The 2004 Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 47th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.
Changes for 2004
Teams and drivers With the admittance of Super 2000-spec cars into the championship, the BTCC welcomed with it a new manufacturer, with SEAT Sport's UK division entering a pair of Toledos identical to those used in the European Touring Car Championship, run by RML. At the wheel were Jason Plato, returning to the championship for the first time since his title victory in 2001, and youngster Rob Huff, who earned his drive through winning the inaugural SEAT Cupra UK Championship, for which Plato had acted as a driver coach.
They were joined by reigning champions of the last three seasons Vauxhall, with Triple 8 Engineering again running a trio of Astra Coupes. 2003 champion Yvan Muller remained along with runner-up and 2002 title winner James Thompson, with Luke Hines replacing Paul O'Neill in the third car on the back of claiming the Production class title in his debut season the previous year.
Honda cut its Arena Motorsport-run Civic Type-R campaign down to a single car for the returning Tom Chilton. A three-car entry was registered on the official entry list with Alan Morrison intended as one of the other drivers but only Chilton's entry would appear all season.
The Civic challenge was augmented by a pair of cars entered by Team Dynamics for Matt Neal, returning to his family team from the works Honda set-up, and Dan Eaves, who brought with him Halfords sponsorship after the withdrawal of Vic Lee Racing. A possible 3rd entry for Gareth Howell was mentioned but didn't come to fruition.
Proton completed the line-up of works teams, its two Impians now driven by two newcomers to British motorsport; the experienced South African Shaun Watson-Smith and the young Malaysian Farique Hairuman.
Financial trouble forced MG Rover to pull its works backing from West Surrey Racing's MG ZS assault, but the team cut down from three to two cars and returned as an independent with young gun Colin Turkington and veteran Anthony Reid staying on board.
Ex-works Vauxhall Astra Coupes were a popular choice amongst the other independents, with Michael Bentwood stepping up from the Production ranks in a 'VXR Junior' team prepared by Tech-Speed Motorsport and 2003 Independents champion Rob Collard continuing to campaign an Astra for his self-run team.
GA Motorsport (now under the 'Team Sureterm' banner) continued to run a pair of Astra Coupes for the returning Paul Wallace and Renault Clio Cup graduate Charlie Butler-Henderson, while a Super 2000-spec Alfa Romeo 156 was also entered for Carl Breeze. Wallace was soon replaced by experienced former Ford and Volvo factory driver Kelvin Burt, then later Irishman Gavin Smith and Stefan Hodgetts (son of ex-BTCC champion Chris), the latter then stepping in to replace Butler-Henderson when his funds ran out. Hodgetts then swapped cars with Breeze, who himself was replaced by Gavin Pyper for the final round.
Synchro Motorsport again returned with an ex-works Honda Civic Type R for former works driver James Kaye. Jason Hughes stepped up from the Production class, racing an ex-WSR MG ZS for his Kartworld Racing team, and John Batchelor's 'Team Varta' also switched classes, running Richard Marsh from the second round onwards in first a Super 2000 Civic Type-R, then later an ex-Vic Lee Racing Peugeot 307. Marsh was replaced by Jay Wheals for the final round, for which the team returned to the Civic.
Mardi Gras Motorsport had an abortive campaign, entering a Super 2000 Civic and later an ex-works Peugeot 406 Coupe, both LPG-powered, for businessman John George, and Edenbridge Racing briefly entered a Super 2000 BMW 320i for Justin Keen.
Carly Motors intended to enter a pair of BMW 320is for ex-Alfa Romeo driver Tom Ferrier and ex-Volvo ETCC driver James Hanson but this entry never materialised.
Other changes
The number of total races was increased from 20 to 30 by holding three races at each meeting instead of two The grid for the second race of each meeting was decided by the results of the first but with the top ten reversed; the grid for the third race was simply the finishing order of the second race Cars built to Super 2000 specification were allowed, with an equivalency formula designed to ensure that they would have similar performance to their BTC Spec counterparts Points penalties for engine changes now apply only to the team, not the driver The "production class" and its associated championship was abolished
Teams and drivers
Team Car No. Drivers Rounds Works BTC-T Entries VX Racing Vauxhall Astra Coupé 1 Yvan Muller All 2 James Thompson All 57 Luke Hines All Team Honda Honda Civic Type-R 9 Tom Chilton All Petronas Syntium Proton Proton Impian 15 Fariqe Hairuman All 20 Shaun Watson-Smith All Works S2000 Entries SEAT Sport UK SEAT Toledo Cupra 11 Jason Plato All 12 Rob Huff All Independent BTC-T Entries Computeach Racing with Halfords Honda Civic Type-R 3 Matt Neal All 4 Dan Eaves All West Surrey Racing MG ZS 6 Anthony Reid All 8 Colin Turkington All Collard Racing Vauxhall Astra Coupé 10 Rob Collard All VXR Junior Vauxhall Astra Coupé 14 Michael Bentwood 1–6, 8–10 Synchro Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R 16 James Kaye All Mardi Gras Motorsport Peugeot 406 Coupé 17 John George 6–10 Team Sureterm Vauxhall Astra Coupé 21 Paul Wallace 1–2 22 Charlie Butler-Henderson 1–4, 6 23 Carl Breeze 8–9 24 Kelvin Burt 3–4 25 Gavin Smith 5 26 Stefan Hodgetts 5–6 44 Gavin Pyper 10 Team Quest/Varta Peugeot 307 40 Richard Marsh 8–9 Kartworld Racing MG ZS 77 Jason Hughes All Independent S2000 Entries Mardi Gras Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R 17 John George 1–3 Team Sureterm Alfa Romeo 156 23 Carl Breeze 1–7 26 Stefan Hodgetts 8–10 Team Quest/Varta Honda Civic Type-R 40 Richard Marsh 2–7 41 Jay Wheals 10 Edenbridge Racing BMW 320i 46 Justin Keen 2–4
Season Calendar All races were held in the United Kingdom (excepting Mondello Park round that held in Ireland). Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team 1 R1 Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire 11 April James Thompson James Thompson James Thompson VX Racing R2 Jason Plato Jason Plato SEAT Sport UK R3 Colin Turkington Yvan Muller VX Racing 2 R4 Brands Hatch (Indy), Kent 25 April Colin Turkington Anthony Reid Matt Neal Computeach Racing with Halfords R5 Shaun Watson-Smith Luke Hines VX Racing R6 Matt Neal James Thompson VX Racing 3 R7 Silverstone Circuit (International), Northamptonshire 9 May Jason Plato Yvan Muller Matt Neal Computeach Racing with Halfords R8 Colin Turkington James Thompson VX Racing R9 Anthony Reid Tom Chilton Team Honda 4 R10 Oulton Park (Island), Cheshire 23 May James Thompson James Thompson Yvan Muller VX Racing R11 Dan Eaves Dan Eaves Computeach Racing with Halfords R12 James Thompson Yvan Muller VX Racing 5 R13 Mondello Park 13 June Yvan Muller Colin Turkington Yvan Muller VX Racing R14 Anthony Reid Jason Plato SEAT Sport UK R15 Anthony Reid Colin Turkington West Surrey Racing 6 R16 Croft Circuit, Yorkshire 25 July Anthony Reid Anthony Reid Anthony Reid West Surrey Racing R17 Anthony Reid Jason Plato SEAT Sport UK R18 Anthony Reid Jason Plato SEAT Sport UK 7 R19 Knockhill Circuit, Fife 8 August Anthony Reid Colin Turkington Anthony Reid West Surrey Racing R20 Dan Eaves Jason Plato SEAT Sport UK R21 Anthony Reid Anthony Reid West Surrey Racing 8 R22 Brands Hatch (Indy), Kent 22 August Matt Neal Matt Neal Matt Neal Computeach Racing with Halfords R23 Jason Plato Jason Plato SEAT Sport UK R24 Robert Huff Shaun Watson-Smith Robert Huff SEAT Sport UK 9 R25 Snetterton Circuit, Norfolk 5 September James Thompson James Thompson James Thompson VX Racing R26 Jason Plato Luke Hines VX Racing R27 James Thompson Robert Huff SEAT Sport UK 10 R28 Donington Park (National), Leicestershire 26 September Jason Plato Jason Plato Jason Plato SEAT Sport UK R29 Yvan Muller Tom Chilton Team Honda R30 James Thompson Yvan Muller VX RacingSources:
Drivers Championship Points system 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Fastest lap Lead a lap151210865432111 No driver may collect more than one "Lead a Lap" point per race no matter how many laps they lead. Race 1 polesitter receives 1 point.
(key)
Pos Driver THR BHI SIL OUL MON CRO KNO BHI SNE DON Pts 1 1* Ret 3 4 2 1* 4 1* 7* 2 5 3 5 2 4 4 4 4 3 Ret 4 3 4 12* 1* 7 3 2* 5 3 274 2 Yvan Muller 3 2 1* 5 3 3 2 2 Ret 1* 8 1* 1* 4 6 2 6 5 5 4 9 2 8 5 5 4 2 7 2 1* 273 3 Jason Plato 8 1* 4 Ret DNS Ret 3* 9 2 8 2 Ret* 9 1* Ret* 9 1* 1* 10 1* 7* 9 1* 2* 11 3 10 1* 6 2 224 4 Anthony Reid 4 6 2 Ret 4 2 6 3 4* 10 3 Ret 2 5 9 1* 8 6 1* 7 1* 12 Ret 6 8 2 5 5 4 8 213 5 Matt Neal 2 Ret 9 1* DNS 7 1* 8 8 3 4 2 4 10 Ret 3 5 Ret 9 2 8 1* 5 4 2 Ret 4 Ret Ret Ret 181 6 Colin Turkington 14 10 6 6 5 5 11 5 12 4 6 5 3 6 1* 6 7 3 4 Ret 3 10 2* 11* 4 5 7 3 7 6 173 7 Robert Huff 6 Ret Ret 2* 11 4 10 7* 3 7 Ret Ret 8 DSQ Ret 5 2 2* Ret 6 5 7 3 1* 12 8 1* 10 11 5 148 8 Dan Eaves 5 4* 12 8 8 8 5 6 6 9 1* 8 Ret Ret 3 7 3 12 6 3 2* Ret 9 Ret 6 11 6 8 3 4 148 9 Tom Chilton 10 Ret 10 3 6 6 18 10 1* 11 7 6 7 8 5 19 9 7 2 Ret Ret 6 13 8 3 10 12 9 1* 12 116 10 Luke Hines Ret 7 5 9 1* 10 8 14 11 Ret 9 11 6 3 2 8 14 8 15 5 6 5 10 7 10 1* 8 6 10 Ret 115 11 James Kaye 13 9 7 12 7 Ret 13 15 9 6 12 9 15 7 Ret Ret 12 13 13 9 11 4 6 Ret 9 6 13 11 9 9 49 12 Rob Collard 11 5 8 10 15 15 Ret 13 DNS 5 Ret 4 13 11 Ret 15 Ret 9 8 11 Ret 15 Ret 9 7 9 11 13 8 7 44 13 Michael Bentwood 7 3 Ret Ret DNS Ret Ret 12 10 13 11 7 10 12 Ret 14 11 11 11 7 3 Ret 14 14 4 Ret 13 42 14 Shaun Watson-Smith 9 8 Ret 7 Ret 9 12 11 14 Ret 14 10 12 Ret 10 13 10 10 7 8 10 8 Ret Ret DSQ 12 15 14 12 Ret 28 15 Carl Breeze Ret Ret 11 Ret DNS DNS 7 16 5 Ret 13 Ret 11 Ret 8 11 13 14 Ret Ret DNS 13 12 10 14 Ret Ret 14 16 Kelvin Burt 9 4* Ret 12 Ret Ret 11 17 Jason Hughes Ret 12 Ret 14 12 12 Ret 19 17 15 16 12 14 13 7 12 Ret Ret 11 10 12 14 11 Ret 13 13 16 Ret 13 11 5 18 Stefan Hodgetts Ret DNS Ret 10 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret DNS 9 Ret Ret 10 4 19 Justin Keen 13 9 Ret 14 18 16 Ret 15 Ret 2 20 Gavin Smith Ret 9 Ret 2 21 Charlie Butler-Henderson 12 11 Ret 11 Ret 11 Ret Ret 13 Ret 10 Ret Ret 15 Ret 1 22 Paul Wallace Ret Ret Ret Ret 10 13 1 23 Fariqe Hairuman Ret DNS Ret Ret 13 14 15 17 15 14 17 13 16 Ret 11 16 Ret Ret Ret 12 Ret 17 14 Ret Ret 15 Ret NC Ret DNS 0 24 John George 15 13 Ret Ret DNS DNS 17 20 Ret 17 Ret 15 12 13 13 Ret Ret Ret 15 16 17 Ret DNS DNS 0 25 Gavin Pyper 12 Ret Ret 0 26 Richard Marsh 15 14 16 16 DNS DNS Ret DNS DNS 17 Ret DNS 18 16 16 14 14 14 16 Ret Ret NC 17 18 0 27 Jay Wheals 15 14 DNS 0 Pos Driver THR BHI SIL OUL MON CRO KNO BHI SNE DON PtsSources:
Note: bold signifies pole position (1 point given in first race only, driver who finishes 10th in first race gets pole for race 2 and race 3 pole is for race 2 winner), italics signifies fastest lap (1 point given all races) and * signifies at least one lap in the lead (1 point given all races).
Manufacturers Championship