The 2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (commonly abbreviated as BTCC) was a motor racing championship for production-based touring cars held across England and Scotland. It was sponsored by Dunlop. The championship featured a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded amateur drivers competing in highly modified versions of family cars which were sold to the general public and conform to the technical regulations for the championship. The 2018 season was the 61st British Touring Car Championship season and the eighth season for cars conforming to the Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) technical specification. The 2018 season also marked the 60th anniversary since the series’ introduction.
The thirty races held during the season saw seventeen different drivers win a race, setting a new championship record. Six drivers won their first race, but Jason Plato went through a season without winning a race for the first time since his debut in 1997. Colin Turkington claimed his third BTCC title and his first since 2014.
Teams and drivers Team Car Engine Drivers Rounds Constructor Entries Adrian Flux Subaru Racing Subaru Levorg GT Subaru/Mountune 1 Ashley Sutton 1 Subaru/Swindon 2–10 99 Jason Plato All Autoglym Academy Racing 28 Josh Price 2–5 Subaru/Mountune 1 Team BMW BMW 125i M Sport BMW/Neil Brown 2 Colin Turkington All 5 Rob Collard 1–6 55 Ricky Collard 7–10 BMW Pirtek Racing 77 Andrew Jordan All Power Maxed TAG Racing Vauxhall Astra TOCA/Swindon 18 Senna Proctor All 66 Josh Cook All Halfords Yuasa Racing Honda Civic Type R (FK8) 25 Matt Neal All 27 Dan Cammish All Independent Entries Ford Focus RS Ford/Mountune 3 Tom Chilton All 20 James Cole All Team GardX Racing with Motorbase 600 Sam Tordoff All AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing MG6 GT TOCA/Swindon 6 Rory Butcher All 10 6 12 1–5 41 Glynn Geddie 7–8 54 Josh Caygill 9–10 AmD with Cobra Exhausts Audi S3 Saloon TOCA/Swindon 23 Sam Smelt All 48 Ollie Jackson All DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing Alfa Romeo Giulietta TOCA/Swindon 11 Rob Austin All BTC Norlin Racing TOCA/Swindon 14 James Nash 1–3 22 Chris Smiley All 26 Daniel Lloyd 4–10 Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes-Benz A-Class TOCA/Swindon 15 Tom Oliphant All Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport 33 Adam Morgan All Laser Tools Racing 16 Aiden Moffat All Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing Volkswagen CC TOCA/Swindon 17 Daniel Welch 6 21 Mike Bushell All 24 Jake Hill 1–5 43 Ollie Pidgley 7–10 Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars 19 All 32 Ethan Hammerton 9–10 42 Carl Boardley 8 44 Michael Caine 1–7 WIX Racing with Eurotech Honda Civic Type R (FK2) 31 Jack Goff All 39 Brett Smith All Team Parker Racing BMW 125i M Sport BMW/Neil Brown 60 Stephen Jelley All Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis TOCA/Swindon 80 Tom Ingram All Simpson Racing Honda Civic Type R (FK2) 303 Matt Simpson All Key Eligible for the Jack Sears Trophy for drivers yet to record an overall podium finish or Jack Sears Trophy championship at the start of the season.
Driver changes Changed teams Matt Simpson moved from Halford Yuasa Racing to Eurotech Racing. Tom Chilton moved from Power Maxed Racing to Motorbase Performance. Josh Cook moved from Triple Eight Racing back to Power Maxed Racing. James Cole moved from Team BMR to Motorbase Performance. Rory Butcher moved from Motorbase Performance to AmDTuning.com. Entering/re-entering BTCC 2017 VW Cup champion Bobby Thompson will make his series début, with Team HARD. 2014 & 2017 Renault UK Clio Cup champion Mike Bushell will return to the series with Team HARD, having last raced in the championship in 2015. Michael Caine will return to series with Team HARD Brisky Racing, having last raced with the team in 2016. 2017 British F4 driver Sam Smelt will make his debut in the series with AmDTuning.com. 2015 Ginetta GT4 Supercup champion Tom Oliphant will make his series debut, with Ciceley Motorsport. 2016 runner-up Sam Tordoff returned to the series after a year racing in the British GT Championship, driving a third car for Motorbase Performance under the GardX Racing banner. 2015–16 Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain champion Dan Cammish, will make his debut in the series with Halfords Yuasa Racing. Former race winner Tom Boardman will return to the series with AmDTuning.com, having last raced in 2011.
Leaving BTCC Árón Taylor-Smith announced on 27 November 2017 that he would be stepping away from the series to pursue a career in GT Racing. Dave Newsham announced on 9 January 2018 that he would retire from the BTCC to focus on his sons racing. Gordon Shedden announced on 22 January 2018 that he would be leaving the BTCC, eventually joining Team WRT to race in the World Touring Car Cup. Mat Jackson left the series after splitting with Motorbase Performance and failing to secure a vacant seat with another team. Stewart Lines and Maximum Motorsport left the series, having sold their car and TBL to Ciceley Motorsport. Michael Epps will leave the series and join the 2018 Renault UK Clio Cup. Jeff Smith will miss the 2018 season as he continues to recover from injuries sustained in his 2017 crash. Ant Whorton-Eales left AmDTuning.com and switched to the Mini Challenge UK driving for JamSport. Unable to secure drives, Will Burns and Martin Depper both left the series.
Team changes Handy Motorsport will change its name to HMS Racing and also switch to running the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, having run the Toyota Avensis, since their début in 2014. Team HARD will expand from a three-car to a four-car squad. Eurotech Racing will expand from a two-car to a three-car squad. BTC Norlin Racing will switch from running the Chevrolet Cruze to run the Honda Civic Type R (FK2). Motorbase Performance will switch from running the Ford Focus ST to run the Ford Focus RS. AmDTuning.com will expand from a two-car to a four-car squad, after having agreed a deal to run the MG6 GTs, which were previously run by Triple Eight Racing. Team Dynamics will switch from running the Honda Civic Type R (FK2) to run the newer Honda Civic Type R (FK8). For the first time since 1996, Triple Eight Racing did not field a racing team in the BTCC. The MG6 GT race cars were acquired by AmD. Triple Eight was one of the most successful teams to race in the BTCC, firstly fielding the works Vauxhall team from 1997-2009 in which time the team achieved eight manufacturer titles for Vauxhall (2001-05, 2007-09) and a further title with MG in 2014. The team also won the drivers championship in 2001-04, 2007-08. The team officially folded in November 2018.
Race calendar
The championship calendar was announced by the championship organisers on 26 May 2017. All the circuits from the 2017 season will host rounds again with the only change being the rounds at Rockingham Motor Speedway and Knockhill Racing Circuit switching places. In October 2017, the BTCC bosses announced that Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit will play host to a special extended race this season as part of the series’ 60th anniversary celebrations.
Round Circuit Date 1 R1 Brands Hatch(Indy Circuit, Kent) 8 April R2 R3 2 R4 Donington Park(National Circuit, Leicestershire) 29 April R5 R6 3 R7 Thruxton Circuit(Hampshire) 20 May R8 R9 4 R10 Oulton Park(Island Circuit, Cheshire) 10 June R11 R12 5 R13 Croft Circuit(North Yorkshire) 24 June R14 R15 6 R16 (300 Circuit, Norfolk) 29 July R17 R18 7 R19 Rockingham Motor SpeedwayNorthamptonshire) 12 August R20 R21 8 R22 Knockhill Racing Circuit(Fife) 26 August R23 R24 9 R25 Silverstone Circuit(National Circuit, Northamptonshire) R26 R27 10 R28 Brands Hatch(Grand Prix Circuit, Kent) R29 R30
Results
Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Winning independent 1 R1 Brands Hatch Indy Jack Goff Josh Cook Jack Goff WIX Racing with Eurotech Jack Goff Dan Cammish R2 Senna Proctor Senna Proctor Power Maxed TAG Racing Jake Hill Jake Hill R3 Colin Turkington Tom Ingram Speedworks Motorsport Tom Ingram Mike Bushell 2 R4 Donington Park Josh Cook Tom Chilton Josh Cook Power Maxed TAG Racing Aiden Moffat Dan Cammish R5 Adam Morgan Tom Ingram Speedworks Motorsport Tom Ingram Chris Smiley R6 Adam Morgan Adam Morgan Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport Adam Morgan Jake Hill 3 R7 Thruxton Circuit Matt Neal Colin Turkington Matt Neal Halfords Yuasa Racing Sam Tordoff Dan Cammish R8 Josh Cook Josh Cook Power Maxed TAG Racing Sam Tordoff Chris Smiley R9 Tom Ingram Adam Morgan Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport Adam Morgan Chris Smiley 4 R10 Oulton Park Matt Simpson Matt Simpson Matt Simpson Simpson Racing Matt Simpson Matt Simpson R11 Tom Ingram Colin Turkington Team BMW Tom Chilton Ollie Jackson R12 Brett Smith Rob Collard Team BMW Jack Goff Mike Bushell 5 R13 Croft Circuit Ashley Sutton Ashley Sutton Ashley Sutton Adrian Flux Subaru Racing Tom Ingram Daniel Lloyd R14 Colin Turkington Ashley Sutton Adrian Flux Subaru Racing Tom Ingram Daniel Lloyd R15 Daniel Lloyd Daniel Lloyd BTC Norlin Racing Daniel Lloyd Daniel Lloyd 6 R16Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit Jack Goff Ashley Sutton Jack Goff WIX Racing with Eurotech Jack Goff Dan Cammish R17 Tom Ingram Ashley Sutton Adrian Flux Subaru Racing Tom Ingram Dan Cammish R18 Jack Goff Matt Neal Matt Neal Halfords Yuasa Racing Jack Goff Matt Simpson 7 R19 Rockingham Motor Speedway Adam Morgan Josh Cook Adam Morgan Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport Adam Morgan Chris Smiley R20 Tom Ingram Ashley Sutton Adrian Flux Subaru Racing Adam Morgan Mike Bushell R21 Chris Smiley Chris Smiley BTC Norlin Racing Chris Smiley Chris Smiley 8 R22 Knockhill Racing Circuit Dan Cammish Ashley Sutton Ashley Sutton Adrian Flux Subaru Racing Tom Ingram Dan Cammish R23 Josh Cook Andrew Jordan BMW Team Pirtek Adam Morgan Dan Cammish R24 Colin Turkington Tom Chilton Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher Tom Chilton Rory Butcher 9 R25 Silverstone Circuit Sam Tordoff Tom Chilton Sam Tordoff Team GardX Racing with Motorbase Sam Tordoff Ricky Collard R26 Tom Ingram Tom Ingram Speedworks Motorsport Tom Ingram Ricky Collard R27 Tom Chilton Aiden Moffat Laser Tools Racing Aiden Moffat Dan Cammish 10 R28 Brands Hatch GP Brett Smith Matt Neal Dan Cammish Halfords Yuasa Racing Brett Smith Dan Cammish R29 Tom Oliphant Dan Cammish Halfords Yuasa Racing Tom Ingram Dan Cammish R30 Sam Tordoff Ashley Sutton Adrian Flux Subaru Racing Rob Austin Chris Smiley
Championship standings Points system 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 201715131110987654321111Source: Notes No driver may collect more than one point for leading a lap per race regardless of how many laps they lead. A special 60 mile race 3 at Snetterton with standalone qualifying, no ballast and double points
Drivers' Championship (key)