Next Generation Touring Car

Next Generation Touring Car
Motor racing formula
Category	Touring cars
Country or region	United Kingdom / Scandinavia
Championships	BTCC (2011 – present) STCC (2012)
Inaugural season	2011
Status	Active

Next Generation Touring Car, also known as NGTC and by its Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) designation TCN-1,^[1] is an FIA and TOCA specification and classification for production based race cars. The specification covers national level touring car racing. The goal of the limited choices in engines and parts in the NGTC classification is to allow more manufacturers and privateers to race by reducing the cost of a competitive car and to reduce reliance on the increasingly expensive Super 2000 equipment. The only significant differences between different models is the external body shells and the use of front- or rear-wheel drive; the suspension, brakes and transmissions are common to all cars, and engines are of uniform performance.

The specification was created for use in the British Touring Car Championship and was phased in over three years from the 2011 British Touring Car Championship season.^[2] NGTC engines were first used in the 2010 season by Pinkney Motorsport, Pirtek Racing and Special Tuning UK.^[3]

The introduction of these new technical regulations were designed to fulfil the following criteria:

• Dramatically reduce the design, build and running costs of the cars and engines
• Maintain present levels of performance until 2013 to ensure performance parity with current S2000 cars until that point
• Reduce the potential for significant performance disparities between cars
• ‘Future-proof’ the regulations by being able to easily modify the various performance parameters
• Reduce reliance on WTCC S2000 equipment, due to increasing costs/complexity and concerns as to its future sustainability/direction^[4]

In December 2014 the FIA ratified support for technical regulations used in BTCC, designating the specification as TCN-1. The specification is a model for higher class national touring car championships to follow.^[1]

Specification

Models

Thorne driving for Thorney Motorsport at Brands Hatch in the 2012 BTCC season.

The following Next Generation Touring Cars have competed in championships:

• Audi A4 - Made its debut during the first round of the 2011 BTCC. Built by GPR Motorsport, Rob Austin Racing ran a single A4 for most of the season, firstly using an engine prepared by Ric Wood and then using a Lehmann-built engine from Oulton Park onwards.^[7] A second A4 was run by the team from round nine.^[8] The car took a second place during Round Eight's third race at Rockingham, after leading part of the race.^[9] For the 2012 season the car was modified by the team, with the aerodynamics being updated. For 2013 the Audi's featuring updated bodywork to reflect the road car's facelift and now using engines prepared by Field Motorsport, who maintained the Lehmann engines midway through 2012.^[10] For Oulton Park, Austin's A4 used the TOCA-BTCC engine in a bid to find extra performance. The second car of Will Bratt was fitted with the new engine at Croft. Austin took his maiden BTCC win at Rockingham later that season, Audi's first in the BTCC since 1997. Austin went on to take his second win a year later, again at Rockingham.
• Proton Gen-2/Proton Persona - Welch Motorsport reintroduced the Proton marque to the BTCC in 2011.^[11] This was the first appearance of the brand since 2004. Before the start of the 2012 season Welch Motorsport adapted the aerodynamics of the Proton Gen-2 to reflect the Persona model. Initially the car used the TOCA-BTCC engine, but for 2014 the team built a second car and developed an in-house engine in conjunction with X Ctech R. The engine proved to be both underpowered and unreliable, both Dan Welch and Ollie Jackson failed to score points in the drivers' championship.
• Toyota Avensis - First seen as a prototype in 2010 during practice for the final round at Brands Hatch. The Avensis was built by GPRM and chosen as a demo model for the BTCC to launch the new specification ahead of the 2011 championship. Dynojet and Speedworks Motorsport ran one Toyota Avensis each in 2011, driven by Frank Wrathall and Tony Hughes respectively. Dynojet's car used a Toyota-based engine built by X Ctech R while the Speedworks car used the TOCA-BTCC unit developed by Swindon Engines, which was available for lease to all entries. The car showed top 12 potential early in the season. The Avensis scored its first points at Snetterton circuit in August 2011 at the hands of Frank Wrathall. Over the course of the season, Wrathall took four podiums. In 2012, the cars were aerodynamically upgraded to reflect the design of the new Avensis and Speedworks expanded to two cars. Wrathall took the first win for the car and the first win for Toyota in 19 years. A fourth Toyota appeared on the grid for 2013. Adam Morgan's family-run team Ciceley Racing acquired Wrathall's 2011 car, fitted with a TOCA-BTCC engine. Five Toyota's made the 2014 grid. Speedworks ran one car whilst providing engineering support to Simon Belcher and Handy Motorsport. Following Frank Wrathall's conviction for causing death by careless driving, Dynojet sold the team's assets to United Autosports, entering Wrathall's race car and a second car using Wrathall's spare shell. The fifth Avensis was entered by Houseman Racing, running a TOCA-BTCC engine, after the team were forced to look for a new car following the abolition of the Super 2000 cars.
• Vauxhall Insignia - Thorney Motorsport introduced the Vauxhall Insignia to the BTCC during the final round of the 2011 BTCC. However, due to lack of testing time, the car failed to start any races.^[12] The car did compete in select races during the 2012 season. At the end of the season Tony Gilham Racing bought the two Insignias, with Jack Goff finishing second at the final round of 2013. In 2014 the cars changed ownership again since Tony Gilham Racing merged with BMR Restart to form Team BMR. The two Insignia's ran alongside two Volkswagen CC's for the first half of the season, until they were replaced by two more CC's.

Pirtek Racing's NGTC Honda Civic at Thruxton, with a Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis behind.

• Honda Civic - Honda Racing Team swapped to the new ninth generation Honda Civic, built fully to NGTC regulations, in the 2012 BTCC season. They were the first manufacturer backed team to announce their intention to run fully to the NGTC specification.^[13] The Honda Civic was about to be the first NGTC car to be raced in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, at the hands of Tomas Engström, but it didn't happen.^[14] At the first round of the 2012 season, the Civic became the first full NGTC specification winner.^[15] As of the end of the 2013 season the car has won in total of 10 titles for 2 seasons of racing.
• MG6 GT - MG KX Momentum Racing currently run a pair of MG6 GT models in the 2012 British Touring Car Championship season. This made MG the second manufacturer to announce plans to run fully NGTC specification cars.^[16]
• Ford Focus ST - Redstone Racing compete with the third generation Ford Focus ST. The car was revealed hours prior the 2012 round at Snetterton with Mat Jackson driving the car for the reminder of the 2012 season. Only one car was entered, with expansion of 2 additional cars for team for the next season.^[17]
• BMW 125i M Sport - West Surrey Racing are switching to NGTC spec BMW 125i cars to replace their S2000 BMW 320si that they have been running since 2007. The team will use 3 cars for the season.^[18]
• Volkswagen CC - Tony Gilham announced that they were going to run at least 2 VW CC cars in the 2013 season alongside their 2 Vauxhall Insignia cars with both models racing under different team label to distinguish them as separate entries.^[19] The team ran only 1 car with BMR Restart acquired the second shell, in which their driver Warren Scott raced in the second half of the season.
• Chevrolet Cruze 4dr - In January 2013 Andy Neate announced his intentions to continue in BTCC in 2013 under his own newly created IP Tech Race Engineering team with NGTC Chevrolet Cruze under the Club 44 banner. Unlike BTC Racing's version of the Chevrolet Cruze, the team uses the saloon version of the car. The car made its first race appearance for the season at Snetterton.
• Chevrolet Cruze 5dr - Following Chevrolet's withdrawal from the 2012 season, two NGTC Cruze shells were mothballed by RML Group. However, in October 2012, BTC Racing announced that they had bought one of the shells with a view to enter it at the start of 2013.^[20] Due to lack of budget the first appearance was postponed until 2014.
• Mercedes-Benz A-Class - Ciceley Racing will switch from Toyota Avensis to their own built NGTC-spec built Mercedes-Benz A-Class. This will be the first time since 1986 that Mercedes-Benz car will be in the series.^[21]
• Audi S3 Saloon - The German-based American outfit Rotek Racing announced their intentions to enter the series with two NGTC-spec built Audi S3 for Robb Holland.^[22]
• Honda Civic Tourer - The Honda Racing Team will switch to brand new vehicle which is going to replace the current NGTC Honda Civic though the car model is due to be announced.^[23] On 29 November 2013 Honda Civic Tourer was announced as the team's new car.^[24] This is the second estate car ever in the BTCC since 1994 and the first one built to the current regulations.

Series

References

See also

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