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2005 BRITISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP

2005 BTCC

• CHAMPIONSHIP: 10 ROUNDS / 30 RACES
• CLASS: Works cars for Manufacturer championship and Independents Cup
• FORMAT: 3 races at every venue
• SUPPORT RACES:
  Formula Renault, Renault Clio Cup, Formula BMW, Porsche Carrera Cup
• DATES: APRIL 10 -  OCT 2, 2005
• 2005 season:
• Turkington joins Vauxhall ; Pickford joins SEAT
• New Astra Sport Hatch replaces Astra Coupe ; New Lexus IS200 to debut
• New revised rules

2005 RACE RESULT

2005 BTCC CARS:

• Vauxhall VX Racing Astra Sport Hatch (replaces 2004 Astra Coupe)
• SEAT Toledo Cupra
• LEXUS IS200

2005 TEAMS/DRIVERS

NEW LEXUS TEAM

• Dave Older:"The Lexus has twin wishbone suspension all-round, with a very strong and powerful engine, so the team will have less to find when trying to match the performance of the current manufacturer developed cars. With a good platform to start with and a team of the right people with the right skills and commitment, SpeedEquipe hopes to climb the learning curve as quickly as possible. The key objectives for the 2005 season are to learn about the dynamics of the race car, running a car in the BTCC and to become faster during the season. The team's expectations are based around the car's relative competitiveness compared to other Super 2000 spec. cars, particularly those cars run by Independent teams. If we can regularly run in the top ten against the factory SEATs and Vauxhalls plus the other established Independents then I think we can say we've done a good job on the budget available".

VAUXHALL

• Yvan Muller - 2003 CHAMPION
• Colin Turkington "It's going to be a very important year for me. Vauxhall will expect me to perform and I will expect me to perform. Doing my own thing has got me this far, so I must be doing something right. I will just keep building on how I do things."
• Gavin Smith "Signing for Vauxhall is the highlight of my career so far. When you’re looking at various options you always aim high, but you can’t get much higher than driving for Vauxhall in the BTCC, and I will be giving it my all to challenge for championship points along with Colin and Yvan. I had a productive test this week, and have learnt lots about the performance of the car and the team dynamic. I hope to be on the pace right from the start of the season.”

SEAT: (Malcolm Swetnam - team manager)

• Jason Plato - 2001 CHAMPION
• James Pickford - winner 2004 Cupra title
  "The Toledo is exactly what I expected it would be like very impressive. It just feels right and already I feel very comfortable driving it. It's a natural progression coming from a Leon Cupra R, and that really helped me quickly get used to the Toledo.The first test was just a case of getting some miles under my belt and experimenting with things like braking points. I love it, it's just great fun to drive."
• Luke Hines (age 22)
  "I'm delighted to be driving for SEAT Sport UK this year because in my mind it's definitely the best team in the BTCC, said Hines. We all saw what it achieved in its first year in 2004, so just think what it could achieve in 2005. It's a very exciting prospect for me and there is a lot of potential in the team which I believe will come to the fore this year. I want to try and help SEAT win the manufacturers' title, that's my aim. I haven't driven the Toldeo Cupra yet and I have a lot to learn, but I'm looking forward to working with Jason and James and hopefully scoring loads more race wins myself. I'd like to win the drivers' title, but I'd be very happy if at the end of the season I finished in the top three"

LAST SEASON (2004)

• MANUFACTURER CHAMPION: VAUHALL
  its 4th consecutive title
• DRIVER CHAMPION: James Thompson, Vauxhall VX Racing
• FINAL 2004 STANDING:
• 1 James Thompson, Vauxhall VX Racing, 274 points
• 2 Yvan Muller, Vauxhall, 273
• 3 Jason Plato, Seat, 224
• 4 Anthony Reid, 213
• 5 Matt Neal, 181
• 6 Colin Turkington, 173

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