BTCC reveals 24-car field for next season

British Touring Automotive Championship promoter TOCA has revealed the allocation of 24 TBL entrants’ licences for the 2025 season.

Whereas the overall is down on the 27 distributed for this 12 months, solely 21 of these have been used throughout the 2024 marketing campaign, and BTCC insiders are assured of larger grids subsequent time period.

Essentially the most notable among the many listing is One Motorsport, which took what team principal Steve Dudman described as “a planned pause” from the BTCC for 2024 after being allotted three TBLs.

The Brackley crew is on the listing with two TBLs, tying in with latest hypothesis that it could be bringing the Honda Civic Sort R again to the grid after an absence of 1 season.

Vauxhall Astra crew Energy Maxed Racing has slimmed down from three TBLs to the 2 it used throughout the 2024 championship, whereas Aiden Moffat Racing and Carl Boardley Motorsport – which 12 months in the past respectively had two TBLs and one respectively – are now not on the listing.

Moffat is thought to be strongly within the combine to modify to the West Surrey Racing BMW crew.

Un-Restricted Motorsport, which made a late entry to the BTCC for 2024 by mopping up one of many unused TBLs, is now as much as two for its expanded squad of Cupra Leons.

WSR’s retention of 4 TBLs comes shortly after crew boss Dick Bennetts hinted to Autosport that the crew was open to increasing to 5 vehicles for the 2025 season.

Whereas TOCA has locked within the TBLs at 24, and that seems to ship any likelihood of a fifth BMW into the buffers, there can be nothing to cease WSR buying and selling for one of many 24 at present in use ought to any of the opposite groups not fulfil their allocation.

TOCA chief Alan Gow is assured that the grid might be greater than it was this season, when it spiked at 21 for the third spherical at Snetterton however flatlined at 20 for the rest of the occasions.

“Twenty-four vehicles is the precise form of determine I all the time stated the BTCC ought to ideally be about,” Gow advised Autosport.

“The 2024 season was the outlier due to the 2 groups – Crew Arduous [which used a variety of TBLs from different sources] and One Motorsport – which made late withdrawals.

“This 12 months we needed to put up with what we had, and that gave us the chance for some further vehicles to come back in for subsequent 12 months. It’s a very good, aggressive grid.”

The ultimate entry listing is not going to be confirmed till the season launch at Donington Park on 15 April.

TBL holders for 2025

Alliance Racing 4
Excelr8 Motorsport 4
Speedworks Motorsport 4
West Surrey Racing 4
Energy Maxed Racing 2
Restart Racing 2
One Motorsport 2
Un-Restricted Motorsport 2