GOW: "BTCC LEAGUES AHEAD OF ANYTHING ELSE"
Alan Gow, the man in charge of the Dunlop MSA British Touring
Car Championship, says his series has once more underlined
it is in a league of its own in 2005. He also says that interest
in the championship for next season is at an all-time high.
The 2005 BTCC season drew to a close at Brands Hatch last
Sunday. Matt Neal was crowned champion for the first time
in his career and his team, Team Halfords, became the first
independent squad for 14 years to beat the manufacturer outfits.
Britain’s biggest commercial terrestrial television
network ITV1 saw a considerable rise in BTCC viewing figures.
In 2005, it virtually doubled the amount of air time it previously
gave the BTCC, through also showing repeat programmes, and
upped its live coverage from five rounds to seven.
There has also been a noticeable increase in the number of
people pouring through the gates at circuits to come and watch
Britain’s biggest and most exciting motor racing championship
in action. And the BTCC has gained thousands more new fans
in 2005 with ground-breaking, high-speed city centre shows
in NewcastleGateshead and Milton Keynes. Even the world-famous
Forth Road Bridge closed back in August to showcase the BTCC
cars in Scotland for their round at Knockhill.
BTCC Series Director Gow comments: "The BTCC is leagues
ahead of anything else in British motor racing as far as public
profile goes. Just look at the volume of viewers and spectators.
Our TV audience is up by some 38 per cent and the gate numbers
by around 22 per cent.
"No other championship in Britain has had that sort
of an increase. In fact, I doubt any other sport has, with
the exception of cricket. This has been a great year for the
BTCC and has been better than we’ve had for many years."
Gow also believes that Neal’s title triumph is testimony
to the strength of the BTCC’s all-important technical
and sporting regulations that enable independent teams to
compete and succeed at the highest level.
Gow adds: "It shows that a private team can build a
car that is the equal of a factory team, even without manufacturer
support. The sporting regulations, with our testing and cost-control
restrictions, also enable those teams to compete with the
manufacturers on an equal footing and ensure the better funded
teams don’t necessarily have an unfair advantage.
"The fact that in 2005 we’ve also had nine different
winners – with five of those drivers from three independent
teams – also underlines the competitiveness of the BTCC."
Gow believes there is every indication that the BTCC will
hit the ground running in 2006. He says: "As people can
read nearly every week in the specialist media, there are
a lot of people talking about joining and putting together
programmes to run in the championship. That is new. That level
of genuine interest hasn’t happened for quite a few
years.
"A turning point was the forum we held for prospective
independent teams. It led to us receiving much more genuine
enquiries than I’ve ever known while I’ve been
in charge, either currently or in the past. People there learnt
a lot and some have admitted it was quite an eye-opening experience.
As a direct result of the forum alone, we will probably see
at least four new cars next season in addition to the many
other prospective entries also being discussed.
"Like all high profile championships, grid sizes were
down at the start of the season – something that was
not unique to us – but these picked up considerably
as the season progressed. And yet again, the BTCC put on some
amazing racing which is what our most important customers,
the spectators and viewers, want to see."
Gate figures for the BTCC in 2005 have shot up by around
22 per cent
ITV1's BTCC audience has dramatically increased by 38 per
cent in 2005
The racing in this year's BTCC has again been ultra-competitive,
with nine different winners
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