27/02/02

British Motorsport Promoters (BMP) is delighted to announce that 29 cars have officially entered the 2002 MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) with 16 cars registered under the BTC Touring Class and 13 entering the BTC Production category.

New sporting regulations introduced for the 2001 season were designed to lower the costs for teams competing in the Championship and boost the number of entries from previous years. This format has clearly played a key role in attracting new teams and manufacturers to Britain's premier motorsport series in 2002.

Series Director Richard West commented: "I'm very pleased with the number of entries received for the 2002 Championship. We have a bumper grid this year that's sure to deliver non-stop action for both the spectators at the circuits and the viewers at home. The increased BTC Touring car line-up is a direct reflection of the strength of the series - and fans are in for a real treat with eight Touring teams battling for podium places. As for the BTC Production Class, I'm equally delighted with the number of entries we've received and with the quality of the teams. Top class racing is guaranteed! I would like to thank all teams for the tremendous effort they have put into pulling their programmes together - and for the commitment everyone has shown whilst we've been rebuilding the Championship."

The entry list for 2002 boasts Vauxhall Motorsport team-mates Yvan Muller (2001 BTCC Runner-up) and James Thompson, Egg Sport's Matt Neal and MG Sport and Racing's Warren Hughes and Anthony Reid. The Championship also welcomes new manufacturer-teams Honda Racing and Team Petronas Syntium Proton. Honda Racing celebrates its return to the BTCC with the new Civic Type-R and will field a 'Brit-Pack' pairing of Andy Priaulx and Alan Morrison. Petronas is banking on a mixture of experience and raw talent in David Leslie and Phil Bennett who will campaign identical Proton Impians.

Young talent will also be in no short supply in the 2002 BTCC, with a plethora of young guns looking to make their mark on the Championship. College student Tom Chilton joins Barwell Motorsport as the BTCC's youngest ever competitor and will campaign a Touring Class Vauxhall Astra. He will face stiff opposition from Egg Sport's Paul O'Neill (Sporty Spice Mel C's brother) and an exciting new young driver pairing for the second MG team, due to be announced tomorrow (Thursday 28th). In the Production Class, reigning Lotus Champion Mark Fullalove will pit his Tech-speed Peugeot against former Lotus front-runners Spencer Marsh and Mark Thomas for new team Beacon Racing.

The re-introduced Independents Cup, for non-works Touring Class drivers, is a welcome addition this season and will doubtless be hotly contested. Eligible drivers include Chilton and his yet-to-be-announced team-mate at Barwell Motorsport, the two non-works MG drivers and VLR Ltd, who will shortly announce its driver line-up for the team's two Peugeot 406 Coupés.

Others to look out for this season include 2001 Production Class Runner-up James Kaye, who must be hoping to go one better this year, in a Honda Civic Type-R for Synchro Motorsport and the Alfa pairing of Graham Saunders and Alan Blencowe for Gary Ayles Motorsport. BMW also makes a welcome return to the BTCC, albeit not as a works entry, with respected outfit Edenbridge Racing taking on youngster Tom Boardman, who impressed in his debut BTCC season last year.

A total of eight different manufacturers will be represented when the BTCC commences at Brands Hatch over the weekend of 30/31 March and 1st April. And the season kicks off in fine style with the first of three 'Super Sundays…Manic Mondays' events, where the cream of British racing series combine in a super weekend at the legendary Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit. The BTCC contenders themselves will enter battle for the first time this season on Bank Holiday Monday 1st April.