The 1996 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship season marked the arrival of Audi to the sport with their four wheel drive A4s. The title was won by Frank Biela, with Swiss driver Alain Menu again finishing in second place and Swede Rickard Rydell in third.
Season summary
After seeing the success that rivals BMW and Alfa Romeo had achieved in the series, and wanting to expand their successful touring car programme, Audi entered a works team for the season, headed up by Audi Sport UK's Frank Biela. Biela had won multiple touring car championships and the 1995 Touring Car World Cup for the Four Rings. The Audi A4 proved the class of the field from the get go, helped considerably by its four wheel drive system. This led to an argument between the manufacturers throughout the season, and a weight penalty was added to the Audis. It did not help much; Biela dominated the season and won the title with 4 races to run, one of 7 titles won by the Audi A4 Quattro in 1996. Joining Biela at Audi was rookie John Bintcliffe, winner of the 1995 Ford Fiesta championship and the 1994 Renault Clio Cup. The Yorkshireman would finish seventh in the standings.
Williams Renault were seen as the team to beat before the start of the year after a strong finish to 1995, with Alain Menu title favourite. Early season reliability issues meant that the Swiss driver was never really in title contention but a strong second half of the year allowed him to take runners up spot for the third year in a row. Team mate Will Hoy endured a tough season despite starting strongly, finishing 2nd to Biela in the opening two rounds. He would visit the podium just once more on his way to 9th overall and the following season would move to the Ford team.
Volvo, run by Tom Walkinshaw Racing, developed the 850 further, allowing Rickard Rydell to challenge for wins throughout the year and the Swede was Biela's closest challenger for most of the season. His new team-mate Kelvin Burt, switching from Ford, took a single victory at Silverstone in May. During the following round at Oulton Park he was involved in a vicious accident, knocking him unconscious and having to be cut free from the car. He was taken to Chester Hospital suffering from severe concussion. Burt would miss the next round at Snetterton and was due to be replaced by British Formula 3 driver Jamie Davies, however Davies crashed the car heavily in testing, destroying it and also suffering a concussion, but was otherwise unharmed. As a result Volvo entered just one car for Rydell and Burt would return at the following meeting.
Vauxhall retained their title winning driver line up of John Cleland and James Thompson driving the new Vectra. The new car had a difficult development and was not as mechanically suited to racing as the Cavalier was. Thompson took the team's only win of the season, while Cleland would only finish 8th in the driver's championship.
Ford switched from Andy Rouse to West Surrey Racing to run the Mondeo in cooperation with race car engineering specialist Reynard and Schubel Engineering who built the Mondeo for the equivalent Super Tourenwagen Cup in Germany. The season was a complete disaster with the car proving to be off the pace and unreliable. Paul Radisich suffered 13 retirements in 24 races while his new team-mate Steve Robertson scored just two points all season.
Honda continued their promise of 1995 despite a slow start David Leslie took three wins during the second half of the season, including the British Grand Prix support race. He was once again joined by James Kaye, although he was unable to match Leslie’s results.
After a disappointing 1995, BMW factory outfit Team Schnitzer returned to the series with 1993 champion Joachim Winkelhock and multiple touring car title winner Roberto Ravaglia leading the team, with Peter Kox running in a third car in selected races. Winkelhock took several wins during the year but was too inconsistent to challenge his compatriot for the title, whilst Ravaglia only won a single race and was mostly remembered for a string contentious moments with the likes of Radisich and Menu during the season.
Total Team Peugeot entered the new 406 model, but Tim Harvey and Patrick Watts struggled for pace and suffered poor reliability throughout the season.
Having been dropped by Ford, Andy Rouse ran a semi-works Nissan team, running Primeras for Gary Ayles and Owen McAuley, but results were limited. McAuley left the team after the British GP support rounds when it became clear the team were only going to get one new 1996-spec car and that would be driven by his team-mate. The team entered just one car thereafter until the final round at Brands Hatch where Jamie Spence drove the 1995 spec car.
In the Total Cup for Independents 1995 Renault Clio Cup champion Lee Brookes entered a 1995 TOM's built Toyota Carina and would secure the title in his debut season beating Richard Kaye's Mint Motorsport Vauxhall, the last RML built Cavalier. The combination was fastest of the non-works teams and Yorkshire-man won the class 16 times but lost out to Brookes on consistency.
Having lost out in their bid to win the Ford works deal Team Dynamics developed their own Ford Mondeos for Matt Neal and Robb Gravett. Success was limited with Neal finishing a distant 3rd in class. He later described the car as the worst he's ever driven and kissed the ground after the final round as he'd never have to drive the car again.
Ian Heward entered selected rounds in an ageing Vauxhall Cavalier but the car lacked competitiveness and was a long way from the pace of the other independent runners.
Teams and drivers
BTCC
Team Car No. Drivers Rounds Manufacturers Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Vectra 1 John Cleland All 7 James Thompson All Williams Renault Dealer Racing Renault Laguna 2 Alain Menu All 4 Will Hoy All Volvo 850 Racing Volvo 850 20v 3 Rickard Rydell All 8 Kelvin Burt 1–5, 7–13 28 Jamie Davies None Total Team Peugeot Peugeot 406 5 Tim Harvey All 10 Patrick Watts All Valvoline Team Mondeo with Reynard Ford Mondeo 6 Paul Radisich All 16 Steve Robertson All Honda Team MSD Honda Accord 11 David Leslie All 12 James Kaye All BMW Team Schnitzer BMW 320i 20 Peter Kox 11–13 21 Roberto Ravaglia All 22 Joachim Winkelhock All Audi Sport UK Audi A4 quattro 44 John Bintcliffe All 45 Frank Biela All Semi-Works Rouse Sport Nissan Primera eGT 14 Gary Ayles 1–9, 11–13 15 Owen McAuley 1–8 Jamie Spence 13 Independents TOM's Team Brookes Toyota Carina E 17 Lee Brookes All ProMotor Sport Vauxhall Cavalier 18 Ian Heward 2, 10–12 Mint Motorsport Vauxhall Cavalier 23 Richard Kaye All Team Dynamics Ford Mondeo Si 27 Robb Gravett 1–5, 8–9 77 Matt Neal 2–4, 6, 8–13
Rouse Sport were neither a works nor an independent entry. Jamie Davies would have stood in for Kelvin Burt at Round 6 (Snetterton) but was sidelined by a testing accident prior to the event.https://www.autosport.com/btcc/news/what-could-have-been-a-rising-stars-abruptly-curtailed-tin-top-debut/6644981/
RAC Tourist Trophy Team Car No. Drivers Manufacturers Williams Renault Dealer Racing Renault Laguna 2 Alain Menu 9 Will Hoy BMW Team Schnitzer BMW 320i 5 Joachim Winkelhock Audi Sport UK Audi A4 quattro 7 John Bintcliffe Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Vectra 8 John Cleland 28 Jan Brunstedt Volvo 850 Racing Volvo 850 20v 11 Kelvin Burt Honda Team Linder Honda Accord 14 Marco Werner 24 James Kaye Valvoline Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo 15 Warren Hughes Total Team Peugeot Peugeot 406 16 Tim Harvey Independents Yap Motorsport Honda Accord 12 Eugene O'Brien ProMotor Sport Vauxhall Cavalier 18 Ian Heward Mint Motorsport Vauxhall Cavalier 23 Hamish Irvine
Race calendar and results All races were held in the United Kingdom. Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Winning independent 1 R1 Donington Park (GP), Leicestershire 8 April Rickard Rydell Frank Biela Frank Biela Audi Sport UK R2 Frank Biela Frank Biela Frank Biela Audi Sport UK 2 R3 Brands Hatch (Indy), Kent 21 April Alain Menu Alain Menu Rickard Rydell Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Richard Kaye R4 BMW Team Schnitzer Richard Kaye 3 R5 Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire 6 May Frank Biela Frank Biela Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Lee Brookes R6 Joachim Winkelhock Joachim Winkelhock Joachim Winkelhock BMW Team Schnitzer Lee Brookes 4 R7 Silverstone Circuit (International), Northamptonshire 19 May Roberto Ravaglia Kelvin Burt Kelvin Burt Volvo 850 Racing Richard Kaye R8 Frank Biela Joachim Winkelhock Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Richard Kaye 5 R9 Oulton Park (International), Cheshire 27 May Frank Biela Joachim Winkelhock Joachim Winkelhock BMW Team Schnitzer Richard Kaye R10 Frank Biela Rickard Rydell Rickard Rydell Volvo 850 Racing Lee Brookes 6 R11 Snetterton Circuit, Norfolk 16 June Joachim Winkelhock Joachim Winkelhock James Thompson Vauxhall Sport Richard Kaye R12 Joachim Winkelhock Rickard Rydell Joachim Winkelhock BMW Team Schnitzer Richard Kaye 7 R13 Brands Hatch (GP), Kent 30 June Alain Menu Alain Menu Alain Menu Richard Kaye R14 Alain Menu Alain Menu Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Lee Brookes 8 R15 Silverstone Circuit (GP), Northamptonshire 14 July David Leslie Frank Biela Roberto Ravaglia BMW Team Schnitzer Richard Kaye R16 David Leslie Rickard Rydell David Leslie Honda Team MSD Richard Kaye 9 R17 Knockhill Racing Circuit, Fife 28 July Rickard Rydell Frank Biela Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Richard Kaye R18 Rickard Rydell John Bintcliffe Rickard Rydell Volvo 850 Racing Matt Neal 10 R19 Oulton Park (Fosters), Cheshire 11 August David Leslie Frank Biela Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Richard Kaye R20 Frank Biela Frank Biela Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Richard Kaye 11 R21 Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire 26 August Alain Menu David Leslie David Leslie Honda Team MSD Lee Brookes R22 Joachim Winkelhock Peter Kox Rickard Rydell Volvo 850 Racing Richard Kaye 12 R23 Donington Park (GP), Leicestershire 8 September Rickard Rydell Rickard Rydell Rickard Rydell Volvo 850 Racing Richard Kaye R24 Rickard Rydell Joachim Winkelhock David Leslie Honda Team MSD Lee Brookes 13 R25 Brands Hatch (Indy), Kent 22 September Joachim Winkelhock Peter Kox Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Matt Neal R26 Joachim Winkelhock Peter Kox Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Matt Neal
Championships standings
Points system 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Pole position15121086543211
Note: bold signifies pole position (1 point awarded all races), italics signifies fastest lap.
Drivers Championship