British Touring Car Championship
Series Overview
The British Touring Car Championship, which began in 1958, is Britain's premier saloon car racing series. The BTCC's popularity is widely attributed to the strong visual resemblance the race cars have to the production models on which they're based, and to the closeness of its racing.
The 2006 championship is being contested at 10 separate race meetings, each comprised of three sprint races, for a total of 30 rounds. ITV1 is broadcasting the events.
Sporting Regulations
Types of car
In 2006, the BTCC is open to drivers, manufacturers and teams using two types of car:
BTC Touring cars were built to meet the technical specifications introduced in 2001
Super 2000 cars meet the technical specifications currently used in the World Touring Car Championship
Both types of car fight for the BTCC Championship outright, with no separate 'class' title in existence. A weight ballast system is used to bridge any performance gap and this can be reviewed five times throughout the season. Uniquely, cars competing in the BTCC can use petrol, diesel-turbo or gas-powered engines.
Race format
At each meeting there are three BTCC races of equal distance held on the Sunday, each counting towards a driver's championship points total. All races commence with a standing start off the grid and are a straight sprint race to the chequered flag.
Untimed practice
The BTCC action on each race weekend begins on the Saturday morning with two 40-minute free practice sessions. If a session is disrupted, the BTCC's Clerk of the Course is not obliged to resume it.
Official qualifying
A 30-minute qualifying session is held on Saturday afternoon. This determines the starting order for the first of Sunday's three races. Unless in exceptional circumstances, the session will be restarted if disrupted. Should two drivers set the same time, the driver setting it first will be ahead of the other on the grid.
Starting grids
The first race's starting grid takes the order of Saturday afternoon's qualifying session. Race Two's starting grid is decided by the finishing order in race one. Race Three's starting grid is decided by the finishing order in race two, but with the leading positions reversed. The number of positions to be reversed varies between six and ten and is determined when the Race Two winner draws the number from a hat.
Drivers retiring from a race will be allocated starting grid positions for the next race depending on the number of laps they completed before retiring.
The free practice, qualifying, race and starting grid process are repeated at each race meeting.
Success ballast
If the driver is successful in the first race, the weight will be increased and will be effective for the second race in the same meeting. The increase in success ballast weight awarded after the second race will be effective for the third race in the same meeting.
At the end of the third race at each meeting, the top five drivers in the championship are handed success ballast for the following meeting. They must take part with this ballast in free practice, qualifying and the first race, before the handicapping system is re-adjusted for race two.
The weight is allocated according to the following scale:
1st: 45 kgs
2nd: 36 kgs
3rd: 27 kgs
4th: 18 kgs
5th: 9 kgs
6th or lower or not classified or non-participant: 0 kgs
Success ballast weight is not accumulated over the course of the season.
Drivers' championship
In each race, the following points are awarded to classified finishers:
1st = 15 points
2nd = 12 points
3rd = 10 points
4th = 8 points
5th = 6 points
6th = 5 points
7th = 4 points
8th = 3 points
9th = 2 points
10th = 1 point
One additional point will be awarded to:
the driver who starts in pole position for the first race of each meeting
the driver who sets the fastest lap in each race. If two or more drivers achieve the same fastest lap time each will be awarded one point
each driver who is classified as the race leader (on crossing the finish line during the course of the race) during each race. A driver can only earn this point once irrespective of how many times he or she has led that race
Manufacturers' championship
Points are awarded to a maximum of three nominated cars of the same make, provided they are listed as a classified finisher in the final results. Points are awarded as per the drivers' championship, but without the additional points for pole position, fastest lap and leading the race.
Teams championship
Points are awarded to the two highest-placed cars from each team in each race. Again, points are awarded as per the drivers' championship, but without the additional points for pole position, fastest lap and leading the race.
