2001 British Touring Car Championship season

2001 BTCC season
Previous: 2000	Next: 2002

The 2001 theAA.com MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 44th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season and marked the beginning of a new era of lower-cost rules and regulations for the series.

Changes for 2001

2001 saw a complete overhaul of the BTCC, aimed at reducing the cost of competition and making the series more appealing to the fans.

New regulations

The spectacular but expensive Supertouring car regulations were finally ditched at the end of 2000. 2001 saw the field divided into two classes: BTC-T and BTC-P. The latter was a simple renaming of 2000's "Class B" Super Production specification cars, whereas BTC-T (T for Touring) was a completely new set of rules designed to produce closer racing and cheaper cars to build.

Teams and drivers

The new rules provoked different reactions from the three remaining manufacturers in the BTCC. Ford withdrew completely, Honda took a year out to develop a car to the new rules while Vauxhall immediately set to work on a new car and entered four new-regulation Astra Coupes built and run by Triple 8 Racing. Yvan Muller and Jason Plato remained in first two entries under the Vauxhall Motorsport banner, while James Thompson moved from Honda to partner Phil Bennett, debuting in the BTCC, in Egg Sport-liveried cars. Two new manufacturers were attracted to the series: Peugeot entered a trio of Vic Lee Racing-prepared 406 Coupes driven by Matt Neal (who left after the first round to compete in the European Touring Car Championship for Team Dynamics), Class B graduate Dan Eaves and touring car veteran Steve Soper. The team re-expanded to three cars for Donington, as superbike racer Aaron Slight made a guest appearance whilst evaluating a full-time switch to four wheels the following year. MG began development of a ZS built to the new regulations courtesy of West Surrey Racing, this made guest appearances in the hands of ex-Ford and Nissan driver Anthony Reid former Formula 3 racer Warren Hughes during closing rounds of the season in preparation for a full campaign in 2002. Two small independent teams filled out the Touring class grid ambitiously entering new cars: JSM fielded a pair of Alfa Romeo 147s in an assault headed by 1992 BTCC champion Tim Harvey in a driver/team manager role. Across the year Tom Ferrier, David Pinkney and Mark Blair would all appear in the second car. ABG Motorsport entered a Lexus IS200 for Kurt Luby, with plans to expand to a second car for Brazilian GT racer Thomas Erdos later in the year. This did not come off and instead Erdos took Luby's drive mid-season while the running of the car was taken over by Total Motorsport. Driver-turned-motoring journalist Steve Sutcliffe drove the car as a guest entry in the final round.

With a low entry in the top class, the grid relied largely on the road-going based Production class (formerly Class B) for numbers, the Peugeot 306 GTi and Honda Accord proved the most popular machines in this class. HTML headed the Peugeot entry with Roger Moen and Simon Harrison returning for their second seasons in the class, Tech-Speed Motorsport also entered a pair of 306s for MG racers Annie Templeton and young gun Paul O'Neill, and teenager Tom Boardman drove a fifth 306 for his family-run team. Barwell Motorsport's pair of cars for Peter Cate (a podium finisher, but replaced after 6 races by Simon Graves due to sponsorship difficulties) and ex-Honda works driver James Kaye headed the Accord challenge, while single Accord entries were fielded by Total Control Racing for Clio Cup graduate Jim Edwards Jnr, and Synchro Motorsport for Dave Allan. The Honda contingent was also bolstered by businessman John Batchelor's pair of B&Q-backed Integras, entered for himself (as John B-and-Q) and Nick Beaumont. The Ford Focus was also competitive in the hands of GR Motorsport, who entered a quartet of cars for youngsters Gareth Howell and Mat Jackson, and veterans Rick Kraemer and Richard Meins, as were GA Janspeed's Alfa Romeo 156s campaigned by class returnees Gavin Pyper and Colin Blair, and Rob Collard's self-entered Renault Clio. Cranfield Automotive also entered a pair of Mitsubishi Carismas and Bintcliffe Sport a single Nissan Primera, but abandoned their efforts early in the year, while a third Integra, entered by Arnold James for his son Nick, appeared later on in the season, as did the first ever Proton entered in the BTCC, a Satria run by TH Motorsport for Steve Wood.

Other changes

• Alan Gow stepped down as the series boss, replaced by Richard West.
• BF Goodrich replaced Michelin as the control tyre for the series.
• Honda and Ford left the series, although Peugeot returned as a works entry after withdrawing at the end of the 1998 season.
• More conventional qualifying sessions returned, replacing the one-lap showdown system of previous years
• Initially a three-race format was proposed for BTCC race-day: BTC-P and BTC-T to have one 'sprint' race each before the two classes combined for a longer 'feature' race in which the Touring class cars would be required to make a pit-stop. However, after the first race meeting it was decided that the two classes should combine for the sprint race as well.

Teams and drivers

Team Car No. Drivers Class Rounds MG Sport & Racing MG ZS 2 Anthony Reid† M 11-13 20 Warren Hughes† M 11-13 Vauxhall Motorsport Vauxhall Astra Coupé 4 Yvan Muller M All 5 Jason Plato M All Peugeot Sport UK Peugeot 406 Coupé 8 Matt Neal M 1 22 Dan Eaves M All 44 Steve Soper M All 111 Aaron Slight† M 6 egg:sport Vauxhall Astra Coupé 9 James Thompson M All 18 Andy Priaulx M 10 27 Phil Bennett M 1-9, 11-13 JS Motorsport Alfa Romeo 147 14 Tom Ferrier I 2, 7-9, 12-13 15 Dave Pinkney I 1-4 16 Tim Harvey I 3-4, 9-13 17 Mark Blair I 10-11 ABG Motorsport Lexus IS200 41 Kurt Luby I 2-6 42 Tommy Erdos I 7-9 Total Motorsport Lexus IS200 10-12 43 Steve Sutcliffe† I 13 HTML Peugeot 306 GTi 50 Roger Möen P All 60 Simon Harrison P All TCR/Interactive Network Solutions Honda Accord 51 Jim Edwards Jr. P 1-4, 6-10 GR Motorsport Ford Focus 52 Gordon Shedden P 7 94 Gareth Howell P All 96 Rick Kraemer P 1, 3-13 97 Richard Meins P 1-6, 9-11, 13 98 Mat Jackson P All Team B&Q/Talksport Radio Honda Integra Type-R 53 Joanna Clarke P 7-9 54 Nick Beaumont P 1-4, 6-12 55 John B&Q P 1-4, 6, 10, 12-13 Tech-Speed Motorsport Peugeot 306 GTi 58 Paul O'Neill P All 59 Annie Templeton P All Collard Racing Renault Clio 172 62 Rob Collard P 1-8, 10-11, 13 GA-Janspeed Racing Alfa Romeo 156 64 Gavin Pyper P All 65 Colin Blair P All Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell Honda Accord 66 Peter Cate P 1-3 88 James Kaye P All 89 Tiff Needell† P 10 99 Simon Graves P 4-9, 11-13 Synchro Motorsport Honda Accord 68 Mark Lemmer P 8-9 70 Dave Allan P 1-4, 6-7, 10-13 Tom Boardman Racing Peugeot 306 GTi 77 Tom Boardman P All Cranfield Automotive Management Mitsubishi Carisma 78 James Levy P 3 79 Toni Ruokonen P 1-5 80 Andy Neate P 1 Bintcliffe Sport Racing Nissan Primera 84 Matt Kelly P 1, 4 Arnold James Sport Honda Integra Type-R 85 Nick James P 4, 8, 12 TH Motorsport Proton Satria GTi 86 Steve Wood P 11, 13

Icon Class M Manufacturer I Independent P Production

^† Not eligible for points.

Race calendar and winners

Round		Circuit	Date	Touring class winner	Production class winner
1	R1 R2	Brands Hatch (Indy)	16 April	Yvan Muller James Thompson	Simon Harrison James Kaye
2	R3 R4	Thruxton	7 May	Jason Plato Yvan Muller	Simon Harrison James Kaye
3	R5 R6	Oulton Park (Island)	20 May	Yvan Muller Yvan Muller	Simon Harrison Gavin Pyper
4	R7 R8	Silverstone (International)	2 June	Jason Plato Jason Plato	Simon Harrison Roger Moen
5	R9 R10	Mondello Park	17 June	Yvan Muller Yvan Muller	James Kaye James Kaye
6	R11 R12	Donington Park (GP)	1 July	James Thompson Jason Plato	Roger Moen Mat Jackson
7	R13 R14	Knockhill	22 July	Jason Plato Jason Plato	Simon Graves Gordon Shedden
8	R15 R16	Snetterton	4 August	Yvan Muller James Thompson	Simon Graves Gareth Howell
9	R17 R18	Croft	12 August	Jason Plato Yvan Muller	Roger Moen Jim Edwards Jnr
10	R19 R20	Oulton Park (Island)	26 August	Yvan Muller Jason Plato	Roger Moen Roger Moen
11	R21 R22	Silverstone (International)	9 September	Phil Bennett James Thompson	Roger Moen James Kaye
12	R23 R24	Donington Park (GP)	23 September	Phil Bennett Yvan Muller	Simon Graves Roger Moen
13	R25 R26	Brands Hatch (Indy)	7 October	Anthony Reid Phil Bennett	Simon Graves Gavin Pyper

Championship results tables

Touring Class (BTC-T) Pos. Driver BHI THR OUL SIL MON DON KNO SNE CRO OUL SIL DON BHI Pts 1 Jason Plato 2 2* 1 2* 9 Ret* 3 1* 17 2* 2 1* 2 1* 3 3* 2 2 3 1* 3 3* 5 3 3 2 336 2 Yvan Muller 1 Ret* 2 1* 7 1* 4 3* 1 1* 3 3* 4 Ret 2 2* 3 1* 1 Ret 2 2* 6 1* 4 Ret* 318 3 James Thompson 3 1* 3 4* 8 2 5 4 3 3 1 2 7 3 6 1* 5 3* 4 2 4 1 Ret 2 5 Ret 276 4 Phil Bennett 4 3* 4 3* 11 Ret 6 2 15 4 4 Ret 9 2* DNS 6 19 Ret 1 Ret* 4 Ret 6 1* 173 5 Dan Eaves 5 6 16 Ret 18 Ret* 10 Ret 10 Ret 5 4* Ret DNS 21 Ret 13 5 9 3 10 4 Ret 5 8 3* 115 6 Steve Soper 7 4* Ret Ret 16 Ret 11 6 4 Ret 6 5* Ret 4* 20 4 12 Ret Ret Ret* 20 8 20 Ret Ret DNS 93 7 Thomas Erdos 8 Ret 11 5 8 4 11 6* 14 6 14 4 72 8 Tim Harvey 17 3* DNS Ret DNS DNS Ret Ret 8 5 16 Ret 13 Ret 7 Ret 43 9 Kurt Luby Ret 6 20 5 15 5 8 Ret Ret DNS 33 10 Tom Ferrier Ret DNS Ret DNS Ret DNS 20 Ret 12 Ret* Ret 4 20 11 Andy Priaulx 2 Ret* 15 12 Mark Blair 15 4 15 Ret 15 13 David Pinkney Ret Ret 12 Ret Ret DNS 19 7 14 14 Matt Neal 6 5 11 15 Anthony Reid 12 7 10 Ret 1 Ret 0 (32)† 16 Warren Hughes Ret 5* 11 8 Ret Ret* 0 (20)† 17 Aaron Slight 7 Ret* 0 (5)† 18 Steve Sutcliffe 9 Ret 0 (3)† Production Class (BTC-P) 1 Simon Harrison 1 Ret* 5 Ret 1 7 1 10* 9 8 17 Ret 5 7 8 10 18 12 6 8* 6 10 Ret 7* 16 10 227 2 James Kaye Ret 7* 7 5* 2 Ret 9 9* 2 5* 12 Ret 6 6 9 Ret 6 10 13 10 Ret 9* 3 14 10 7 220 3 Roger Möen 2 8* Ret Ret* 3 Ret 2 8* 6 11 8 7* Ret 10 17 14 1 Ret 5 7* 5 Ret 2 6* 12‡ NC 212 4 Mat Jackson 4 9 10 8 12 Ret 8 Ret 11 7 10 6* Ret Ret 7 9 16 7 10 13 8 Ret Ret 9* 11‡ 12 151 5 Gareth Howell 3 11 Ret Ret 4 6 Ret 11 5 Ret Ret DNS Ret DNS 4 7* 7 8 12 11 13 Ret 7 Ret 20 6* 139 6 Gavin Pyper 7 10 Ret DNS 5 4* Ret Ret 7 Ret 9 Ret* 11 Ret Ret Ret* 4 Ret 7 9 9 12* 9 Ret Ret 5* 120 7 Simon Graves 14 Ret Ret Ret* Ret 8* 1 Ret* 1 8* 9 11 Ret Ret 1 Ret* 2 8* 111 8 Paul O'Neill Ret 12 Ret Ret Ret DNS 7 12 Ret 6 Ret Ret 12 11 13 Ret 10 Ret Ret DNS Ret 11 8 DNS 19 9 74 9 Jim Edwards Jnr Ret 15 9 9 14 Ret 13 13 13 12 15 9 12 11 14 6* Ret Ret 71 10 Rick Kraemer 12 16 15 9 18 15 13 10 14 10 13 13 Ret 15 15 13 17 12 Ret 13 15 15 13 15 70 11 Tom Boardman 8 17 Ret 10 10 8 Ret 17 12 Ret 18 Ret 14 Ret 15 13 Ret DNS 16 18 7 Ret* 16 12 14 11 66 12 Dave Allan 10 19 8 15 21 11 16 14 15 9 Ret DNS 18 14 17 14 19 Ret 18 13 49 13 Rob Collard 6 DNS Ret NC Ret DNS 12 Ret Ret DNS 11 Ret 10 8 5 Ret DNS DNS 11 Ret 17 Ret 46 14 Richard Meins 13 Ret 11 11 19 10 Ret 18 14 Ret Ret Ret Ret 9 20 15 19 NC 15 14 34 15 Gordon Shedden 3 5* 30 16 Nick Beaumont 11 18 6 12 Ret Ret 20 19 DNS Ret Ret 12 14 12 Ret DNS Ret DNS Ret 16 Ret 11 29 17 Peter Cate 9 13 15 7 6 12 27 18 Colin Blair Ret DNS Ret Ret 22 13 17 Ret Ret 9 Ret Ret Ret Ret 16 Ret 17 Ret 19 Ret 18 Ret 17 10 Ret Ret 22 19 Annie Templeton 14 Ret 13 13 Ret Ret 21 Ret 16 12 16 11 Ret Ret 19 Ret Ret 14 21 16 21 Ret 18 Ret 21 17 21 20 Toni Ruokonen 5 14 Ret Ret 13 Ret Ret 20 Ret Ret 11 21 Mark Lemmer 10 16 11 Ret* 10 22 John B&Q 15 20 14 14 23 14 22 21 Ret 13 Ret 17 Ret Ret Ret Ret 8 23 Nick James Ret DNS Ret Ret NC 13 4 24 Steve Wood 22 15 Ret 16 4 25 Joanna Clarke 16 14 18 Ret Ret DNS 2 26 Matt Kelly Ret DNS 23 16 2 27 Andy Neate Ret Ret 0 28 James Levy Ret Ret 0 29 Tiff Needell 14 DNS 0 (4)† Pos. Driver BHI THR OUL SIL MON DON KNO SNE CRO OUL SIL DON BHI Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Finished, in points Blue Finished, no points Not classified (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate Excluded (EX)

• Note: bold signifies pole position in class, italics signifies fastest lap in class and * signifies that driver lead feature race for at least one lap and also in the Production class when a driver leads the class for at least a lap (1 point given).
• ^† Not eligible for points

‡ Möen and Jackson were not classified in Round 25 for causing the race to be red-flagged.

Manufacturers Championship

Pos Manufacturer BHI THR OUL SIL MON DON KNO SNE CRO OUL SIL DON BHI Pts 1 Vauxhall / Vauxhall Motorsport/egg:sport 1 1 1 1 7 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 5 1 3 2 886 2 2 2 2 8 2 4 3 3 2 2 2 4 3 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 6 2 4 Ret 3 Ret 3 4 9 Ret 5 4 17 3 3 3 7 Ret 6 3 5 3 4 Ret 4 3 Ret 3 5 Ret 2 Peugeot / Peugeot Sport UK 5 4 15 Ret 16 Ret 10 5 4 Ret 5 4 Ret 4 20 4 12 5 9 3 10 4 20 5 8 3 271 6 5 Ret Ret 18 Ret 11 Ret 5 Ret 6 5 Ret DNS 21 Ret 13 Ret Ret Ret 20 8 Ret Ret Ret DNS 7 6 7 Ret 3 MG / MG Sport & Racing 12 5 10 8 1 Ret 0† Ret 7 11 Ret Ret Ret Pos Manufacturer BHI THR OUL SIL MON DON KNO SNE CRO OUL SIL DON BHI Pts Touring Teams Championship Pos Team BHI THR OUL SIL MON DON KNO SNE CRO OUL SIL DON BHI Pts 1 Vauxhall Motorsport 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 269 Ret 2 Ret 3 2 3 Ret 3 2 Ret 3 3 Ret 2 egg:sport 1 3 2 2 3 2 2 1 3 2 1 2 1 211 3 4 Ret 4 4 Ret 3 6 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 3 Peugeot Sport UK 4 Ret Ret 5 Ret 4 4 4 5 3 4 5 3 95 5 Ret Ret Ret Ret 5 DNS Ret Ret Ret 8 Ret DNS 4 JS Motorsport Ret Ret 3 6 DNS DNS DNS Ret 4 Ret Ret 4 37 DNS DNS Ret Ret 5 Ret Ret Ret 5 ABG Motorsport 6 5 6 Ret DNS Ret 5 4 32 6 Total Motorsport 6 6 4 Ret 19 7 MG Sport & Racing 5 8 Ret 0† (13) 7 Ret Ret Pos Team BHI THR OUL SIL MON DON KNO SNE CRO OUL SIL DON BHI Pts † Not eligible for points Production Teams Championship Pos Team BHI THR OUL SIL MON DON KNO SNE CRO OUL SIL DON BHI Pts 1 GR Motorsport 9 8 6 11 7 6 5 7 7 11 13 9 6 205 11 11 9 15 10 10 13 9 8 12 NC 15 12 2 HTML 8 Ret 7 8 8 7 7 10 12 7 10 6 10 173 Ret Ret Ret 10 11 Ret 10 14 Ret 8 Ret 7 NC 3 Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell 7 5 12 9 5 8 6 8 10 10 9 14 7 164 13 7 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 11 DNS Ret Ret 8 4 Tech-Speed Motorsport 12 13 Ret 12 6 11 11 Ret 14 16 11 Ret 9 62 Ret Ret DNS Ret 12 Ret Ret Ret Ret DNS Ret DNS 17 5 GA Janspeed Racing 10 Ret 4 Ret 9 Ret Ret Ret Ret 9 12 10 5 59 DNS DNS 13 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 TCR/Interactive Network Solutions 15 9 Ret 13 12 9 11 6 Ret 46 7 Synchro Motorsport 19 15 11 14 9 DNS 16 Ret 14 14 Ret 13 31 8 Tom Boardman Racing 17 10 8 17 Ret Ret Ret 13 DNS 18 Ret 12 11 30 9 Team B&Q/Talksport Radio 18 12 14 19 13 12 12 DNS 17 16 11 Ret 26 20 14 Ret 21 Ret 14 Ret DNS DNS Ret 10 Arnold James Sport DNS Ret 13 4 11 TH Motorsport 15 16 4 12 Cranfield Automotive Management 14 Ret Ret 20 Ret 3 Ret Ret 13 Collard Racing DNS NC DNS Ret DNS Ret 8 Ret DNS Ret Ret 3 14 Bintcliffe Sport Racing DNS 16 2 Pos Team BHI THR OUL SIL MON DON KNO SNE CRO OUL SIL DON BHI Pts