Donington GP is a racetrack in the UK where many car races happen. It's famous for its exciting events and beautiful scenery.
Car
Hyundai
Hyundai is a car company from South Korea that makes many different types of cars, including affordable ones and SUVs. They are known for making reliable vehicles.
A dog leg gearbox is a special type of manual transmission where the gears are arranged differently than usual. This helps drivers shift gears faster, especially in racing.
Rear wheel drive means that the power from the engine goes to the back wheels of the car. This can make the car handle better, especially when driving fast or in turns.
NGTC spec is a set of rules for racing cars that helps make sure all the cars are similar in performance. This way, different brands can compete fairly against each other.
Front-wheel drive means that the front wheels of the car are the ones that get the power from the engine. This can help the car grip the road better, especially in bad weather.
Ford is a well-known car company that makes many types of vehicles, including popular cars and trucks. They have been involved in racing and performance cars for many years.
LIVE
On slow newsdays, we'll do what all newsnetworks do, speculate, make stuff up and just talk
about nonsense. This is the January British Touring Car news update.
Hello and welcome back to the British Touring Car podcast. We are of course back for 2026.
Have you had a good new year so far? Yeah, it's been a long January. It has. It's been
a long January with not a lot of news. No, I've been doing dry January, so it's felt
a lot longer than before. I was checking my microphone on. It's been a while. I do have
my microphone on. That's good. Yeah, we've got a few bits of news to update you with.
Not as much as we were probably expecting, as some of you have already speculated to.
It's been a very quiet January so far. But the big news coming out of British Touring
Car podcast headquarters, if you see a trackside this year, we have a flag. We do. A proper
sized flag. A proper sized flag. Well, are you suggesting that my initial Teamoo flag
purchase was of small proportions, maybe? It's what you do with it, the counselling.
Yeah, definitely. We're going to bring you up to date with all the news so far. We hope
you're all well in 2026 and we'll be looking ahead towards the 2026 season. We'll bring
you news updates when and however they come to us, either through our social media and
if you're not already subscribed over there, go and do that now. Right, so we'll start off
with the TBL allocations. We've probably touched on this sometime in the depths of 2025. However,
just to quickly run over what we do know, so we've got 26 licenses given out and for those
who might be new to the series this year, to race in the touring cars, you must have what's
called a TBL license, which are issued by the Government Body of TOCA and these effectively
allow you to race within the sport. So the teams tend to buy them. Alliance racing,
also known as NAPPA, have got four. Accelerate Motorsport, or Virtue as they were last year,
have got four. One Motorsport, making a return as it stands with two. Plato Racing, who we know
as a new entry for this season, has two. Paramax Racing, who we know are running
Aldi's for this upcoming season, have got three. I'll come back to that in a minute.
Speedworks Motorsport have got four. Unlimited Motorsport have got two. And West Surrey Racing,
or BMW, have got three, which equates to 26. Now it is key just to point out at this stage,
just because you have a license, it does not mean you have to fulfill it or run it or use it. Some
people use it to then sell onto other teams to raise money for the team as a whole. I think we've
seen Ada Moffat do that in the past, where he's held 26, et cetera. And you couldn't loan them out
to other teams. So WSI aside, they wanted to run a fourth, and PMR are only running two. They could
loan a TBL off of the surplus. So this gives an overview to what we might expect, but don't
necessarily be surprised if it's not what we get. Yeah. I mean, last season, we did have
one Motorsport, so like depart halfway through the season due to issues behind the scenes.
And from this, it looks like they want to come back for 2026. But for me, there's a little bit
of question over one whether they will walk cars they will come back with, and again,
whether they'll be able to complete the full season. They are looking for mechanics, though,
on advertising for jobs. So it gives all the indications that they're going back.
One thing we do know is that Speedworks Motorsport are using at least two of their four, because
they have announced an exciting new partnership with MB, sorry, Motorsport, who were the team
behind Jake Hill and the laser tools car last year and year before. Yeah, we know that Jake left
the series, unfortunately, at the end of last season, has gone on to do more international
GT racing. And there were speculation over to whether MB were going to stay with BMW or whether
they were going to move on. And we now know that they have moved on. And they've been very quick
to sign up their drivers for 2026. Yep. So we know they're going to be racing the Toyota Corolla
out of the Toyota garage. And we know that they have got Aaron Taylor Smith staying at the team.
He was, of course, with Speedworks last year, but in the Toyota livery. And they've kept Gordon
Shedden on as well, which I think makes a lot of sense because towards the end of the season,
Shedden was certainly getting a lot of joy out of that car. And they've now come together as
it's an interesting departure of what MB Motorsport was initially about in my mind. It was about
finding young up and coming talents and potentially elevating them into a competitive car. We saw it
with Jake Hill, obviously. We saw it to a degree with Aidan Moffitt when he had the laser tools,
albeit not the MB backing. And I think from previously, Watson was an MB Motorsport driver.
So it's a little bit of a departure away from that side of things. However, it's an interesting and
potentially fruitful partnership with a three time champion. It's a very experienced lineup and a
lineup. If they keep the right engine, should I say, for next season, I really expect them to
probably take race wins and several podiums along the way. As long as too much doesn't change behind
the scenes with the form that they ended the season with. Absolutely. So we've mentioned a
few things about 2026, but where are we going throughout this season? The calendar is out.
And all the dates for your diary are here. So, Sam, there's been a few tweaks in the calendar
this year. Nothing major. We're still getting the Dorito that is Silverstone rather than the
more exciting ones. We're not going to Mondello Park. We're not going anywhere else that we've
not been for years. We are sticking to the usual 10 tracks, but there's a change in the order.
Yeah. So most importantly, you'll all be wanting to know when media day is, first of all, that will
be held at Brands Hatch again this year. There will also be a preseason test at Croft as well,
which I think is a really good circuit for a preseason season test because of how you've
got those intricate bits on the infield and then you've got a long outfield around the back of
the circuit. Absolutely. Media day is on the 8th of April and that is at Brands Hatch, as Sam has
said. It's always free entry. So if you are about on that day, it's an interesting day to go along.
What I will say is do not go expecting all the merch, all the bits and pieces off the track.
You might find a coffee kiosk open. You might be able to get a Panini for £17.50. But you will
get two massive test sessions where you will see the cars turn their first wheels in anger.
And hopefully the majority of the drivers, although that's not always guaranteed. And
do keep an eye out for the weather because we've had some wet days at Brands for testing every
week. Yeah. And there's normally a little pit lane walkabout as well. You get a chance to
meet the drivers and get your autographs ahead of the massive swells you get
during the main season. But just on that point about rain, yeah, Brands Hatch has got nowhere to
hide. So if you're going to go nearer the time, just keep an eye on the weather.
I still remember that previous season that we went to. Yeah. You've never seen
half horse jeans like that, have you? Oh, it's ridiculous. Yeah. But yeah, the calendar for
2026 then, the 18th and 19th of April is where we will be starting and we'll be starting at
the Donington National Circuit. So the shorter one. Yeah, we will then be moving on the 9th
and 10th of May to the Brands Hatch Indie Circuit, again, the shorter version. And then my birthday,
23rd, 24th of May, we'll be at Satterton. Moving on into June, 6th and 7th, we'll be at Alton Park
before we go off to Thruxton for the 25th and 26th of July. So those two have swapped around,
don't they? Because normally Thruxton, Alton, and this year it's Alton Thruxton. Yeah,
a decent size break between those two as well. We'll then be off to up to Knock Hill in Scotland
on the 8th and 9th of August, which is really early for Knock Hill to win the calendar.
That could be warm at least. Yes, well. Then we're back to Donington Park for the GP
Circuit on the 22nd and 23rd of August, which again is really early for that because that tends
to be the penultimate round, doesn't it? Yeah. And then Croft has moved back quite significantly.
It's very late. 5th and 6th of September. I think we could see a bit more weather there,
which could make it a bit more interesting. Yes, absolutely. It's a good circuit as we've
discussed, but that is very late. Croft is normally the signal of summer for touring car fans,
and it's very much not this year. Moving into late September then, 26th and 27th,
where we'll be off to your favourite Thruxton at the National Circuit. Well,
you've heard my views on this. There's a lot more potential than the one we have to race around.
And then we'll be finishing off the season on the 10th and 11th of October in the traditional...
And then to the corner of Thruxton. No. Has that always been like that, has it?
Oh, okay. It looks a lot more interesting on the map outline than in real life then.
Yeah, so we'll be ending the season at the Donnington GP as we normally do.
That's what I meant, sorry. Franz Hatch GP circuit to round off the season, where hopefully
we'll have an exciting title decider once again. Absolutely. Right, we'll cover the news that
everybody's gone crazy for next. It certainly exploded our social media. It took its time
to come though, didn't it? Well, yes and no. It was basically a pretty
worst kept secret that Plato was running Mercedes. There's a little bit of debate online and
round about the socials, etc. to what kind of Mercedes he'd be using. And basically,
I think he's looked at the Hyundai and gone, that's quick. What can I use as a system of shape?
And he's found himself the Mercedes at CLA Coupe rather than the hatchback.
Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how Mercedes run a Coupe. I'm assuming it's going
to be just as an independent entry with no manufacturer backing. It's Plato, as you never
know. Exactly. And have we ever seen a Saloon Mercedes in the Turin cars? I don't think we have.
I think this is the first time I'm going to have a Saloon car. We've never seen the C class.
In our lifetime, anyway, there might have been the old, like the DTM style in the 80s with the
dog leg gearbox, etc. which, according to James May, Martin Brundle said, was the greatest rear
wheel drive chassis on the road. But in terms of out here, not in modern era, not since sort of like
NGTC spec, if we've seen a Merck like this. So it'll be interesting to see one, how it
acclimatizes to the championship. We still don't know what big sponsors Plato echoed towards in
October, September last year, that he was bringing along with him. We obviously know
there's some sort of color scheme that involves that deep purple as his logo shows.
Have you seen his Twitter this week? I haven't.
So he has said that he expects to be in a position even the next two weeks to give
a lot more information. Yes, but he said that before.
Well, there is that, of course. But yeah, so we don't know who's driving from at the moment.
All we know, we don't know what the sponsors are. As you say, there's a lot of purple on his
trainers and on his logos. So we'd expect a level of purple on the car. Yep.
As for the drivers, we don't know. Plenty of speculation. Leave your thoughts down in the
comments. There's one account on Twitter that is absolutely steadfast that it's Morgan and
Robotton. I don't think Robotton's a bad chef. No, I think Robotton's.
I'm looking at how his next season ended, shall we say, last year.
And the brand relationship we were saying is from previously. Exactly. He knows Plato fairly well.
They've done plenty of quick fit bits and pieces together on YouTube. So it wouldn't
surprise me if they see him move across. But it's going to be really interesting to see
who that other driver could possibly completely agree. And in this era of Mercedes, there's
a front-wheel drive, isn't it? This version. So it's also quite interesting that a few seasons ago,
a lot of teams were looking at rear-wheel drive. We know that Napa were exploring the
boundaries of a rear-wheel drive car at some point. Possibly even the Jaguar.
But that looks like that's now completely gone off the radar. So maybe the dominance,
maybe, of the rear-wheel drive cars or the clamor for a rear-wheel drive car has certainly
started to fade out a little bit in what I think is more an engine-dominant
era of regulations in the sport. It's now, as I saw the Toyota, if you put a good engine
in a good car that's got a thing you need for it, it will go well. If you put a bad engine in the
car, it will go terribly. And Toyota proved that last season spectacularly. Yes, it was
quite amazing the difference that they had halfway through the season when they swapped
back to the Toca spec engine and were able to improve their results almost 10-fold.
So yeah, it'll be interesting to say I assume he is going to run a Toca setup engine-wise
because it's a base standard that he kind of knows what results he should get and what performance
goals he should get from it. Plus, don't forget from next year when the wrecks slightly tweak,
you can then run other brand engines in your other brand car. So a lot would make sense for
this season as your start season to get to get, as you've just said there, the baseline of
what you can expect from the components in the car and if you understand the error of it all and
then you can move into the car. Before looking to next year and going, right, we're going to stick
a Ford powertrain in this or whatever. Here's a thought for you. Do you think he's going to be
looking, obviously, Plato, the serial winner that he is, do you think he's going to be looking to take
victories? Yes. Do you reckon it's going to be, okay, in the first half of the season we'll look
to take podiums, take consistent results and score points, or do you reckon he's going right in at
the top? Not right in the top. Jason Plato is your typical disruptor, isn't he? He fits the mold
perfectly and that's a compliment. That's not a dig at him at all, but he is a disruptor. He has
always been that way. I think he'll be realistic and know that also the caliber of drivers is
light tablet. He's not going to have certain ringroom in the car and those two are, I don't care
who you're bringing, they are going to be the top two to beat this year. I don't think that's a
next level driver, so your camis is, obviously, your heels are longer in it. Arguably, robot was
kind of at that standard. But he fell away. My point is that even if the only way I think that
Plato will come into the series thinking he's got a realistic chance of the championship,
is if you can bring in that top level driver, which I don't think he will be doing in his
first season then. However, in true disruptor and Plato form, he will be targeting wins,
he'll be targeting, mixing it into the big boys, mixing and being best of the rest podiums.
So that's race three victories.
Race three victories and also just trying to get, we've seen that if you can get, as the season
goes on and the wonderful rules around tires and boost allocation or whatever the new systems
going to be affects qualifying, if they can start to get the cars into the top six, I suppose that
just matters because it's sprint qualifying. That's just, yeah. I think one thing we can
almost guarantee with Plato coming back into the sport is there's going to be a lot of clamour
around. Yeah, absolutely. Certainly in the opening weekends and at test days and stuff like that.
The busiest pit in the walkabout. Exactly. People are always going to want, no matter
really who the drivers are that are there, people are going to want that first season
backs, Plato's there. Get me the horse grass of the drivers, get me their merchandise and
it's going to bring a big boost into the sport. And also he knows what he's doing. This is not
like you or I decided, oh, let's run a team. This is not like the. It's great idea. It's not like
the Wrexham documentary, which has worked despite it not. It shouldn't. Everything about Wrexham
shouldn't work, but it does. And it's not going to be something until I die, where you get a
load of people that have got no idea about football, taking every football club and it
goes terribly wrong. Plato knows what he's doing in this arena. I don't necessarily think there will
be at the top straight away, but I definitely will be so far off it either. I think they'll be
middling and as the season goes on, they will improve and get into that top spectrum ready for
a 27 assault. And of course, something that he's already alluded to, there will be a documentary
to go with this first year at Plato Wrexham. It'll be interesting to see how they release
that, whether they're going to do it Netflix style at the end of the season, or whether they're
going to drip feed it throughout the season, like we see with the behind the scenes for Ingram.
Absolutely. Talking of which, the news is on the limit starts next week, I think it is.
That's time for recording. Right. Moving away from Plato, the last real bit of news of them,
we've got a new sporting director, which anyway, is that Lloyd will not be on the
grid for the 2026 season. He's taken the, well, I'm sure it was very difficult decision to focus
on his business interests for this year. And look, I can't blame him. We all know that sport
doesn't pay the money like it used to or like F1 does or anything like that. He's got an opportunity
to secure his future for the next 30 years rather than the next 12 months. And he's focusing on that
understandable, wishing him all the best in that and hope to see him back for 27.
It strikes me as slightly bonkers being the fact that he's independent champion with
what he would probably have had an offer from the independent teams champion going,
right, let's come back to 2026. Let's go and do it again, sort of thing.
And it seemed he had got the budget together to do it. It's not like he, in his reason,
he didn't say, oh, it's a budgetary issue. He said, no, it's a business driven decision.
So I hope it doesn't backfire on him. We've seen plenty of drivers take a sabbatical from the sport
and not come back the season after Sheddon being one of them. But hopefully we'll see him back in
27 with the new regulations and hopefully he'll hit the ground running then as well.
It'd be interesting to see who restart replacing them. Do they go young? Do they look at somebody
like something who was there the year before and give him another shot in the car? Or do they find
somebody like a Bobby Thompson and Michael Kreese who you would suggest would fit in there quite
nicely? I think they'll probably look for someone who may have even driven the Hyundai before,
because I think they should fit comfortably into that surroundings. The team know what they're
doing with that car now. See, I'll see, I'll see. It would be lovely to see him back and I
certainly think he deserves it. And if for whatever bonkers reason Proctor doesn't get off
of the drive by accelerate, he'd be mad to turn down an offer from restart.
Agreed. Right. The last sort of bit of news is that Rainford is basically back for 26. We don't
know this for sure, but there is an article out on the touring car website where he's looking
forward to the 2026 regulations. Unless you're doing it as a fan, I mean, I'm not looking forward
to 2026 regulations. So, you know, maybe maybe he's looking it for a fans point of view. But
the tone of the article would seem to suggest that Rainford will be back for the 2026 season.
Where not confirmed, you'd imagine BMW, but we don't know.
I'm going to throw a curveball in there for you as well. Going on.
Knowing that De Leon didn't get through the poor scholarship program,
I would probably expect him to be back in 2026 as well. Yes, I would.
No rumours or anything have been confirmed around that, but the fact that he didn't win that
scholarship. No, I think also that won't be his only offer on the table. This is a talent that
I think will attract teams from GT series from various different disciplines to be honest with
WSR. I think they're going to want that statement driver and it would show a bit of consistency
and a bit of support. Yeah, but if he's going to have to run it off his own money, as we
assumed was the case last year because of the lack of sponsorship on the car.
Yep. Yeah, there's a lot to be discussed, found out around that. I wouldn't be shocked if he is
back there. I wouldn't be shocked if he was in another series either. That's the way I look at
De Leon for 2026. One thing I must say is thank you for all the support so far on social media.
We can't quite believe what happened to our post on Facebook for the Playto announcement
having earned 100,000 views, which is mega, absolutely mega. Do let us know your thoughts
down in the comments as to what drivers are going to be filling those seats at Playto Racing
and what other drivers you'd like to see on the grid for 2026.
Absolutely. Now, before we go, annual or bi-monthly or whatever is a regular reminder
that this is an independent touring car podcast. We are not backed by any big sponsor
or indeed any sponsor. Our own sponsor. Our own sponsor. We are our own sponsors. We are our own
content creators. We are our own editors. We are our own script writers, although we don't write
scripts. So if you enjoy the content and even if you don't really, you've got this far so why
would you not? Drop a like, drop a subscription, drop a comment, share with a mate, talk about
down the pub or the yoga class or whatever else you may spend your free time and help us grow
the part for 2026. Yeah, and if you want to sponsor us, just message us. We're open to offers.
Yes, hello. Yes. We'll leave that for the DMs.
But yeah, thanks for listening and we'll be back with another video again soon.
Until we speak again.
On
About this episode
January 2026 brings a quiet start to the British Touring Car Championship news, with hosts discussing TBL allocations, team updates, and the upcoming season calendar. Notable news includes the return of One Motorsport and Speedworks Motorsport's new partnership with MB Motorsport. The episode also highlights the anticipated debut of a Mercedes Coupe in the series, driven by the well-known Jason Plato. Listeners can expect insights on team dynamics, driver changes, and the excitement surrounding the new season's schedule.
