2011_British_Touring_Car_Championship

2011 British Touring Car Championship

2011 British Touring Car Championship

Sports season


The 2011 Dunlop[1] MSA British Touring Car Championship was the 54th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.

Matt Neal (pictured in 2012), the 2011 Drivers' Champion
Neal’s teammate, Gordon Shedden (pictured in 2007), finished the season in second
Jason Plato, finished third, 13 points behind Gordon Shedden
Gordon Shedden's Honda Civic.

Cars conforming to the Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) specification were allowed to compete in the championship for the first time, in a phased transition from Super 2000 specification to the NGTC specification. The season was also the final time that cars built to the BTC Touring specification were allowed to compete, ending the specification's decade of competition in the BTCC.[2]

Team Dynamics' Matt Neal claimed his third BTCC title after finishing 8th in the final round of the season, two places ahead of teammate and rival Gordon Shedden, who was beaten to the title by eight points. Reigning Champion Jason Plato finished third after suffering a puncture in the first race of the final meeting at Silverstone. With the Hondas claiming a 1–2, this all but eliminated Plato from the title fight.

Joint fourth in the outright championship were Independents' title protagonists Mat Jackson and James Nash, with Jackson finishing fourth on merit of race wins, four to Nash's one. Nash, however, claimed the Independents' title in the first race at Silverstone after Jackson also suffered a puncture. Both however had torrid races after, failing to score points in both races. Nash's team, Triple 8 Race Engineering also claimed the Independents Teams' championship.

With Neal and Shedden first and second in the Drivers' championship, Honda easily clinched both the Teams' and Manufacturers' championships.

Teams and drivers

The entry list for the 2011 season was revealed at the championship's Media Day held at Silverstone on 24 March 2011.[3]

More information Team, Car ...

Driver changes

Changed teams
Entering/re-entering BTCC
Leaving BTCC
  • Shaun Hollamby will revert to a team principal role within the AmD Milltek Racing with YourRacingCar team.
  • Steven Kane will move into sportscars, racing in the SPEED EuroSeries with HMR.

Team changes

  • Rob Austin will enter the series, with his own team running two Audi A4s to NGTC specification.
  • Dynojet will enter the series, running a single NGTC Toyota Avensis.
  • Speedworks Motorsport will enter the series, becoming the first team to commit to the new Next Generation Touring Car, running two cars.
  • Motorbase Performance will switch from BMWs to Fords, running under the Airwaves Racing banner.[4]
  • Geoff Steel will enter the series running a BMW for Dave Newsham.[5]

Mid-season changes

Driver changes
Team changes
  • Geoff Steel Racing were absent from Truxton to Rockingham after failing to secure a replacement for the departed Newsham. From Rockingham Tony Gilham was the sole entry for the team, inclung NGTC engine swap for the final round.
  • Welch Motorsport entered a single NGTC Proton Gen-2 in the second half of the 2011 season, with a debut at Snetterton. The car was driven by Daniel Welch.[9]
  • Triple 8 entered a single car for James Nash at Rockingham.
  • Thorney Motorsport entered the series at the Silverstone round, running NGTC Vauxhall Insignia for the team owner John Thorne.

Race calendar and results

All races were held in the United Kingdom. The calendar was announced by the championship organisers on 8 September 2010, with no major changes from 2010.[10]

More information Round, Circuit ...

Championship standings

More information Points system, Fastest Lap ...
  • No driver may collect more than one "Lead a Lap" point per race no matter how many laps they lead.
  • Race 1 polesitter receives 1 point.

Drivers' Championship

(key)

More information Pos, Driver ...
  • Note: bold signifies pole position (1 point given in first race only, and race 2 and 3 poles are based on race results), italics signifies fastest lap (1 point given all races) and * signifies at least one lap in the lead (1 point given all races).

Manufacturers'/Constructors' Championship

More information Pos, Manufacturer/Constructor ...

Teams' Championship

More information Pos, Team ...

Independents' Trophy

More information Pos, Driver ...

Independent Teams' Trophy

More information Pos, Team ...

Notes


    References

    1. "Dunlop returns as title sponsor in 2010". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 27 November 2009. Archived from the original on 2012-03-04. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
    2. Hudson, Neil (26 February 2011). "BTC-spec cars get another year". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
    3. "Record entry list for BTCC". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 24 March 2011. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
    4. Hudson, Neil (8 December 2010). "Airwaves BMW switches to Ford". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
    5. "Steel & Bell planning return". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 23 February 2011. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
    6. "Austin to race at Donington". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 8 April 2011. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
    7. "Onslow-Cole joins Aon". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 6 June 2011. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
    8. Mappin, James (26 April 2011). "Newsham To Switch To STR". BTCC Crazy. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
    9. "New team plans Proton entry". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 16 February 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
    10. "BTCC issues 2011 dates". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 8 September 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2010.

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