2009 British Touring Car Championship - Season Preview
As the countdown to the 2009 season continues, Fabrizio Giovanardi hopes for a third consecutive BTCC title as the UK's premier motorsport series becomes the first in the world to implement CO2 emission regulations.
The 2009 British Touring Car Championship gets under way on the weekend of 4th and 5th of April as the teams and drivers make the first of two visits to Brands Hatch in Kent. This year, the BTCC will become the first motor racing championship in the world to introduce regulations enforcing a limit on the CO2 emission levels of its competing cars.
Hoping to capitalise on their successes in previous years, VX Racing will once again have double champions Fabrizio Giovanardi and Matt Neal at the wheel of two of their Vauxhall Vectras with Giovanardi looking for 3 back-to-back championship victories. They will be joined by rising star Andrew Jordan in a 3rd Vectra. If successful in 2009, reigning champion Giovanardi would be the first driver since Andy Rouse in the early eighties to win three consecutive titles.
Following the withdrawal of Halfords as their main sponsor, Team Dynamics will compete under their own name in 2009, their pair of Honda Civics painted in a dramatic black colour scheme. Gordon Shedden stays with the team and is joined by Dave Pinkney.
The driver line-up at Team RAC remains unchanged for 2009 with Colin Turkington and Stephen Jelley driving their BMW 320si E90's.
Missing from the 2009 grid will be SEAT Sport UK following a commercial decision to withdraw from the BTCC series. Consequently Jason Plato and Darren Turner will not be contesting the championship this year.
The Manufacturers Championship is being expanded for 2009 to include manufacturers and/or teams who design and build their own cars. Vauxhall/VX Racing, Honda/Team Dynamics and Ford/Team Aon will all be eligible for the Manufacturers/Constructors trophy.
Amongst the other driver/team changes for 2009, Tom Chilton will rejoin Arena Motorsport to race their Ford Focus ST under the Team Aon banner. New team Cartridge World Carbon Zero Racing will field two SEAT Leons with drivers Adam Jones and Dan Eaves whilst Rob Collard and Jonathan Adam (a former Renault Clio and SEAT Cupra champion) will be driving the BMW 320si E90's of the Airwaves BMW team run by Motorbase.
At the recent official BTCC testing session at Rockingham, Colin Turkington topped the timesheets for Team RAC with Fabrizio Giovanardi a close 2nd for VX Racing. Stephen Jelley was 3rd in the other Team RAC BMW with Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan 4th and 5th in their VX Racing Vauxhall Vectras. Gordon Shedden was 6th fastest for Team Dynamics in his Honda Civic.
HiQ have announced its 'Project Pink' campaign to raise 100,000 for Breast Cancer Care and will be using its involvement with the BTCC to help achieve that target.
Live coverage can be seen on ITV4 with race highlights on ITV1 and ITV4. Race reports from all meetings will appear in these pages. 2009 promises to be another exciting year for the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship – you won't want to miss any of the action!
HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship 2009
Round Date Circuit
1 5th April Brands Hatch
2 26th April Thruxton
3 17th May Donington Park
4 31st May Oulton Park
5 14th June Croft
6 2nd August Snetterton
7 16th August Knockhill
8 30th August Silverstone
9 20th September Rockingham
10 4th October Brands Hatch
HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship
Leading Drivers and Teams 2009
Fabrizio Giovanardi VX Racing Vauxhall Vectra
Colin Turkington Team RAC BMW 320si E90
Gordon Shedden Team Dynamics Honda Civic
Tom Chilton Team Aon Ford Focus ST
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