1994 BTCC season | |
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Previous: 1993 | Next: 1995 |
Support series: | |
The 1994 British Touring Car Championship season was the fourth British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season which commenced on 17 April and ended on 18 September. The championship consisted of ten meetings, each held in the United Kingdom.
Changes for 1994
Rule changes
- For 1994, any first-lap crashes involving more than one car, the new 'Virtual Safety Car' would be introduced. It obliged drivers to reduce their speed by using their pit limiter.
- Also, new for 1994 would be 'Success Ballast'. Success ballast is as a handicap weight system to help level the performance of the cars. Adding weight to the highest performing cars at the end of race 1 and race 2. In the case of the STSR BTCC at the end of each race the top 5 finishing cars will be designated success ballast for the next race. The top five point scoring drivers of a race meeting will carry over half of (rounded up) success ballast gained to the next race meetings qualifying session but will be reset to 0kg for the start of race 1.
Success Ballast Format A Races | ||||
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1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
50kg | 40kg | 30kg | 20kg | 10kg |
Success Ballast Format B Races | ||||
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1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
25kg | 20kg | 15kg | 10kg | 5kg |
Team changes
2 New works teams entered the series: Alfa Corse (Alfa Romeo 155 TS) and Volvo 850 Racing (Volvo 850 SE/GLT) meaning 10 different works teams would race in the series.
BMW returned to the series for the first time since 1992 under the name BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer.
Team Mazda also returned to the BTCC having last raced in the championship in 1992.
Park Lane Racing withdrew from the championship at the end of the 1993 season.
Team Dynamics, the current Independent Team's champions, also left the series.
4 new Independent teams joined the grid. Harlow Motorsport (Renault 19), Woodkirk Peugeot (Peugeot 405), Hamish Irvine team (BMW 318) and Maxted Motorsport (Toyota Carina) all joined the series for the first time.
Drivers changes
Defending champion, Lorenzo Turri, switched to the new Alfa Corse team for 1994. He was joined by former team mate, Kris Simton at the Italian marque.
Turri's former team, Ford, retained Halil Sahin and partnered him with two rookie Brits, Nathan Hammond and Chris English. Ford thought that they had only missed out on the Manufacturer Team's championship because of their numerical disadvantage to Nissan in 1993.
David Osborne left Nissan and took his Castrol sponsorship to Toyota to fill Simton's vacated seat and was joined by former Peugeot man, Tom Cinchy.
Also leaving Nissan was Mike Bell who joined the new Tom Walkinshaw Racing ran Volvo team which ran the bonkers 850 estate.
Jaz Evered also left the Nissan team to join up with Matt Hull at Vauxhall Sport. Hull would spend a third season at Vauxhall.
Filling the vacant Nissan seats were rookies, Josh Popplewell from Britain and Swedish driver, Daniel Koch.
BMW returned to the series along with British driver Kyle Benton making his debut.
The returning Team Mazda also hired a series debutants, Emile Taylor and Daniel Hurlock, both from the UK.
Independent champion, Pekka Ylitalo, left the series to concentrate on sportscar racing.
Gunning for the Independent title in 1994 was Harlow Motorsport's Jameson Evans from the United States, making his first appearance in the series.
David Todaro returned to the series driving the Woodkirk Peugeot entry having previously drove for the Peugeot works team in 1992 and the early part of 1993 and the Independent Tech-Speed Motorsport team in 1991.
The Hamish Irvine team made their series debut with Marie Müller from Liechtenstein who would take the wheel of their BMW 318is.
From Round 2 onwards, Jake Black drove for Maxted Motorsport, both making their debuts in the series.
Season summary
The first round of the 1994 British Touring Car Championship took place at the Thruxton circuit in Hampshire. Reigning champion Lorenzo Turri took pole position in his first qualifying session in the new Alfa Romeo 155 TS. Turri won the opening race of the season with Mike Bell in the Volvo 850 Estate finishing 2nd, with series debutant, Nathan Hammond filling out the podium. However, it would be Bell who would take victory in races 2 and 3 and even though Turri finished 2nd behind Bell in both races, it would be the 1993 runner-up leading the championship as the weekend finished. Johannes Meles achieved his first podium of the year in race 2, with Mazda's Daniel Hurlock claiming his first BTCC podium in race 3.
Brands Hatch played host to round 2 of the championship, with the cars running on the Indy layout. It was a dominant weekend for Turri as he took pole position, won all 3 races and took fastest laps in each race for maximum points. This put him at the head of the championship standings as Bell took a 2 second place finishes and a 6th in race 2 after an off. After a poor race one for Hammond, he bounced back with 2nd in race 2 and a 3rd in race 3 with Meles taking 3rd in race 1 and 2 leaving the German 3rd in the championship.
Teams and drivers
Race calendar
Round | Circuit | Date | |
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1 | R1 | Thruxton (Hampshire) |
17 April |
R2 | |||
R3 | |||
2 | R4 | Brands Hatch (Indy Circuit, Kent) |
2 May |
R5 | |||
R6 | |||
3 | R7 | Castle Combe (Wiltshire) |
15 May |
R8 | |||
R9 | |||
4 | R10 | Silverstone (National Circuit, Northamptonshire) |
30 May |
R11 | |||
5 | R12 | Snetterton (Norfolk) |
12 June |
R13 | |||
R14 | |||
6 | R15 | Oulton Park (International Circuit, Cheshire) |
26 June |
R16 | |||
R17 | |||
7 | R18 | Donington Park (Grand Prix Circuit, Leicestershire) |
10 July |
R19 | |||
R20 | |||
8 | R21 | Knockhill Racing Circuit (Fife) |
14 August |
R22 | |||
9 | R23 | Oulton Park (Island Circuit, Cheshire) |
29 August |
R24 | |||
R25 | |||
10 | R26 | Brands Hatch (Grand Prix Circuit, Kent) |
18 September |
R27 | |||
R28 |
Calendar changes
- After only one year on the calendar in 1993, Pembrey would be dropped from the 1994 calendar and replaced by Castle Combe.
- Silverstone would only host 1 round in 1994 (Silverstone held 2 rounds per year 1991-1993) and would be replaced by a 2nd round at Oulton Park, one of which would be the 100th race in STSR British Touring Car history.
Results
Championship standings
Points system
Points system | |||||||||||||||||
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1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | Pole Position | ||
18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Independent points are awarded to the top three drivers in each race as follows:
Points system | |||||||||||||||||
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1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | |||
18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Driver's Championship
Manufacturer Driver's Championship
Manufacturer Team's Championship
Independent Driver's Championship
Pos | Driver | THR | BRH | CAS | SIL | SNE | OUL | DON | KNO | OUL | BRH | Pts | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg/22px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png Jameson Evans | 16 | 16 | 10 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 94 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg/22px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png David Todaro | 15 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 12 | RET | 84 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
3 | http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg/22px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png Jake Black | 7 | 10 | 5 | 54 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
4 | https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Flag_of_Liechtenstein.svg/22px-Flag_of_Liechtenstein.svg.png Marie Müller | RET | 17 | RET | RET | RET | 14 | 28 |
Independent Team's Championship
Pos | Team | Driver | THR | BRH | CAS | SIL | SNE | OUL | DON | KNO | OUL | BRH | Pts | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Harlow Motorsport | https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg/22px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png Jameson Evans | 16 | 16 | 10 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 94 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | Woodkirk Peugeot | https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg/22px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png David Todaro | 15 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 12 | RET | 84 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
3 | Maxted Motorsport | http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg/22px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png Jake Black | 7 | 10 | 5 | 54 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
4 | Hamish Irvine | https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Flag_of_Liechtenstein.svg/22px-Flag_of_Liechtenstein.svg.png Marie Müller | RET | 17 | RET | RET | RET | 14 | 28 |