BTCC 2026 SEASON PREVIEW
Annotations will appear as you listen
0:00
48:20
Concept
British Touring Car Championship
The British Touring Car Championship is a UK race series where cars are based on models you can buy. Teams race them on circuits around the country, and the racing is usually very tight.
Car
Hyundai i30
In BTCC, teams race a specific car model that’s based on a road car. Here, the team is using the Hyundai i30 as their race car for the season.
Concept
on the grid
“On the grid” means the driver is cleared to race and will start the event. Without being on the grid, you can’t score points.
Concept
overtakes
Overtakes are when a driver passes another car. In BTCC, it’s especially exciting because the cars are close enough that passing happens often.
Concept
British GT champion
A “British GT champion” is someone who won a major UK GT racing championship. It shows they’ve been successful in a different kind of racing before coming to BTCC.
Concept
podiums
A “podium” is finishing in the top three—first, second, or third. In a points championship, podiums are a big deal.
Term
chassis
The chassis is the car’s main frame—the part that holds the whole car together. Keeping the same chassis means the team is reusing the core structure and changing other parts around it.
Concept
driver lineup
A driver lineup is just the drivers the team uses for the season. If the same drivers stay, the team can fine-tune the car faster because they already know what each driver likes.
Concept
debut in the BTCC
A BTCC debut means it’s the driver’s first time racing in the championship. Early races can be tough because they have to learn the car and the style of racing quickly.
Brand
Napa
NAPA is an auto-parts company. They sponsor racing teams, so when a driver has “NAPA” in their background, it usually means they’ve had support from that brand.
Concept
support series
A support series is a stepping-stone race series. Drivers use it to gain experience and prove themselves before moving up to the main championship.
Term
brake failure
Brake failure means the car doesn’t slow down properly when the driver needs it. In a race, that can ruin your lap and even end your chances of winning the title.
Brand
BMW
BMW is the car brand behind the cars and sponsorship in this series. When BMW support drops, teams often have less money for development and less branding on the race cars.
Concept
independent
An independent team isn’t backed by a car manufacturer in the same way as a factory team. They still race, but they rely more on their own sponsors and budget.
Concept
manufacturer backing
Manufacturer backing means the car company helps the racing team with money and support. If that support disappears, the team has to find other ways to fund the season and may look different on the outside.
Concept
liveries
A livery is the car’s design—its paint and all the logos you see on it. When sponsorship changes, the livery often changes too.
Concept
pole sitters
A “pole sitter” is the driver who qualifies first and starts at the very front. That usually gives them a big advantage at the start of the race.
Car
Toyota Corolla
They’re talking about the race car based on the Toyota Corolla. In BTCC, teams run cars that are linked to real road models, so the Corolla’s package affects how the car drives and competes.
Concept
taking wins
Taking wins means actually finishing first in a race. It usually requires the whole package—car setup, driver skill, and smart strategy—not just a fast car.
Company
Gordon Shedden
Gordon Shedden is a well-known BTCC driver. The hosts say he’s staying with the team, which matters because an experienced driver helps the team get results and develop the car.
Concept
come out of the box
“Come out of the box” is racing shorthand for being immediately competitive from the first rounds. New teams and new cars often need development time—learning setups, refining aero/traction balance, and improving reliability under race loads.
Concept
gone to GT
“GT” is a different type of racing that uses sports cars based on road cars. If a driver goes from touring cars to GT, the cars and race tactics can feel quite different.
Concept
Jack Sears trophy
The Jack Sears Trophy is a “rookie/less-experienced” style competition within the BTCC. It’s meant to give newer drivers a realistic target and a separate way to win.
Concept
one practice session
Having only one practice session means teams get less time to dial in the car. That makes it harder to fix problems before the races start.
Concept
tires
Tire performance is central to BTCC because grip and wear directly influence lap times and race strategy. Track temperature and weather (like heat or rain) can make tires overheat or degrade faster, changing how drivers can attack.
Concept
rain
Rain makes the track slippery, so cars don’t grip as well. Drivers have to brake earlier and be gentler with steering and throttle.
Concept
Silverstone
Silverstone is one of the UK’s premier motorsport circuits and a frequent venue for major touring car events. Its late-season date can matter because tire wear, grip levels, and weather patterns often change as the year progresses.
Concept
yellow flags
Yellow flags mean “be careful.” Something is happening on the track, so you slow down and you don’t pass other cars.
Concept
overtake under a yellow flag
You’re not allowed to pass when yellow flags are out. If you do, officials can punish you after the race.
Term
red flag
A red flag means the race is stopped for safety. Everyone has to slow down and be ready to stop while officials handle the situation.
Term
puncture
A puncture is when a tire loses pressure due to damage, forcing the car to slow down and often return to the pits. In racing flagging terms, a car with a puncture is a common reason you might see a white flag for a slow-moving vehicle.
Concept
race weekend
A race weekend is the whole event around a race. It usually includes practice, qualifying, and then the main race. The podcast’s preview and review are timed around that schedule.
LIVE
After a long winter, the British Touring Car Championship is about to return.
Let us be your guide.
Hello and welcome back to the British Touring Car Podcast.
We are back once again and the 2026 season is now upon us.
We've done media day, everything's done, dusted out the way.
We have 21 drivers this season and we're going to take you through all of them,
the teams that are on the grid and what you can expect from the season ahead.
Yeah, this will be your comprehensive 101 of what to expect for the 2026 season.
We'll look at calendars, we'll look at ones to watch,
we'll look at anything Touring Car related in the next however long this podcast is.
Yeah, if you haven't done already, make sure you're subscribed
and make sure you click that bell down below because we'll have
previews, reviews, all sorts of podcasts coming out throughout the season
to keep you up to date with either race weekends and news all the way in between.
You mentioned media day there as well.
This is a good chance for you to go check out our media day roundup
which includes a couple of driver interviews as well.
So make sure once you finish listening to this,
if you haven't already, you go back and get our lowdown of what happened at Brands Hatch.
Yes, and a thank you to start as well.
Thank you for all the interaction we've had in the off season so far.
Please keep up and continue out throughout the season.
We love to see every single comment of yours
and it makes for a good discussion a lot of the time.
Absolutely, right. Where do you want to start for the 2026 season?
Do you want to do teams, rules?
Where do you want to kick things off?
I think we should start with the teams that we've got.
That's fine, no problem at all.
So we'll start with team Virtue then.
They are running the Hyundai i30,
and they are going to be a constructor for the 2026 season.
Yeah, four drivers at that team this year,
but only just with Rob Carg.
That would be surprising.
Ricky Collard being announced on the morning of media day,
Nick Hamilton the day before,
and then two Toms, Tom Chilton and reigning champion at Tom Ingram.
Yep, they've kept part of the lineup from last year in the two Toms.
Obviously, Nick Hamilton coming in.
I think this is actually quite a brave move from Nick.
It's nowhere to hide.
Exactly that. Without putting too fine a point on it,
we know, obviously, for those who may be new to the sport,
Nick Hamilton is related to Lewis Hamilton,
but completely funded by his own steam, not by Lewis.
And he has got a disability which affects how he drives.
So the fact he's on the grid in any way, shape or form is fantastic
and he works incredibly hard to make sure he's able to get on the grid.
However, he's not been the fastest for various reasons over the years.
He has now got himself into arguably the best car on the grid,
certainly for last year.
As you say, there is nowhere to hide.
He will be scrutinized harder than ever.
Fairly or unfairly, he will be scrutinized harder than ever
because he is now, for the first time in his touring car career, a top team.
Yeah, the only small caveat that he may have
is he will have to get to learn a brand new car to himself.
The team will have to get to learn how he works,
because I'm sure the way that he sets a car up
is probably a lot different to plenty of the other drivers that are on the grid.
So it's going to be a little bit of a baptism of fire,
but he managed to get a decent amount of running on media day despite two offs.
So I think he'll be looking to consolidate in the first part of the season
and then look to push on in the second half.
Absolutely. As for Ricky Collard returns to the series,
should be great news for rear view mirrors everywhere as those lights start flashing.
Yeah, I'm actually quite excited by this one,
because I quite like Ricky Collard.
He's a bit of a throwback in terms of driving style.
Certainly takes after his father in the School of Hard Knocks.
But hey, look, you want that.
You do want a little bit of action.
It's nice as it is to watch some really fine new millimeter overtakes.
Sometimes it is quite nice to have as a fan,
probably not if you're in the cockpit,
but as a fan is nice to have a little bit of aggression,
which Ricky certainly brings to the grid.
And yeah, I'm interested to see what he can do.
He's certainly got unfinished business in the touring cars.
If you watch that video in the off season of Top 5 Drivers Never To Win A Race,
he did feature.
So I think we both said there's no chance he comes back.
So we're on the pulse again here on the British Touring Car Pod.
But yeah, I think he'll definitely have a race win of any size.
Stepping into the Hyundai this year,
I think that is definitely going to be the target that's at the top of his list.
And possibly even finishing inside the top 10 in the championship.
Obviously, he's been away for a little while.
In that time, he has become a British GT champion as well with his father.
So he's got a decent amount of racing pedigree behind him.
And now he's back in the sport for the BTCC.
Then we have the two Tom's.
Tom Chilton, who first debuted all the way back in 2002.
He's got 533 starts to his name and 18 wins.
He had a really good couple of seasons out of virtue.
I think this would be another consolidation season into a degree.
Challenge the championship if he can,
but certainly if not, get up there, getting podiums, getting wins,
and helping the other Tom to try and keep that crown.
Yeah, it does make a little bit of a change now with Tom having been at the team for so long,
we don't normally see him stick around the team this long.
So hopefully he's well settled in there.
And he can be that quote number two driver that Ingram is going to need
to try and retain his title for 2026.
Yep. As of Ingram then, he won four or has won 40 races so far in the series of 356 starts.
He's actually been in the series now for 12 years, would you believe?
David back in 2014.
He was the man to beat last year and nobody could beat him.
Can he go back to back?
It's going to be the big question for this year.
It doesn't happen very often we see drives go back to back.
No, it doesn't.
It doesn't.
It has happened, but it's not often.
And this year, he will actually be running his trademark 80 on the car,
rather than the number one.
So if you struggle into picking him out,
he's the one with the gold number plate on the front.
So a question for Aniraks, feel free to leave the comment below.
When was the last time we had the series where the number one wasn't ran?
For me, I can't remember.
So if anybody does know, drop us a message below.
Okay, so we'll move on to who's likely to be their main competitor
and it is Napa Racing.
They are in the Ford Focus ST.
However, it is the longer version Titanium edition,
which is a quasi saloon coupé.
And they are also a constructor as well.
So just to quickly as a side of that,
if you're new to the sport, there is two types of entrants.
You've got constructors, which have a level of manufacture backing.
And you've got independence that may run a particular type of car,
but haven't got the backing or the input from said manufacturer.
We'll get to some of those a bit later on.
Yeah, so they've partially rebuilt the car this year
to have that more saloon style.
They've used the same chassis as last year.
There is a video on their own YouTube channel
showing you the process that they've had to go through in the off season.
And they've kept fairly stable with their driver lineup as well.
Yeah, three of the four remain from last year.
Yeah, exactly.
Ash Sutton will still be there alongside Dan Kamish with Sam Osborne once again.
And then new to the grid will be Lewis Selby making his debut in the BTCC.
Yeah, this is going to be a particularly interesting one.
We've not had a debutante at a big team for a...
Well, I say for a long time, I was supposed to be technically...
Well, Dillion wasn't a debutante.
I suppose Rainford is the most recent one I could think of.
He did pretty well.
But yeah, this is a huge step up for Selby,
who does of course know the Napa brand and the Napa family
having raced in the minis in the Napa.
That's about four times in Napa.
Napa and I have gone from a sponsorship.
If they want to sponsor us, that'd be lovely.
Yeah, it might impede impartiality.
Yeah, so he's now stepping into the touring cars.
We've seen in the past that these support series are there to try
and help drivers get into the main series,
but the step up is championship to Premier League level.
It is a huge step.
It is a huge step up.
Sam Osborne, as we said, is returning with the team,
took his first BTCC win last year out, total of 176 races debuted in 2019.
He should be looking to kick on this season.
Got to be.
More podiums, possibly even another win or two,
as long as he feels comfortable with the new car setup.
I don't believe he did a duel for the Jack Sears this year either,
so he hasn't got that to aim for.
And then at the top, or the sharp energy expected,
championship ever present, Dan Kamish,
who will certainly be aiming this season to get that one over on Ash
and finish higher and potentially take his first British touring car crown.
He debuted back in 2018, 207 starts, 16 wins,
but this is a fast driver who's not necessarily had the brakes in any car,
to be honest, as a poor.
That's a touchy subject, mate.
That wasn't intentional.
Wow, that's a faux pas.
If you haven't seen or you don't understand your new sport,
Dan Kamish came very close to winning the championship a couple of years ago
at Halfords Team Dynamics in the Honda,
coming down into the penultimate lap, I think it was,
of the season, had brake failure at Brands, which lost him to the championship.
So, well played there, mate.
Genuinely wasn't.
I'm not that funny to be to write those sort of jokes.
But yeah, to Dan Kamish's back, he'll certainly be aiming to finish
above teammate Ash Sutton.
Yes, Ash Sutton, a four-time champion,
looking to take that record again this season and make it five in a row.
47 wins already in his career out of just 297 races.
He's got a huge conversion ratio, and yeah, he's going to be,
I think, the main challenger to Ingram this season.
Absolutely right.
We'll move on to West Surrey Racing, which are running a BMW 330i M Sport.
And they are, for the first time since 2014, an independent entry.
Things will get onto the drivers, but I think it's fair to say that
things at WSR aren't as peachy as perhaps they were a couple of years ago,
just from a fan point of view.
Obviously, we did interview a driver in our media day preview.
This is just our opinion.
It's not anything that was said otherwise.
This is just as a fan looking in.
The sponsorship levels have gone down, down, down.
It's nice to know how BMW have gradually been stepping away,
stepping away.
Obviously, the Leon had a fairly well-backed season from what we saw
with lack of sponsorship by BMW last time out.
And there is basically no BMW branding on.
No, there's none.
It's the independent tag on the team for this season.
They have managed to retain both drivers, though.
They have retained both drivers.
It's a real shame that they're in this situation,
because it's not the first time they've not had manufacturer backing.
As I say, they were independent back in 2014.
But they sort of had 12 or so years of real backing from BMW,
even all the way through, you think of the various liveries,
the black livery with the BMW X protect, I think it was,
then transitioning back to the white-style livery.
And now we're at a situation where you say,
last year we had De Leon running just the M colors, but nothing else.
And now we're at this point where we've basically got a Sensor Dime-style car.
Live credit to BTC, how some means for that one.
It's just a little bit worrying, I think,
to see such a stalwart of a team, such an icon of the series.
I mean, let's be honest, they are probably,
must be the most successful team.
They've had some big losses over the last couple of seasons.
Obviously, we're talking to stepping back from the team,
now Hill moving on at the end of last season.
These two drivers are more than capable.
Oh, absolutely.
De Leon and Rainford are both race winners from last season,
as well as pole sitters, and they're young and hungry for success.
Absolutely.
Sometimes that is absolutely what a team like this needs,
is that little bit of galvanisation from two younger drivers
who are looking to make their mark.
It does won't be worry about the long-term future of that team
and where things might go further down the line,
because look, the sport is expensive,
and they should have got deep pockets like somebody else
will cover a bit later on.
But it is a tricky sport to remain in,
and it's very unusual to have an independent
that only runs one main sponsor in my view.
I know that there's a couple of ones we'll talk about later,
but they've got other sponsors on the car as well.
Yes.
It was stark just to see how blank that car is.
I suppose you could argue it's less blank than last year's De Leon car.
Yeah, that's true.
Fingers crossed for a good season for both the BMW drivers,
because you said they are both young, they're both very exciting.
Early signs are good, though.
Performance in pre-season has been good.
They've topped testing times at Croft and at Media Day,
so it looks like there is a decent amount of pace in the car.
Yeah, it looks like there's good work on the engine and the off-season.
Whether they can transfer that into a race pace across a weekend
and then across the season will remain to be seen.
But I think both drivers will certainly be looking at the independent drivers
title at the very least.
Agreed.
And possibly even moving towards the drivers title by the end of the season.
Absolutely, and the season's long.
You never know what might come in ways of sponsorship
as the season progresses as well.
Okay, so we'll move on to Speedworks Corolla Racing,
which were previously Toyota Gazoo Racing.
They are still manufactured back those.
They are still entering under a constructed banner,
or at least half the team is.
And it's coming under the Toyota Corolla car.
The constructor side of things are fronted by Josh Cook and Max Buxton.
Yes, it is the last hatchback on the grid now, though.
So it's going to be interesting to see how they perform.
They've stuck with the toker engine from the end of last season,
which saw a big change in fortune for the team as they have.
Have they?
Yeah.
Oh, it was wrong at least, wasn't it?
Yeah.
No, when I spoke to Dawley before we did the interview,
he said, you know, then those drivers have told me
that they've stuck with the toker engine for this season.
So yeah, it looks like their fortunes may well change.
And if they can keep up that form from the end of last season,
then they may well be in the mix for taking podiums
and possibly even taking wins throughout the season.
But I think it could be a difficult season for them as a whole.
Why?
Just the hatchback is not the suited car at the moment.
There is a reason why teams have moved away from it.
And I just think the way that they've split the team
might make them suffer a little.
You are right.
They have kept the toker engine.
That wasn't like that when I last looked at it.
So that's changed.
OK, fair enough.
No, I think that what they have got going for them
is that they've got Josh Cook, who is a very solid driver.
And we'll be looking to, you know, he said he'd well there last year
after the one motor sports shenanigans and moving across to Toyota
over a couple of weeks to go.
He actually really well.
They took a win as well.
So, you know, it was pretty, pretty strong there.
And Max Buxton, I thought, had a pretty good season last year.
All things.
Yeah, it was a bit of a difficult year for everyone at Toyota.
They obviously got the engine wrong
and they had to do a few swaps throughout the season.
The merry-go-round for drivers as well.
Yeah, it was.
If they can stabilise that this season,
which I think they will by the look of it,
I think that will lead to a bit more consistency.
And having Josh there, he's normally able to get the best out of the car.
And I think Max will continue to learn on top of that.
Fair enough.
On the shinier side of the garage, we have...
Very shiny.
Laser tools racing with MB Motorsport.
They are also running the Toyota Corolla,
but they are under the independent banner.
And dare I say, the independent team is strongly
going to construct this team, in my opinion,
because they have got a three-time touring car champion.
Yeah, Gordon Shedden stays with them,
along with Aaron Taylor-Smith.
Obviously, deals were done towards the end of last season.
Very quick.
To see MB Motorsport, obviously,
they knew they were going to lose their main driver in Jake Hill.
I think they were well aware of the possible sponsorship troubles
that were going on at WSR.
And the move to Toyota now makes a little bit more sense as well.
They're very early in getting their business done as well.
I think this is one of the first teams, if not the first team,
to announce their 2026 plans.
And a very experienced team at that.
Massively.
Gordon Shedden, having been in the sport since 2001,
yes, he's been in and out a bit,
but he's still highly experienced.
53 racers as well.
And also Aaron Taylor-Smith has been there since 2011,
with 326 starts and four wins.
Yes, they've got just under 1,000 starts between them rounding up.
That's not bad, is it?
It's not bad going.
It's not bad going, and they've got a combined total of 57 wins,
although, I mean, most of them do, but on to the flash.
But look, that's a really strong team.
Aaron Taylor-Smith had a difficult season last year,
but again, we know the troubles with the car.
Shedden, there's no argument about it.
They've got the best out of that car over the season.
And I think it's really good that they've managed to keep him for this season,
because it means we have got three champions on the grid.
We've got three multiple champions on the grid as well,
which I think speaks for the quality of driver on the show.
I also think the delivery on that Toyota suits it really well,
and seeing it shine and pop in the bright sunshine that we have for media day
really showed off in its best light.
Completely agree.
We'll move across then to restart racing,
who are also running a Hyundai i30, but they are an independent team.
They are, of course, the reigning independent driver and team's champions
from last year as well.
So we're looking to build on that success for 2026.
Yeah, they've managed to keep hold of one of their drivers in Chris Smiley.
We knew that Dan Lloyd was going to take a sabbatical year,
take a year out, make sure he's got the budget to come back bigger and better
next season and for seasons beyond as well,
which means they had to dip into the driver market,
and they have picked up a little bit of a surprise to both of us.
James Dallin, who, if you haven't already, go and watch our media day vlog,
we managed to catch up with on media day,
and he seems very happy with the car so far.
Yeah, I mean, look, James is another good talent in the sport.
It's nice to have a little bit of a split, I suppose,
of some of the more stalwart icons of the sport,
but also the next generation coming through.
And I think Dallin is absolutely part of the next generation.
I think that, from my own personal opinion,
he was slightly hard done by last year to only have half the season.
Issues with sponsors, issues with cars, all kinds of bits and pieces,
that the life of a touring car driver isn't an easy one,
despite what you may think.
So yeah, it's good to have him back on the grid in a solid team,
so the restart I've only been in this sport for,
this is their third season, and they've taken it by storm, really.
They really have grown every year they've been in here,
and they'll be aiming for a couple of outright wins this year, for sure.
Yeah, definitely.
They'll try and fight to keep hold of their independent drivers and teams title,
although I think that will be more of a struggle this season
with the independent teams that we've now had allocated for the season.
Agreed.
Right, we'll move on then to LKQ with PowerMax Racing.
So this is one of the new PowerMax teams.
They're running the brand new Audi A3, which is a saloon,
and they're an independent side, and there are two drivers here,
and that is Aiden Moffat and Mikey Dobel.
Yeah, obviously Aiden had run the LKQ Eurocar parts with that really long one,
with BMW last season, with Rainford as well.
Another new car for Aiden, I think he might have ticked them all off by now.
He's got driven the most of any driver.
I think so, I think so.
Pre-season looks pretty good.
On media day, they certainly looked quick.
Yeah, they did.
All three did as well.
They're good-looking cars as well.
They've been really nice with delivery,
and two drivers that, yes, OK, Dobel hasn't been in the sport too long,
but he certainly proved his worth in that time.
Moffat has been here for yonks, it feels like.
2013 for Moffat, 2023 for Dobel, both taking wins,
five for Moffat, one for Dobel, which he took last year at Sneston.
Both are quite fan-favorites, I think it's fair to say.
I think the PMR team is quite a fan-favorite as well.
Obviously, last year they came back from devastating fire,
which ravaged their team, the cars, and they've had to start afresh.
All credit to them as well for going from halfway through that season
to practically having nothing to the start of the 2010 and 2006 season,
three brand new cars, brand new premises that they've moved into,
and looking to hit the ground running with plenty of sponsorship on all three cars.
It's interesting that they've managed to put three out on certain other teams,
haven't managed to fulfill all their licenses.
I'll leave that there.
I think, as you say, it's all credit and all power to WSR,
they've been able to do this because I imagine that the morning after the fire last year,
there was a lot of questions being asked about whether we carry on,
or whether this is the time to call it a day.
I don't think there was any thought in Adam Weaver's mind that they would never carry on.
Not the forefront, but I think that's just who he is as a person and a team principle.
There is a third car running under the PowerMax livery and as an LDA3,
but it's a separate team.
It's a steel seal, not the RR kind, with PowerMax racing,
and this has been driven by one of my personal favorites, Dexter Patterson.
Yeah, there's a racer in there, hopefully.
I think this is a massive year for Dexter because he looked good at media day,
he was quick at media day.
He looked a little more pleased than he did on his announcement for joining the team.
Yes, he did.
If you haven't seen it already, go and find that picture because it is comedic gold.
It is absolutely that.
I will say that, look, I think he's had a very difficult start just during car career,
with some of the teams he's been at.
He's now a team which has done well with nurturing talent in the past.
That's pretty settled.
Yeah, we'll leave it there.
So I think that this is a real chance for him to have a real stab at the jacksears,
as well as looking to take outright points, and maybe even his first outright podium.
You can't get too carried away with media day because of all testing.
You don't know what teams are running.
You don't know what who's sandbagging.
What you do know is that the field is quite close, and they were running at the
towards the top of it.
You can't fake that speed.
They obviously had it.
I think that car looks like a touring car.
It feels like a touring car, and I think it's going to be very quick.
We've got a predictions podcast coming up as well, and I've found it really difficult to
try and place the Audi's this year, just because they're a little bit of an unknown entity.
They're three decent drivers that can, on their day, have really quite surprisingly good results.
But if that car is good and really good, then they could be consistently up there.
Absolutely.
It's really difficult to call for them, I think.
And I think that it's really good to see another new car.
They're not a manufacturer.
They are their independent team, but it's great to have a new car on the grid,
because over the last couple of years, it has felt a little bit like Toyota Ford, Hyundai
Coupre, Toyota Ford, Hyundai Coupre.
So it is nice to have a new car to the grid, and talking new cars to the grid,
people will be screaming, thinking, you've forgotten a team.
They're last because they knew.
It's one motor sport.
No, it's not.
No, gone motor sport, unfortunately.
But there's been, I don't know if you've heard of, there's a certain icon of the sport.
I don't know if you've ever heard of him called Jason Plato.
He thought you were going to say Matt Neal then.
No, no, no.
He's yesterday's news at the minute.
Jason Plato, the two-time touring car champion, has entered his own team this year,
a Cateclean Plato Racing, and they are racing under the Mercedes A35 Saloon.
They are a constructor.
They are.
And those are prizes there, really.
And they have gone for a robust lineup, should we say.
Yes, possibly a very well-experienced lineup for one, and possibly for most...
And possibly the most robust lineup that you could have had on the grid,
certainly, from last year's drivers.
So Dan Robotom, obviously, brings Cateclean with him and is a co-team owner,
which is a big step for him in the sport, I think.
Absolutely, yeah.
And also Adam Morgan, another robust, well-experienced driver.
Both drivers are very much of that Plato mold, aren't they?
Absolutely.
And I think that, yeah, there's a couple of drives you might have put into contention,
but really, you couldn't have picked two more Plato-style drivers for this.
The car looks great.
It looks low, but it looks great.
The livery is awesome.
And it is very reminiscent of a super touring era car, just with how the tops of the wheels
picture underneath the wings, it is squat as anything.
And I just thought it was the shots for media day that they were running it like that,
but it does look like it's going to be run like that for the whole season.
It's just how well and how reliable and consistent they can be with that car,
and how big a game they can make across the season,
because it already looks decently quick.
Yeah, and I think that there's got to be...
I'm going to be the boring one here for a while, no change there.
I think there has to be a little bit of taping of expectations here.
If you're a Plato fan, I don't think we're going to see them challenging
with the championship in the first season.
You've got to remember, this isn't just a new car.
It's a new team.
There are other teams on the grid that have bought new cars this season,
but they've already got the racing team.
They've got Effing in place.
They've got the experience of the sport.
And Jason has from a driver's point of view,
but he's never had this from this side of the fence.
And I don't doubt that he's built a good team and he's got the right people,
but he's got RML on board that, as far as I'm aware,
have never made a bad racing car.
But you're up against the might of Napa, the monsters of virtue.
This is a really difficult grid to slide yourself into.
And I think that if you're a Plato fan,
then you're expecting them to come out of the box and challenge the championship.
You might be disappointed.
I think they'll challenge for wins.
I think they'll be in amongst it,
but I don't think that you're going to see these drivers
close to the championship at the end of the season.
But they'll be looking...
And actually, I think he won't admit it because it's Jason's player,
but I think deep down, they will all know that this year is a platform foundation,
whatever you want to call it, to push on from going forward.
Especially with proposed regulation changes for 2027 onwards.
If they can get their foot in the door and feel comfortable this season,
then they know exactly where they can go from next season onwards.
Yeah.
So I'll just quickly sum up some of those who aren't returning for the 2025 season,
as you may be thinking to yourself,
whereas you're not mentioning my favorite drivers.
So the ones who were racing last year, but it's game over for this season,
Jake Hill has left.
He's gone to GTs.
Senator Proctor is not racing, but he is the reserve driver at Napa.
We'll see.
That's a talking point all on its own.
We'll see if he gets any race time.
We'll see.
Ronan Pearson has left the series and gone to GT,
and is now an Aston Martin Academy driver, which is great for him.
Michael Kreese couldn't get a deal together.
He's left the grid.
Stephen Jelly couldn't get a deal together at the time of recording.
There is still technically a WSR TBL, although I'd be stunned based on
Major Day, whether we see that field.
And it doesn't even look like Jelly's got himself onto the Porsche grid yet for 2026.
But it wouldn't surprise me if he pops up certainly for a few races there.
Nick Halstead has retired.
Max Hall has gone back to TCR, and Dan Lloyd has taken a sabbatical for this season.
So those are the drives that aren't coming back for this year.
Yeah.
We'll get into some rules, regulations, how championships work.
And we'll start normally towards the lower end of the grid with Jack Sears.
So the Jack Sears is for any driver who has not won a Jack Sears trophy previously,
or scored more than one outright podium.
So drivers that are taking wins and podiums, not included.
There is just a short list of drivers this year.
Yep.
There's just five.
So we've got Dexter Patterson in the PMR Audi.
We've got James Dorlin in the restart racing Hyundai.
We've got Max Buxton in the Toyota Corolla.
We've got Lewis Selby in the Napa Ford Focus.
And we've got Nicholas Hamilton in the Virtus Hyundai.
So only a small grid.
This could be very close because the way the points are scored is that if you finish
16th on the road, you wouldn't get any outright championship points.
However, if you were the first out of those five to finish on the road,
so say you were 16th and everyone else was 17th, maybe 9th, 20th,
you would get the full race win points for the Jack Sears trophy.
So finishing races is key, particularly this year,
because the worst you can score is fifth position.
Yeah. Yeah. Any non-finishes you don't get any points for, unfortunately,
which can make a big impact and a big hit in your championship challenge for the Jack Sears.
The drivers that are in there are typically drivers that are certainly newer to the grid,
or have been less successful.
And it makes it really competitive because normally the drivers down the bottom end of
the grid and they'll be fighting between each other throughout the season, throughout races.
And the way I said about the score in there, that's how it works for the independent drivers,
the dependent teams, and the constructors and the teams as well.
So it's all about where you finish.
So the independent drivers, there's a few more.
We have Patterson, we have Doeball, we have Moffat, we have Aaron Taylor-Smith,
we have Gordon Sheddon, we have Chris Smiley, we have James Dawland,
and we have Charles Rainford and Daryl De Leon.
It's going to be a really competitive independent championship this season.
Agreed, agreed.
And if for whatever reason we see another runaway winner in the main championship,
we can guarantee that one of the other championships is certainly going to throw
up fight and throw up a possible final day decider.
You may also be sat there thinking, hang on a minute, how can the constructors be fair
when there's some teams with four and some teams with two?
Well, at the start of each weekend, the team must nominate their two constructor scorers.
So they can pick whoever they want from that four.
It is a lot clearer this year though.
Yeah, you pick the drivers that are in each team.
Yeah, I think being realistic, the two at Virtue are going to be the two Toms,
and the two at Napa are going to be Ash and Dan.
I think that's fairly obvious.
But they are nominated at the start of each weekend.
So if Dan Kamish had to miss a weekend for whatever reason,
or the car broke on the way in or whatever, before the weekend started,
they couldn't get the car on the truck for whatever reason.
They would then be able to nominate Sam Osborne for argument's sake as the other driver.
Now, other big changes that we've seen going into this season
are to do with qualifying and the weekend format as a whole.
Now, we're keeping with the three race format on the Sunday,
where you will see the quickest drivers start race one from the front.
Generally.
We're not anymore on the race, not anymore.
Race two, we will see a tire difference allocation for the top three drivers.
And then race three, we will see a reverse group draw as well.
But where the changes are, are on the Saturday.
Yeah, just as you mentioned the races,
race one is set by the grid we're going to talk about in a minute.
Race two is the same grid in order you finished in race one.
And then race three is partially reversed through a lottery system
between places six to 12 lottery.
It is now, they've sealed the balls.
Yes.
But yeah, this season we're going down to just one practice session on the Saturday.
We used to have two 35-minute sessions.
It is now just going to be reduced down to one 40-minute session,
which is going to make it much more critical for teams and drivers
to get that setup nailed to then go into the qualifying and the qualifying race.
Yeah, because once the qualifying has started,
you're in what's known as park firming conditions,
which means you cannot make any setup changes to the car,
unless it rains, is my understanding.
You can make changes if it's a wet race as declared.
But it does mean that if you were to make changes,
you would effectively be disqualified from that session, have to start.
I don't think we start from the pit lane in this sport.
We do in F1, I think you'll be put to the back of the grid, is my understanding.
So there will be qualifying on Saturday.
That qualify will set the grid for the qualifying race also on Saturday.
You might hear it referred to as the sprint race throughout the season.
Yeah, so for qualifying, the grid will be split into two from the practice session,
so you'll have the odds and the evens go out and set qualifying times to find the fastest lap.
Yeah, there are 15 minutes to do so.
So around some circuits, that may be as little as three laps from other circuits.
You could well get 10, 20 laps in there.
It's a little bit of a lottery to how the track is.
I don't like that rule.
I think they should change it to fit the circuit because that time will go very quickly.
It will last a lifetime at Brands Indy.
And there can also be huge differences in changes of weather between the first and the second session.
So it puts a little more emphasis on practice as well.
Yep, then to set the grid, the group with the overall quickest driver will be lined up on
the odd side of the grid.
Obviously, the other will take the even side.
So even if you go quickest in your second session, if you're not quicker than the guy who set
the first session, you will still end up on the odd side of the grid and vice versa.
So you could well be sitting fourth on the grid, even though your time is quicker than the guy in
third, but that doesn't matter because it's done on a system that makes perfect sense.
Oh dear, right.
Then into the sprint race, which will then set the grid for the first race on Sunday.
You ever so far?
Yeah, it's tricky.
The sprint race will last around 15 minutes lap dependent normally on the circuit.
Which again, his point is, sorry, I'm trying not to be down about this.
But like, again, I'll come back to Saturday.
That's about six laps of Saturday.
I know.
Brands Hatch is about about maybe 16, 17.
Yeah.
The final standings from that race, as I've said, will set the grid on Sunday for race one.
There are also points awarded in the sprint race on the Saturday.
To the top 15 drivers.
To the top 15 drivers in a slightly arbitrary way.
You might be able to tell from facial expressions, look at my head is in my hands and over in
the tone that I hate everything about this.
What I'm going to say is we have already done a podcast on this this season.
Yeah, we have.
Yeah.
I will link it down in the description below.
If you haven't gone and watched it or listened to it yet, please go and do that,
because we spent a little bit longer there explaining how it all happens,
how it all goes on, and whether it is a good or bad thing for this season.
You might have got our feelings on that based on my general dismay at the moment.
But look, we've got to give it a chance to see how it works.
I'm just so...
I think my biggest problem we discussed as a couple of fans at media day is that I drive
the...
I'm driving.
But the drivers didn't necessarily agree with this point.
I'm glad to say is that I felt that last year they got themselves in such a good,
sweet spot of how qualifying was working.
And they've now gone and decided that we need to bring in this.
And look, I understand wanting to get fans at the circuit on the Saturday.
Give a chance to hoik your price up for the Saturday, isn't it?
As well, I understand.
I'd be less cross if they kept the Saturday price as it was last year and said,
for the first year where we're trialling it, we want fans in the Saturday.
We'll freeze the price for it.
But no, as you'd expect, because it's now more value.
The price has gone up, which means weekend tickets have gone up,
which means that once again, whilst we're being told this is all for us,
we're the ones paying for it.
Anyway, I move on.
Shall we look at the calendar?
Come on, dear.
Look at the calendar for the 2026 season.
It's because if you're a longstanding fan, you'll be aware of the circuits.
Of course, there's not many in the UK that we can visit due to size
and the ability to have spectators in the numbers that come out to a touring car event.
But the order has changed rather a lot.
So we still open at Donnington Park on the 18th and 19th of April.
Yes, which we will be at.
We will indeed.
If you see us there, do come and say hello.
We don't mind.
We have stickers too.
Yes, exactly.
That will be followed up by Brands Hatch Indy,
which is where we had media day just last week on,
or just this week, sorry.
On the 9th and 10th of May.
Again, we are going.
So again, same applies.
Yes.
We then move to Norfolk and Snatterton,
which is early this year, I believe.
It's a little bit early.
Normally around my birth.
Oh, that's true, actually.
That is true.
Which is the 23rd and 24th of May.
Which we will be going to.
We will indeed.
Follow that up with a trip up to Cheshire and Alton Park on the 6th and 7th of June.
Before the early summer break.
Early summer break.
Only four meetings into the season.
We then have a slightly changed around Thruxton,
which I think normally comes earlier.
Normally earlier, yep.
I tell you what, Thruxton on the 25th and 26th of July,
and that heats with those tires.
Oh, that's going to be warm.
Well, no, it's British summer to be wet.
But we are going.
We are.
But I'm also thinking that is a circuit that is lethal on tires.
And it could be hot.
It could.
We already saw a couple of punches for the Speedworks Corollas
during media day.
So let's hope they've got those possible issues sorted out by then.
We then move to an early knock here.
It's a bit of a shame because that potentially means no rain.
Yeah, potentially.
But British summer on the 8th and 9th of August.
We then come back down into the Midlands for Donnington Park GP Loop,
which has got the extra little hairpin on the 22nd and 23rd of August,
which I think is bank holiday weekend.
It is a little bit earlier in the season because Croft has moved all the way back
to the 5th and 6th of September.
So Croft is usually the height of the summer race.
And I've been to Croft in the height of the summer and it was hot.
I've been to Croft in the height of the summer twice and it was hot on both occasions.
Not going to Croft this year.
But that is interesting how late in the calendar that is.
That could be very interesting, particularly if it rains,
because Croft in the wet has had some legendary crashes in the past.
It has. It has followed up by the Doritos.
I mean, Silverstone, 26th and 27th of September.
Russie's favourite circuit.
We'll cover that off in the previous.
Let's not give too much away early.
And then the season for Nilee once again,
that will be at Brands Hatch GP circuit.
So that's the long route with the circuit that goes out through the back of,
out through the trees, basically.
And that will be on the 10th and 11th of October.
Absolutely.
I think that's the calendars.
I will quickly run through the flags because some people are new.
And half the time, I don't think the drivers know what the flags are.
So I will now, I think we've seen enough evidence of that over the last couple of years,
not just in touring cars, in all sports, in all forms of motorsport that we watch,
where flags aren't taking much notice off.
But I'll tell you what they are anyway, just in case you're interested.
So there are two types of yellow flags you might see on the circuit.
Now, if you're a traditionalist, it used to be marshals waving them.
However, at most circuits we visit now, particularly MSV, you will have light boards.
And at some circuits, the marshals still wave as well as the light boards.
At some it's just the light boards.
The drivers also have on their dash a little section which will light up,
depending on what flag, depending on what flag is out.
So then when Nick House said, still in the way of somebody trying to lap him at Lockhill,
it beggars belief.
But anyway, we'll scoot over that.
A single yellow flag means there is a danger on track,
and you need to be slowing down and not overtaking.
It is an offense to overtake under a yellow flag,
and the stewards will not look upon that kindly afterwards.
No, a double yellow flag is when there are personnel on track, possibly recovering a vehicle,
and you need to be prepared to stop at that point.
So you need to slow down significantly more than just a single yellow.
Often if a barrier is damaged or there's a big recovery job needed,
or there's any sort of form of real concern to safety of the driver or staff or anybody like that,
a red flag may be shown.
A race is stopped, you must slow down, be prepared to stop.
Normally they will come into the pit lane, the instruction will be to come into the pits.
However, depending where the accident is, they may well stop on the circuit
and have to wait until the track is clear and safe and proceed.
Yeah, there's also the green flag, which normally follows a zone of a yellow flag.
This is to signify that you can go back to racing conditions.
You'll see a green flag lap as well at the start of the race,
which is our formation lap in BTCC.
If you see a blue one flashing away, it means that there's a faster vehicle approaching,
and that is most often used for a car that is about to be lapped.
The classic checkered flag, that will be race finish,
and the winner has crossed the line, the rest of the drivers will follow,
and the last car will be taken note of, so they will get back into the pits at the right time.
You may also see a black and orange flag, which is a black flag of an orange circle,
referred to as the meatball flag. No, it's not Tim Harvey thinking about lunch.
It is, in fact, it's really the kiss of death for a racing car driver.
It means that the stewards have decided that the car has running of a technical fault
or too serious of damage to be running safely,
and they must come to the pit lane to have that dealt with.
Now, often that's generally flapping body work,
although there is no hard and fast rule.
What's flapping body work to you might not be flapping body work to me or Sam or the stewards,
so don't expect that to be a tall consistent throughout the season,
but also remember it is down to the discretion of the race stewards at the time.
Jim, really to say, if a bit of body work is flapping,
and it's deemed that it could fly off at any moment,
which could then hit the spectators or cause an accident or cause debris on the circuit,
they will be instructed to come into the pit lane.
There are three laps to do so. If they do not come in, then they are disqualified.
However, that does give them time to pretend you find a tyre bar and try and lock it off themselves.
Which we have seen before. We have seen.
Looking at you, Gordon Sheddon.
The black and white flag, this is a cross-diagonal black one corner,
white the other, i.e., cool, is a signal of driving standard issues,
whether that be track limits. Most often is track limits.
Most often track limits, whether it be forcing another driver off the track or something like that,
is to signify that you are on a warning, basically, any more naughty behaviour,
and then you will be getting a black flag.
Absolutely. So yeah, it's basically how have you gained an advantage that's obvious to the
stewards without further investigation, so you track limits when you say forcing somebody off
the track, etc. The black flag means the driver is disqualified and cannot continue for the rest
of the session. It has happened. We have seen the black flag in the past. I can't remember the last
holotop in my head, but we have seen it. We then have the red and yellow flag.
Yes, a slippery surface on track. This could be down to a numerous number of things.
A numerous number. Numerous number. So we've got slippery on track, possibly. We've got mud, gravel,
weather has been dragged on. We've got fluids on track, whether that be oil, coolant, fuel, even
rain. I was going to say, a sudden sharp rain shower, which was not expected and is only
affecting part of the circuit. You may well see the slippery flag come out as a warning.
It basically gives drivers that knowledge going to the section of the track that they're approaching
that there could be something on the track that would give them less grip than they would normally
have. What they do that information is entirely up to them. However, you may on occasion see that
doubled up the yellow flag as well, depending on the situation. Then we have the final flag,
which is the white flag, which means there's a slow vehicle moving on track because often a
service vehicle such as a JCB, what's the crane thing called? Snatcher? Is it Snatcher?
Snatcher is really cool. Or even a slow race car, if it's trying to recover back to the pits
with a puncture or a mechanical issue and they're going slowly, generally you will see a white flag
put out rather than a blue one to show that there is a slow vehicle ahead. Right. I think that
conducts most things. Is there anything else you want to touch on before we say thank you for
listening and looking forward to the season? Yeah. Let us know your thoughts on the driver
lineups that we now have confirmed for the 2026 season. How do you think things are going to pan
out for the season, whether you have a preseason favorite or someone that you think is going to
flop? We're going to get into a predictions podcast as well. So go and watch that next
if you haven't done so already. I'm going to ask you one more question. I'm going to put you on
the spot. If you were to pick a driver to watch this season, and it can't be Ingram or Sutton
because take that as red, who would be your... We did this last year and we both picked Rainford,
which went very well. Who would be your driver to watch going into the 2026 season?
Now, we haven't had many new drivers come to the championship this year. So I think it's going to
have to be a driver that is currently or is used to being on the touring car grid. And I think
you're probably going to have to, and this is going to be really controversial. Because you're
he's going to be really controversial. You're going to go what? Moffat in the Audi.
Okay. I mean, you do lead the anti-moffat fan club, which doesn't surprise me entirely.
If that car is as fast as it seems, and the experience that he brings with him,
obviously running various different vehicles throughout the BCCC in his career,
it could be a really good combination. And the combination that he's actually been searching
for for the last, what feels like 15 years.
Kind of digging.
But yeah, I think he could be the driver to watch looking at the speed that we've had from
them in preseason. What about you?
I'm going Ricky Collard. I think he's a driver that is exciting. I think he's a driver that
gets bums on seats or off seats, depending which way you want to look at it. I don't
think he's going to challenge the championship. But I do think that if you're looking for a driver
that's going to bring you a little bit of joy and a little bit of the old school,
I think he's got to be it for me. He's exciting. And I think that, you know,
I think the sport is stronger for him in it. I think he may rub a few shoulders the wrong way.
I think there may be a few instances in the stewards room afterwards, but also I hope for him
that he can get that first British touring car win and sort of, again, it'd be quite cool to have
another generation of collards in the sport with a win. Obviously, they've won the father-son
team dynamic by winning the GT. I think it's just quite a cool story to have Ricky back in
the series. And this isn't just some guy that went crazy because his dad liked it and is a bit
of a pootler in there. He's a proper driver. He's a proper driver. And yeah, I'm interested
to see what you can do, particularly at that team as well, particularly as I think it's fair to say
most fans. And I think both of us would agree that on paper, Virtue had a little bit of a downgrade
from where they were last year. So he'll be looking to prove everybody wrong and say that he can take
that mantle and score points. That's fair enough. Well, throughout this season,
we will keep you up to date with previews and reviews of all the race weekends,
even the ones that we go to when we have to get home and God knows what hour and then
re-watch all the races. Yeah, the Dollington review is going to be interesting because some
idiot looked a holiday straight after that, but we'll find a way. And we'll keep you up to date
with all the news that goes on throughout the season. We'll probably bring you a monthly news
update forecast as well. Absolutely. So if you are new to the channel or the podcast,
just to give you an idea of how we work, we give you a preview, which normally drops on the Thursday
or Friday before the race weekend, depending on when this one can get edited amongst badminton
and dark commitments, because where does this sit in? Is this a priorities? And then we bring
you a review as soon as we can after the weekend's action. If you've been to the event, it tends to
be a day or two later than if we haven't. And then as you say, anything in between, we catch up on
throughout the season. We also have a 10 minutes with series, which if there's a particular issue
to discuss, we'll dedicate 10 minutes ish to discuss it. And also in the summer break, we've
got loads of content lined up from the summer break. Some of the stuff we've had shelved or
sort of in our minds for years now. And my only worry about that is that one of the biggest scripts
I've ever written is on a laptop that died this morning. So we'll have to see if I can find a
way to get that back because being old, I didn't use the cloud, but we'll worry about that near
at the time. So yeah, that's how we can expect from us throughout the season. You can listen,
you can watch, you can interact with us on social media, Instagram, Facebook,
Facebook's the best for chatting. Instagram's the best if you want to drop us a DM.
We have got an email address as well, which we don't check as often as we should because we get
lots of spam. I think that pretty much sums up where we are. I think so too. But until the next
pod, we'll see you again soon and enjoy 2020 six. Bye for now.
About this episode
BTCC 2026 gets a full grid-and-format preview, starting with team Virtue’s Hyundai i30 lineup (Tom Ingram, Tom Chilton, Nick Hamilton, and new returnee Ricky Collard) and the big storyline of Hamilton joining a top team. Napa Racing looks like the main challenger with its rebuilt Ford Focus ST and debutant Lewis Selby. West Surrey Racing drops to independent status with BMW 330i M Sport, while Speedworks Corolla Racing and MB Motorsport/PowerMax Racing bring new car setups and fresh questions. The episode also breaks down key championships (Jack Sears, independents) and major Saturday qualifying changes, plus the 2026 calendar and flag basics.
Original notes
WE PREVIEW THE 2026 SEASON FOR YOU, TAKING YOU THROUGH ALL OF THE TEAMS, DRIVERS, RULES AND REGULATIONS.
BTCP British Touring Car Podcast
Sam Huskinson
0:00
48:20