BTCC Driver of the Year 2024

[DaviePHD]

'sup BTCC fans...

Just interested to know who you all thought the 2024 BTCC Driver of the year is.... Yes I know Jake is Champion (richly deserved BTW) but we all expected it to be Jake, Tom or Ash.

But who has impressed you most in 2024? I'm going to go with Aron Taylor Smith.

He's squeezed some great performances out of a car which is pretty long in the tooth, he was knocking on the door of a race win all year, had he not been excluded from pole he likely would have got one.

I know over the years he's ran hot and cold, but 2024 was the best I've seen him and it would be interesting to see him in a consistently front running car in 2025.

[Robin Marriott]

I have to agree. 7th in the championship behind all the usual suspects. It’s an impressive feat.

[porsche962fan]

^ getting away from that dumpster fire called team HARD was the best thing in his recent career , it's like it completely rejuvenated him

[MarcusH26]

Have to agree with ATS , think he really pulled some fantastic results out of the Astra. Think he's massively settled with PMR so don't think he'll be going anywhere. Hopefully Doble is back alongside him

[TyH]

Strongly agree with ATS.

Shout out has to go to Deleon, showed great speed in ultimately the smallest outfit on the grid

[houston]

Although having not completed a full season I think special mention should go to Dan Zelos who performed extremely well over just a few drives.

[DaviePHD]

Originally Posted by houston

Although having not completed a full season I think special mention should go to Dan Zelos who performed extremely well over just a few drives.

Absolutely, as a Scot it pains me to say it but he did really well and scored more consistently than Ronan Pearson. I would like to see him return.

Excelr8 On a "points per meeting" basis
Ingram = 41.3
Chilton = 18.7
Zelos = 14.6 (3 meetings)
Pearson = 11 (7 meetings)
Halstead = 0.7

Quite a gulf between Tingram and the rest of the team, but Zelos did brilliantly.

[mprmke]

A lot of impressive performances this season. With a smaller grid, and a lot of the obvious back markers weeded out, it was always going to be a high quality grid throughout. Only Halstead and Sumpton were genuine out-and-out back markers really.

Taylor-Smith was impressively consistent and quick in a smaller, mid-field team. After a few years at HARD, I thought someone who always looked like a decent upper-mid BTCC driver in his earlier career was going to just peter out, but good to see him performing strongly. Doble was also consistently solid.

After being underwhelmed by him for a few years, Cammish stepped up a level, particularly second half of the season. Impressive performances, especially considering the car was a bit below par by their standards for much of the season. Also think Osborne is a bit underrated for a "number 4" driver. Not a frontrunner, but does a solid job for the team.

Chilton stepped it up a level and was stronger than he's been for years, particularly first half of the season. Always wanted to see Zelos have a crack in a decent car, and he looked solid. Potentially a good number 2 for Ingram if given a proper crack at a full season.

Huff did better than I expected, as did Moffat. Watson was disappointing in the Toyota as I had realy high hopes for him, but as they have a very strong 4 driver line up, I don't think the car is all that really. Cook was excellent, top driver and was always going to be the highest placed Toyota driver by a considerable distance, so no surprise there.

Deleon showed a lot of promise in a very small, one-car team with poor machinery.

Then the top 4, who were predicted by almost everyone to be the top 4 at the start of the season, in whatever order.

Even though he didn't win, I thought it was Ingram's best season in terms of driving to date. Always been very quick from day one, but lacked racecraft at BTCC level for a good few years before he won it, and it's been getting better ever since. Always going to be there or thereabouts for the forseeable.

Hill is champion, so has to be driver of the season. not an easy car to get the best out of sometimes, but is clearly the best in other circumstances. Did brilliantly, and always said he'd win it one day from the days when he drove that dog of an A3 and looked good.

Sutton shows quite frequently that he's the best driver on the grid right now for me. He just has an extra something that no one else has. The car was well below par this season by their standards, but flashes of how good he is were clear. If it wasn't for some bad luck he would have been right there at the very last race still, despite it all.

Turkington should take a lot of praise and was right up there with being considered best of the season. Again, more than his fair share of rotten luck. Since hybrid came in, and changes to the car, he's often not had the car under him as much as he'd like, or as much as Hill, but there were a few instances this season where that was reversed. This last round being one of them. He had the egde on Hill in rounds 28 and 29 and would have beaten him were it not for helping Hill and the team, which he did incredibly well. Hill had the edge on him in the wet in Round 30, but still looked good. Had he not been wiped out on a few occasions, he'd have been virtually equal to the 2/3 going for the title at the end.

[billy bleach]

Coming at if from the other way what on earth happened to Andrew Watson? In 2023 he seemed pretty good but 2024 - very average

[porsche962fan]

Bobby T should get a mention

strong showing in his one off in car he didn't drove before

[tocatrucky]

Dan Zelos scored more points in 2 weekends racing than Nick Halstead has scored in 2 full seasons. I mean he's minted but wow hes's ultra slow in the same car capable of fighting titles. Dan was on the pace from his first time sitting in the car. Exceler8 need him back in 2025 so Tingram can have support, he's in a 4 car team but had nobody running near the front to help vs 2 WSR BMWs/3 Alliance Fords.

[redshoes]

Overall I don't think you can separate Hill and Ingram. It all came down to the last meeting and if you had run that event again the result could so easily gone a different way.

ATS feels like was punching above his weight a little. Overall not stellar results but just consistent. I think he was the only driver to score overall point in every round.

Deleon was quick at times. His name always seemed to pop up in qualifying then immediately drop back as he was pinged for track limits. In championship terms he wasn't a million mile away from Chris Smiley who is much more experienced and in similar machinery.

Zelos adapted very quickly, scoring points in every race he took part in. Given his domination in Minis this year that maybe shouldn't be a huge surprise but as we've seen on many occasions success in lower categories doesn't always translate.

Disappointed with Huff this year. Yes he took 2 wins (and a second) but those were very much the exception. I don't know if he never got the car to his liking but he just never seemed to gel with the car. That said, Cook was the only driver to do anything with the Toyota.

I know someone has to be last but Halstead still feels like he is out of his depth.

[Protonman]

Turkington deserves a mention . Very quick in qualifying and multiple victories held back by being a pinball in others accidents at time . I thought this might be goodbye but not likely now so long as budget is there. Class act response in last 2 rounds as well. All the Toyota drivers flattered to deceive except Cook who was quick but overdriving . I fear some may decide to get out now. Watson was bullied too much and favours the GT discipline. Morgan and Moffat may decide to look away and I wonder if Rowbo may move on. The extra budget he brings only produced a lot of frustration and he is definitely 3rd man at NAPA. Don’t see many coming back. From enforced sabbaticals .

[cxx666]

Hard not to argue with many of the names already mentioned.

Ingram, coming so close. Had the weather been different, we may have had a different outcome overall.

Thompson, he really showed what he can do when he's in a decent car in a well run team. It's a real shame the sponsorship issue happened, it would have been great to see what he could have achieved if he'd been in the seat long term.

DeLeon, I think he's shown himself to be one to watch in years to come. Yes the smaller grid may have flattered some of the results, but for a young guy still very much at the beginning of his car racing career, in a car that hasn't exactly been troubling the sharp end of the grid too much, he's had some great flashes of speed and held his own against some vastly more experienced drivers. I think in a car that's had some good development, and with the right people coaching him, he could well have potential to be a star of the future.

[BTCC frog]

1. Tom Ingram. Just pips Hill as I think the BMW was slightly faster than the Hyundai over the whole season, and his standout drives in the first two Brands Hatch events and the last at Donington were the best of the season.
2. Jake Hill. A worthy champion after being a frontrunner for some time now. He was outstanding in the wet, particularly at Snetterton, and a perfect drive to win the title in Brands Hatch.
3. Ash Sutton. Not as good as 2020-23, but still dominating Cammish, while he had bad luck and a weaker car, so the points gap to Hill and Ingram is not representative.
4. Josh Cook. Almost always maximised the points in a weaker Toyota than the other top cars, and first to nail the strange tyre compounds.
5. Colin Turkington. As fast as ever, but his patient driving style is not rewarding him in this hybrid era compared to ballast so may need a mindset change for next year.
6. Dan Cammish. Very fast and consistent, but just missing a little bit of pace and racecraft compared to Sutton. I wonder if he will switch teams for 2025.
7. Aron Taylor-Smith. Like Cook, was maximising the points all year in the Vauxhall, and scored points in every round. He was the positive surprise of the season, and is so much better than at HARD.
8. Rob Huff. His win at Knockhill was one of the best drives of the year, as he defended perfectly despite being slower, but he wasn’t on Cook’s level for outright pace.
9. Mikey Doble. Very consistent season, and with signs of potential, but always a little off Taylor-Smith’s pace. He still had some great weekends near the front.
10. Dan Rowbottom. He has the speed but made too many mistakes, hitting people or exceeding track limits. He has more potential than the points would suggest.
11. Tom Chilton. Continues to improve at Hyundai and was a frontrunner more often, but still some way behind Ingram.
12. Adam Morgan. Seems to be going backwards and was rarely near Hill and Turkington. I think he will now leave the team but hopefully will stay on the grid.
13. Ronan Pearson. One brilliant win at Brands Hatch, and also quick at Donington, but flattered to deceive after that, and a lot of misfortune as well.
14. Daryl DeLeon. Similar to Rowbottom, showed great pace but with too many mistakes. I think he has a lot of potential in the championship.
15. Aiden Moffat. One brilliant defensive win at Donington and he often seemed on it, in terms of tactics, but he wasn’t quite fast enough.
16. Chris Smiley. It was difficult to make an impression in the Cupra and he was very consistent, but lacked the headline moments of DeLeon.
17. Andrew Watson. Fast in qualifying but often made mistakes in the races and was involved in too many incidents.
18. Sam Osborne. He is still making gradual improvements, but this is his level.
19. Scott Sumpton. Joined the backmarker group but with a bit of potential and the slowest car.
20. Nick Halstead. With the loss from the grid of Powell, Hamilton, Edwards and Butel, he is now clearly the slowest driver.

Honourable mentions to Bobby Thompson and Dan Zelos who were both excellent in their short times in the series, and I really hope they are both on the grid next year.

[mick bennett]

Ash Sutton ,simply because of his race craft which is exceptional. God awful luck for most of the season. NAPA will have to decide if the Focus is still upto the job, they cannot rely on luck or otherwise. Problem is what is the alternative machinery ??.


Ingram deserved the title, 2nd best driver by a large margin from the rest.



ATS excellent drives as a 3rd.


Cook and Turkington equal 4th both produced good results


Hill 6th clamed down a bit but is still a yob at times.


Cammish 7th very much in the shadow of Sutton nowdays.



Remainder no particular order all roughly the same.







Leaving ?? in no particluar order



Chilton. I hope so, he is simply dangerous on occasions.


Watson anonymous


Huff ? car is not good enough for him or is it him?.



Sumpton , Pearson (will he return any way?) and Moffat (dreadful season ) ?.


Halstead .Totally out of his depth and a waste of a car


Rowbottom again dangerous ,and did no favours to Sutton his teammate on occasions.


Morgan if he cannot find a budget.