Reigning champion Ash Sutton powered to the fastest time during the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship’s official Season Launch day at Donington Park, as the series confirmed its entry list for the 2024 season.
NAPA Racing UK contender Sutton, chasing a record fifth BTCC title after a barnstorming run to the 2023 crown, ended the day on the National circuit with an advantage of just under a tenth of a second to teammate Dan Cammish, with the best times coming in the afternoon session, despite a storm that put paid to any further improvements inside the final hour.
Tom Chilton put his Hyundai i30N in third place at the venue where he claimed his most recent series win, ahead of 2022 champion teammate Tom Ingram.
The third Focus of Daniel Rowbottom was next up ahead of the lead BMW of Jake Hill, with series returnee and former World Champion Rob Huff less than a tenth further back. Sutton’s fellow four-time champion Colin Turkington (BMW), Toyota’s Andrew Watson and Hyundai’s Ronan Pearson completed the top-10, which was covered by just over seven tenths of a second.
The BTCC confirmed a provisional 21-driver entry list for the new season during the day, with three former champions, former world champion Huff and 13 previous race winners announced for the new campaign, which starts at Donington Park on 27-28 April.
A significant boost to each car’s hybrid system, a new ‘quick six’ qualifying format similar to that seen in IndyCar and revised tyre regulations are just some of the new factors to look forward to as the series builds towards another ultra-competitive season.
Each car will now have double the hybrid power compared to previous campaigns, with the duration of hybrid boost available to each driver varying according to their championship position for qualifying, and their race finishing position on race day.
The Quick Six qualifying format will break the session into a series of 10 minute shoot-out style segments. The quickest six from the first two sessions will go through to a 12-car second session, with the fastest six from that going into the Quick Six final 10-minute dash to decide pole position and the top-six grid positions.
Meanwhile, the new tyre regulations include the use of ‘option’ tyres, and the top-10 in the first race of each weekend will be forced to use the hardest available tyre compound in their next contest.
“It has arguably been one of the busiest off-seasons in recent memory with several on-track and off-track innovations and announcements set to bring further excitement to the BTCC” said BTCC Chief Executive Alan Gow.
“We have a grid that is firmly focused on a real depth of quality, with so many potential race winners and an ever-growing number of likely title contenders.
“These driver announcements from the teams – combined with the new hybrid-turbo boost, qualifying and option tyre regulations – look set to be the perfect recipe for a hugely competitive and entertaining year ahead.
“I always look forward to the start of a new season, but this one feels a bit special – I really believe we have a cracking championship ahead of us.”
2024 Kwik Fit BTCC entry list
#1. Ashley Sutton, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST
#3. Tom Chilton, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, Hyundai i30N
#11. Andrew Watson, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK, Toyota Corolla GR Sport
#12. Rob Huff, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK, Toyota Corolla GR Sport
#14. Ronan Pearson, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, Hyundai i30N
#16. Aiden Moffat, LKQ Euro Car Parts with SQYNETIQ, Toyota Corolla FR Sport
#18. Daryl DeLeon, Unlimited Motorsport, Cupra Leon
#20. Colin Turkington, Team BMW, BMW 330e M Sport
#22. Nick Halstead, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, Hyundai i30N
#24. Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, BMW 330e M Sport
#27. Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST
#29. Scott Sumpton, Restart Racing, Cupra Leon
#32. Daniel Rowbottom, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST
#33. Adam Morgan, Team BMW, BMW 330e M Sport
#40. Aron Taylor-Smith, Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing, Vauxhall Astra
#66. Josh Cook, LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ, Toyota Corolla GR Sport
#77. Sam Osborne, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST
#80. Tom Ingram, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, Hyundai i30N
#88. Mikey Doble, Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing, Vauxhall Astra
#222. Chris Smiley, Restart Racing, Cupra Leon
TBC. BMW 330e M Sport
Season Launch test, Donington Park National, top-10 result:
1. Ash Sutton, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, 1m07.997s
2. Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, +0.098s
3. Tom Chilton, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, Hyundai i30N, +0.181s
4. Tom Ingram, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, Hyundai i30N, +0.301s
5. Daniel Rowbottom, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, +0.434s
6. Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, BMW 330e M Sport, +0.526s
6. Tom Ingram, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, Hyundai i30N, +0.539s
7. Rob Huff, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +0.621s
8. Colin Turkington, Team BMW, BMW 330e M Sport, +0.652s
9. Andrew Watson, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +0.681s
10. Ronan Pearson, Team BRISTOL STREET MOTORS, Hyundai i30N, +0.707s
Click here for full results