The championship began back in 1958 under the name of the British Saloon Car Championship, where the fans would flock to the circuits to see their heroes racing and battling in modified version of the everyday road cars they drove. The man behind the origination of the series was Ken Gregory, who managed to convince the car manufacturer’s that the championship was an ideal place to showcase their latest roadgoing models whilst providing the fans with a spectacle that they would pay to see.
The championship began under the rules of the British Racing & Sports Car Club, and the BRSCC created four classes of rules that would cater for different types of cars - up to 1200cc, 1201-1600cc, 1601-2700cc and 2701cc and above.
The BTCC ran a class system which changed over the years to fit in with the changing dynamics of the motor industry until 1991, when the dawn of SuperTouring began. Essentially a 2-litre single-class formula, the new regulations were to attract a number of big name drivers and manufacturers as the British Touring Car Championship became the dominant Touring Car series worldwide. Such was the success of the formula that the FIA adopted the SuperTouring regulations officially.
In the first few years of SuperTouring manufacturers such as BMW, Ford, Vauxhall, Nissan, Toyota and Mitsubishi were all competing for the top honours, with drivers such as Will Hoy, John Cleland, Steve Soper and Andy Rouse all competing for the top honours. Blows were traded, paint swapped and the crowds loved it. The BTCC was growing in stature and with increasing television coverage on the BBC and Grand Prix support races on the bill, the championship was big business.
And that ultimately proved to be one of its pitfalls. By the end of the nineties the SuperTouring formula had become to expensive as the manufacturers poured more and more cash into running their teams in what was essentially a national series. The 2000 season saw only Ford, Honda and Vauxhall fielding cars and new regulations were sought out. Group N cars were allowed into the series for 2000 and continued with the change over of regulations in 2001. The BTC-Touring technical regulations were introduced for 2001 with the purpose of reducing costs.
What the series lacked in grid sizes though it still made of for in close racing and excitement, as Jason Plato and Yvan Muller proved in 2001 as the two fought all year long for the championship. In the end Plato took the title but it wasn’t without its controversies, especially when team mates and championship contenders Plato and Muller collided at Silverstone resulting in Plato being handed a penalty demoting him from the race victory.
Things looked on the up for 2002 as MG Sport and Racing continued its commitment to the series and was joined by the works Honda squad, run by Arena International, and a new works Proton Outfit. Grid numbers were boosted further by independent entries from a second MG squad, Team Atomic Kitten, Barwell Motorsport and Team Halfords.
