BTCC 2024 News & Rumours

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

Bobby Thompson posted 'BRITISH TOURING CAR 2024 sponsorship opportunity.' on Linkedin this afternoon with details of what a sponsor can expect.
Obviously after a deal.

Who isn't? Kite flying - not really a basis for a serious entry

[MarcusH26]

I know she was only loosely mentioned as a possible for BTCC , but Jess Hawkins is in British GT with Beechdean and the new Aston Vantage.

[SSmith]

[UPDATED] With the season edging closer and closer, there have been a few announcements for competitors across the four main TOCA support series (PCCGB, F4, MINI JCW, Sprint Challenge) - some of which have already been discussed on here. We'll no doubt have some competitive grids once again.

There's definitely a few announcements I've missed, but these are the ones I remember coming across.

PCCGB:

Dan Lloyd - Toro Verde GT (Pro)
Jack Butel - Toro Verde GT (Pro-Am)
Hugo Ellis - Team Parker Racing (Pro)
Sid Smith - Team Parker Racing (Pro)
Stephen Jelley - Team Parker Racing (Pro)*
Lee Mowle - Team Parker Racing (Am)
James Wallis - JTR (Pro) - Porsche GB Junior for 2024/2025
Josh Stanton - JTR (Pro-Am)
Andrew Rackstraw - JTR (Pro-Am?)
Josh Malin - Race Drive (Pro)
Oliver White - Race Drive (Pro-Am)

British F4: No official entry list yet – drivers marked[*] haven’t been officially announced and may just be testing during official British F4 tests

#2 - Nina Gademan (NED) - Fortec
#8 - Kai Daryanani (IND) - Fortec
#4 - Mika Abrahams (RSA) - Hitech Pulse-Eight
#5 - Reza Seewooruthun (GBR) - Hitech Pulse-Eight
#6 – Gabriel Stilp (GBR) – Hitech Pulse-Eight[*]
#7 - Deagen Fairclough (GBR) - Hitech Pulse-Eight
#9 – Emily Cotty (GBR) – Phinsys by Argenti[*]
#42 - Rowan Campbell-Pilling (GBR) – Phinsys by Argenti
#56 - Yuanpu Cui (CHN) – Phinsys by Argenti
#87 – Matus Ryba (SVK) – Phinsys by Argenti[*]
#11 - Chloe Chong (GBR) - JHR
#22 - Joel Bergstrom (SWE) – JHR
#44 - Leo Robinson (ALG) - JHR
TBA - Ella Lloyd (GBR) - JHR
#12 - Alex Ninovic (AUS) - Rodin
#18 - James Higgins (GBR) - Rodin
#78 - Jack Sherwood (GBR) – Rodin
TBA - Abbi Pulling (GBR) - Rodin
#23 – Zack Scoular (UAE) – Xcel Motorsport[*]
#24 – Martin Molnar (HUN) – Virtuosi Racing[*]
#99 – Yuhao Fu (CHN) – Virtuosi Racing[*]
#66 – Chloe Grant (GBR) – Chris Dittmann Racing[*]
#77 – Bart Harrison (GBR) – Chris Dittmann Racing

Porsche Sprint Challenge GB:

Will Jenkins - Team Parker Racing
Oscar Dix - Team Parker Racing
Oliver Meadows – Team Parker Racing
George Jaxon - JW Bird
Darelle Wilson - JW Bird

MINI JCW:

Max Hall - EXCELR8
Dominic Wheatley – EXCELR8
Jamie Osborne - NAPA Racing UK
Lewis Selby - NAPA Racing UK
Chris Mackenzie - Bitcoin Racing
Trevor Keates – Mannpower Motorsport
Marlo Cordell – JamSport
Lydia Walmsley – Lydia Walmsley Racing
Cameron Richardson - NAPA Racing UK (JCW Sport)
Albert Webster - T.B.A. (JCW Sport)

[InYourMirrors45]

Originally Posted by SSmith

[UPDATED] With the season edging closer and closer, there have been a few announcements for competitors across the four main TOCA support series (PCCGB, F4, MINI JCW, Sprint Challenge) - some of which have already been discussed on here. We'll no doubt have some competitive grids once again.

There's definitely a few announcements I've missed, but these are the ones I remember coming across.

PCCGB:

Dan Lloyd - Toro Verde GT (Pro)
Jack Butel - Toro Verde GT (Pro-Am)
Hugo Ellis - Team Parker Racing (Pro)
Sid Smith - Team Parker Racing (Pro)
Stephen Jelley - Team Parker Racing (Pro)*
Lee Mowle - Team Parker Racing (Am)
James Wallis - JTR (Pro) - Porsche GB Junior for 2024/2025
Josh Stanton - JTR (Pro-Am)
Andrew Rackstraw - JTR (Pro-Am?)
Josh Malin - Race Drive (Pro)
Oliver White - Race Drive (Pro-Am)

British F4: No official entry list yet – drivers marked[*] haven’t been officially announced and may just be testing during official British F4 tests

#2 - Nina Gademan (NED) - Fortec
#8 - Kai Daryanani (IND) - Fortec
#4 - Mika Abrahams (RSA) - Hitech Pulse-Eight
#5 - Reza Seewooruthun (GBR) - Hitech Pulse-Eight
#6 – Gabriel Stilp (GBR) – Hitech Pulse-Eight[*]
#7 - Deagen Fairclough (GBR) - Hitech Pulse-Eight
#9 – Emily Cotty (GBR) – Phinsys by Argenti[*]
#42 - Rowan Campbell-Pilling (GBR) – Phinsys by Argenti
#56 - Yuanpu Cui (CHN) – Phinsys by Argenti
#87 – Matus Ryba (SVK) – Phinsys by Argenti[*]
#11 - Chloe Chong (GBR) - JHR
#22 - Joel Bergstrom (SWE) – JHR
#44 - Leo Robinson (ALG) - JHR
TBA - Ella Lloyd (GBR) - JHR
#12 - Alex Ninovic (AUS) - Rodin
#18 - James Higgins (GBR) - Rodin
#78 - Jack Sherwood (GBR) – Rodin
TBA - Abbi Pulling (GBR) - Rodin
#23 – Zack Scoular (UAE) – Xcel Motorsport[*]
#24 – Martin Molnar (HUN) – Virtuosi Racing[*]
#99 – Yuhao Fu (CHN) – Virtuosi Racing[*]
#66 – Chloe Grant (GBR) – Chris Dittmann Racing[*]
#77 – Bart Harrison (GBR) – Chris Dittmann Racing

Porsche Sprint Challenge GB:

Will Jenkins - Team Parker Racing
Oscar Dix - Team Parker Racing
Oliver Meadows – Team Parker Racing
George Jaxon - JW Bird
Darelle Wilson - JW Bird

MINI JCW:

Max Hall - EXCELR8
Dominic Wheatley – EXCELR8
Jamie Osborne - NAPA Racing UK
Lewis Selby - NAPA Racing UK
Chris Mackenzie - Bitcoin Racing
Trevor Keates – Mannpower Motorsport
Marlo Cordell – JamSport
Lydia Walmsley – Lydia Walmsley Racing
Cameron Richardson - NAPA Racing UK (JCW Sport)
Albert Webster - T.B.A. (JCW Sport)

Looks like Porsche sprint challenge will remain as the mandatory programme browsing/power nap slot then.

[SSmith]

Originally Posted by InYourMirrors45

Looks like Porsche sprint challenge will remain as the mandatory programme browsing/power nap slot then.

Yes, some of the Sprint Challenge racing hasn't been great. IMO by adding the new Cayman GT4 RS alongside the existing Cayman, it could fragment an already fragmented field even further (especially with Pro and Am classes for both the new car and the old car). I think some of the delay in announcements could be because of car deliveries for the new GT4 RS model (I seem to recall reading that the season is starting late to give teams time to get the car).

[Overboost]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

Bobby Thompson posted 'BRITISH TOURING CAR 2024 sponsorship opportunity.' on Linkedin this afternoon with details of what a sponsor can expect.
Obviously after a deal.

Thompson has been left a bit shafted, the support from Dynamic’s obviously disappeared when they tied up with Excelr8. He did have a decent new sponsor lined up, but the team he was talking with took the deal & left him high and dry.

[TyH]

Originally Posted by Overboost

Thompson has been left a bit shafted, the support from Dynamic’s obviously disappeared when they tied up with Excelr8. He did have a decent new sponsor lined up, but the team he was talking with took the deal & left him high and dry.

Has the recent excelr8 news regarding Millers Oil coming onboard anything to do with this by chance ?

[TyH]

Hi everyone,

Just a quickie:

Just set up my fantasy BTCC league for the season.

If you want to join and have a bit of fun, the link to join is:

https://www.fantasybtcc.com/c/viewle...gueID=30001623

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by TyH

Has the recent excelr8 news regarding Millers Oil coming onboard anything to do with this by chance ?

Thought the same, although he did ‘like’ the Instagram post for what it’s worth which you probably wouldn’t do to a team that’s just nicked your sponsor!

[Overboost]

Originally Posted by TyH

Has the recent excelr8 news regarding Millers Oil coming onboard anything to do with this by chance ?

It might have prompted the post.

[MarcusH26]

I might have completely got this wrong so apologies if I'm misremembering things, weren't Miller's Oils a HARD sponsor in 2022 on a couple of the cars?

[AJD]

Originally Posted by Overboost

Thompson has been left a bit shafted, the support from Dynamic’s obviously disappeared when they tied up with Excelr8. He did have a decent new sponsor lined up, but the team he was talking with took the deal & left him high and dry.

With the greatest respect to Thompson he's not really getting shafted. If Miller Oils were serious about being on the grid this season as a sponsor why wait for a driver who usually struggles for budget when the opportunity comes to be involved with a team who already have a full lineup.

Same with Team Dynamics, they're a race prep team. Won't be doing much race prep if they're fully backing Thompson and he can't scrape together a drive.

[coffinpilot]

This guy has all the answers and is well informed.
In the second half of this vid he reveals a whole line of crackpot suppositions, and he explains why the merger of Tony Gilham Racing and Team HARD last year is one of the reasons why the BTCC grid is depleting..... I remember now why I didn't try crack, or crystal meth.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDPedCUlqS4

[Evantra]

https://x.com/naparacinguk/status/17...T11pmdgnSSDQzA

NAPA launch on Monday.

Previous teaser made mention of more white, and there looks to be the Valvoline logo on the windscreen banner?

[techspeed]

Just a thought, if a late two car Cupra entry was really viable wouldn't a party other than Gilham/Hard put together a deal? Perhaps he has access to some tools and spare parts that others wouldn't? In the press release even Gilham doesn't even sound that confident they can make it to the end of the season.

Others have pointed out the rest of the grid and the various creditors might not be too pleased to see Gilham back in the series. On the face of it the BTCC organisers might think it's in the series interest to have as many entries as possible but you could argue that that it doesn't reflect that well on the health of the series.

[TyH]

Michael Crees just ruled himself out of the Team HARD drive.

That leaves PMR or WSR!

[Millvi]

Originally Posted by TyH

Michael Crees just ruled himself out of the Team HARD drive.

That leaves PMR or WSR!

I can’t think we’ll see him at either PMR or WSR. Far more likely perhaps a season in a rented CBM Cupra + his TBL.

[fsport3]

Would make sense as he has shares in a new CB racing company.

[SV8Predator]

Originally Posted by TyH

Michael Crees just ruled himself out of the Team HARD drive.

That leaves PMR or WSR!

Or TCR of course.

[Pickles]

Originally Posted by TyH

Michael Crees just ruled himself out of the Team HARD drive.

That leaves PMR or WSR!

Has Crees confirmed he's in BTCC? I can't see him at PMR or WSR, more likely TCR.

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by Pickles

Has Crees confirmed he's in BTCC?

No, he has just said that there was news coming. On TwitterX / Insta that was accompanied by a picture of his race number(old BTCC pictures), on FB it was accompanied by a picture of him in a Ginetta.

[MarcusH26]

TCR wouldn't be a bad move for Crees. Would guess it's that or a British GT seat. Sounds like he burnt a few bridges at PMR from some of Adam Weavers comments so that's a non starter.

[Greem]

Originally Posted by MarcusH26

TCR wouldn't be a bad move for Crees. Would guess it's that or a British GT seat. Sounds like he burnt a few bridges at PMR from some of Adam Weavers comments so that's a non starter.

There are burned bridges all over the place, including in British GT.

[MarcusH26]

Originally Posted by Greem

There are burned bridges all over the place, including in British GT.

Oh I'm sorry I'd completely forgotten about his British GT incident. Scrap that one as an idea!

[Andrew Abbott]

Originally Posted by MarcusH26

I might have completely got this wrong so apologies if I'm misremembering things, weren't Miller's Oils a HARD sponsor in 2022 on a couple of the cars?

They sponsored Team HARD cars last year. Thompson carried their branding in the first part of the year. When he returned, he was in a different CUPRA and did not carry the branding, which could still be seen on the other HARD cars of Crees and Lloyd (who carried it all year).