BTCC supremo Alan Gow is confident of taking the series back to its former glory with seven or eight manufacturers within the next two years. Speaking in an interview with Talking Point Broadcasting at Snetterton at the weekend, Gow said, “Over the next two years, I’d be confident of having BMW, Audi, Alfa Romeo and Seat. They would be the first four I would expect to have in the championship.” He continued, “I’ve been saying to people that 2005 is the year that I would expect to have seven or eight manufacturers in the championship. 2004 will be sort of a halfway house between the current number and that projected figure. 2005 will probably be our big year.”

Gow’s confidence over the future extends beyond attracting new manufacturers. “It’s very positive thing that there’s a change in ownership [of the Brands Hatch group of circuits]. The owners of those four circuits are on an exit strategy. They are clearly not investing in either the infrastructure or in promoting the events. Hopefully, next year, the new owners of those circuits will be putting a lot of effort in to making our championship a much better product.”

His enthusiasm over Rockingham is also clear for all to see: “It’s a fantastic facility – I don’t think any spectator would argue with that. Clearly you can’t expect every circuit in the country to be up to the same standard, but they have to understand that they have to deliver a better environment to their paying audiences. At the moment, the performances are pretty good, but the theatres are crap.”

Looking at the bigger picture, Gow is more than aware that conditions are somewhat different to when he was last at the helm of the BTCC: “It’s not just in motorsport, every industry in going through cost cutting exercises. We’ve now got a very good platform to sell to the manufacturers, with costs that are roughly 70% less than they used to contribute in the 90s. We’ve got a very good product to sell.”

It is clear that the changes have only just begun. Gow has big plans to build on the strong foundations that are now in place in the BTCC: “I don’t like keeping things the same. I like a bit of change. You’ve got to keep things fresh. You’re always looking at race formats and how you can do things better. I don’t want to go in to 2004 or 2005 on exactly the same basis as we have now. Every motorsport championship in the world looks at changing the way in which they do things.”

Gow ended with a typically confident and inspiring comment: “The future is looking extremely bright. In the next year or two, you’re going to see a totally different BTCC, and one that everyone can sit back and say, ‘this is totally worth it’.”

Useful Links:
Audio interviews by Talking Point Broadcasting Limited with BTCC drivers and personnel are available after each meeting in the motorsport section of the Dunlop Tyres website.