The 2014 British Touring Car Championship season was as ever a compelling watch, but I have reason to believe it was one of the best seasons ever in the championship.
Here are 14 things that made 2014 so special.
Here are 14 things that made 2014 so special.
![Picture](/uploads/2/8/8/8/28884251/6168276.jpg?337)
7 CHAMPIONS ON THE GRID
Come Media Day at Donington Park, 7 former champions had signed to race in the 2014 BTCC, a record high. 2013 had 4 former champions on the grid, with newly crowned champ Andrew Jordan and old faces Fabrizio Giovanardi and Alain Menu returning to boost the number to 7, the 2014 BTCC grid was appetising to say the least.
RECORD NUMBER OF CARS ON THE GRID
These 7 champions were part of a packed capacity grid of 31 cars! To put that into context at Knockhill there were so many cars lined up the tail end of the grid were starting right back at the hairpin!
FIRST FULL NGTC GRID
2014 was the first ever season the whole grid was composed of NGTC (New Generation Touring) cars. This pleased Alan Gow and more importantly meant the majority of competitors went into a race weekend with a chance of winning a race at some point during the weekend and there was no confusion between performances of cars like there was in 2013 with the few S2000 cars.
Come Media Day at Donington Park, 7 former champions had signed to race in the 2014 BTCC, a record high. 2013 had 4 former champions on the grid, with newly crowned champ Andrew Jordan and old faces Fabrizio Giovanardi and Alain Menu returning to boost the number to 7, the 2014 BTCC grid was appetising to say the least.
RECORD NUMBER OF CARS ON THE GRID
These 7 champions were part of a packed capacity grid of 31 cars! To put that into context at Knockhill there were so many cars lined up the tail end of the grid were starting right back at the hairpin!
FIRST FULL NGTC GRID
2014 was the first ever season the whole grid was composed of NGTC (New Generation Touring) cars. This pleased Alan Gow and more importantly meant the majority of competitors went into a race weekend with a chance of winning a race at some point during the weekend and there was no confusion between performances of cars like there was in 2013 with the few S2000 cars.
![Picture](/uploads/2/8/8/8/28884251/226764.jpg?719)
RECORD NUMBER OF RACE WINNERS
To highlight the point made above about the competitive nature of the grid, there was a record high of 11 different race winners throughout the course of the 2014 BTCC season. That's quite incredible! Can you name all of the race winners?
ESTATE CAR GETS FIRST WIN
Let's face it, we all loved the Volvo estate of 1994 didn't we! And now the estate car has its first BTCC win, courtesy of Gordon Shedden at Donington Park.
PLENTY OF CONTROVERSY
The mid-season was dominated by the disparity between FWD and RWD transmissions. As ever, Jason Plato was the most vocal saying "I'll be happy if I win my championship", indicating he felt the RWD BMWs had an obscene advantage. And we all love some tasty controversy.
CHAMPIONSHIP PROFILE RAISED
Because the 2014 season was so competitive, the championship's profile has been raised. Prior to the season, Team BMR's Alain Menu wanted to join the series because he felt BTCC was on the up, and he is right. It has also been announced that Infiniti will be entering the championship with a team largely composed of ex-soldiers, which is great for the series.
To highlight the point made above about the competitive nature of the grid, there was a record high of 11 different race winners throughout the course of the 2014 BTCC season. That's quite incredible! Can you name all of the race winners?
ESTATE CAR GETS FIRST WIN
Let's face it, we all loved the Volvo estate of 1994 didn't we! And now the estate car has its first BTCC win, courtesy of Gordon Shedden at Donington Park.
PLENTY OF CONTROVERSY
The mid-season was dominated by the disparity between FWD and RWD transmissions. As ever, Jason Plato was the most vocal saying "I'll be happy if I win my championship", indicating he felt the RWD BMWs had an obscene advantage. And we all love some tasty controversy.
CHAMPIONSHIP PROFILE RAISED
Because the 2014 season was so competitive, the championship's profile has been raised. Prior to the season, Team BMR's Alain Menu wanted to join the series because he felt BTCC was on the up, and he is right. It has also been announced that Infiniti will be entering the championship with a team largely composed of ex-soldiers, which is great for the series.
![Picture](/uploads/2/8/8/8/28884251/5755607.jpg?709)
DESERVING CHAMPION WAS CROWNED
No matter whether you feel the BMW 125i M Sport had a clear or perhaps unfair advantage or not, you simply can not deny that Ulster's Colin Turkington was the deserving champion. He barely put a wheel wrong all year, barring race 3 at Snetterton where he pushed Matt Neal into a spin. He produced a masterful drive to 4th at Knockhill from the very back and was constantly picking up the podiums. He really wanted to win the title so his little boy could remember it, and he dually delivered.
NEW RACE WINNERS AND PODIUM FINISHERS
Although we had to wait until the penultimate race of the year, we got a new race winner in the shape of Adam Morgan, who incidentally claimed his first ever podium finish in the process. Other new podium finishers include Jack Clarke in the Focus, who mastered the wet conditions at Brands Hatch masterfully.
No matter whether you feel the BMW 125i M Sport had a clear or perhaps unfair advantage or not, you simply can not deny that Ulster's Colin Turkington was the deserving champion. He barely put a wheel wrong all year, barring race 3 at Snetterton where he pushed Matt Neal into a spin. He produced a masterful drive to 4th at Knockhill from the very back and was constantly picking up the podiums. He really wanted to win the title so his little boy could remember it, and he dually delivered.
NEW RACE WINNERS AND PODIUM FINISHERS
Although we had to wait until the penultimate race of the year, we got a new race winner in the shape of Adam Morgan, who incidentally claimed his first ever podium finish in the process. Other new podium finishers include Jack Clarke in the Focus, who mastered the wet conditions at Brands Hatch masterfully.
![Picture](/uploads/2/8/8/8/28884251/2726353.jpg?316)
NEW MANUFACTURERS GRACING THE TOP STEP
Adam Morgan's first win was also incredibly the first ever win in the BTCC for Mercedes-Benz. I'm sure it was the first of many. It would be great to see Morgan have a team mate next year.
HONDA DOMINATION BROKEN
Ever since 2011, a Honda driver has won the drivers championship (Neal, Shedden and Jordan) and ever since 2010 the marque has won the constructors championship, with Honda Yuasa Racing being the dominant outfit. That was all to change in 2014, with West Surrey Racing powering to both the Teams and Independent Teams championships and MG beating Honda to the Constructors championship. This is great for the series as it spices the competition up. Honda will have some hard work to do over the winter.
EXCITING RACING
We were treated to some spectacular racing throughout 2014, and it was only fitting the series should end for another year in that fashion after a pulsating day's action at Brands. Gordon Shedden's last corner pass on Colin Turkington at Donington Park was a moment to remmeber, and race 1 at Knockhill was one of the most exciting races of recent times, particularly regarding its championship complexions.
Adam Morgan's first win was also incredibly the first ever win in the BTCC for Mercedes-Benz. I'm sure it was the first of many. It would be great to see Morgan have a team mate next year.
HONDA DOMINATION BROKEN
Ever since 2011, a Honda driver has won the drivers championship (Neal, Shedden and Jordan) and ever since 2010 the marque has won the constructors championship, with Honda Yuasa Racing being the dominant outfit. That was all to change in 2014, with West Surrey Racing powering to both the Teams and Independent Teams championships and MG beating Honda to the Constructors championship. This is great for the series as it spices the competition up. Honda will have some hard work to do over the winter.
EXCITING RACING
We were treated to some spectacular racing throughout 2014, and it was only fitting the series should end for another year in that fashion after a pulsating day's action at Brands. Gordon Shedden's last corner pass on Colin Turkington at Donington Park was a moment to remmeber, and race 1 at Knockhill was one of the most exciting races of recent times, particularly regarding its championship complexions.
![Picture](/uploads/2/8/8/8/28884251/4919588.jpg?719)
JACK SEARS TROPHY A SUCCESS
Last year the trophy named after the first ever champion of the BTCC, Jack Sears, was for S2000 cars only and was won comfortably by Lea Wood. For 2014 (as the whole grid was now NGTC) the rules were changed and it was to be for the Independent driver who gained the most positions from their respective grid position over the course of the season. Scores were tallied as to how many positions were gained by each driver for each and every race, and eventually AMD Tuning's Dave Newsham was crowned the Jack Sears Trophy winner. I personally think it's a great format.
DIVERSE GRID
The 2014 grid was composed of a range of drivers, with the likes of Giovnardi being multiple Touring Car champions and the likes of Aiden Moffat, who is under 20 years old and keen to become a star, but all of a relatively equal driving level. There were also 7 differnet nationalities being represented in 2014; England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Switzerland and the United States of America.
I think it's fair to say you and us have all really enjoyed the 2014 season and can't wait for 2015 to get going!
I doubt few enjoyed 2014 more than Colin Turkington though, who had a near perfect year.
BTCC 2014 will be a year remembered for a long time for all sorts of reasons.
In case you didn't know or want to check your answers, the 2014 race winners are listed below.
Colin Turkington
Jason Plato
Andrew Jordan
Gordon Shedden
Matt Neal
Mat Jackson
Rob Collard
Sam Tordoff
Aron Smith
Rob Austin
Adam Morgan
we would like to thank you all again for taking the time for liking our page on facebook www.facebook.com/thegriduk and following us on twitter www.twitter.com/@thegriduk . We have enjoyed bringing the thrills and spills from the 2014 season and we hope to do the same if not better in the 2015 season along with more great galleries
Luke Barry – Reporter
Laurence Johnson – Editor/ Photographer
Last year the trophy named after the first ever champion of the BTCC, Jack Sears, was for S2000 cars only and was won comfortably by Lea Wood. For 2014 (as the whole grid was now NGTC) the rules were changed and it was to be for the Independent driver who gained the most positions from their respective grid position over the course of the season. Scores were tallied as to how many positions were gained by each driver for each and every race, and eventually AMD Tuning's Dave Newsham was crowned the Jack Sears Trophy winner. I personally think it's a great format.
DIVERSE GRID
The 2014 grid was composed of a range of drivers, with the likes of Giovnardi being multiple Touring Car champions and the likes of Aiden Moffat, who is under 20 years old and keen to become a star, but all of a relatively equal driving level. There were also 7 differnet nationalities being represented in 2014; England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Switzerland and the United States of America.
I think it's fair to say you and us have all really enjoyed the 2014 season and can't wait for 2015 to get going!
I doubt few enjoyed 2014 more than Colin Turkington though, who had a near perfect year.
BTCC 2014 will be a year remembered for a long time for all sorts of reasons.
In case you didn't know or want to check your answers, the 2014 race winners are listed below.
Colin Turkington
Jason Plato
Andrew Jordan
Gordon Shedden
Matt Neal
Mat Jackson
Rob Collard
Sam Tordoff
Aron Smith
Rob Austin
Adam Morgan
we would like to thank you all again for taking the time for liking our page on facebook www.facebook.com/thegriduk and following us on twitter www.twitter.com/@thegriduk . We have enjoyed bringing the thrills and spills from the 2014 season and we hope to do the same if not better in the 2015 season along with more great galleries
Luke Barry – Reporter
Laurence Johnson – Editor/ Photographer