport for Steven Wood, appeared at Silverstone and Brands Hatch. Having initially been linked to running Astras in the Touring Class, Edenbridge Racing secured a deal to run two
BMW 320is but these wouldn't appear until 2002.
Other changes •
Alan Gow stepped down as the series boss, replaced by Richard West. •
BF Goodrich replaced
Michelin as the control tyre for the series. •
Honda and
Ford left the series, although
Peugeot returned as a works entry after withdrawing at the end of the 1998 season. • The independents trophy was not implemented during the season. • More conventional qualifying sessions returned, replacing the one-lap showdown system of previous years • The first race held outside of the United Kingdom took place in June when the championship visited
Mondello Park in Ireland. ==Teams and drivers==