Series bosses welcome new calendar
Bosses of the British Touring Car Championship’s support categories have welcomed TOCA’S unveiling of a revised calendar, describing it as “very positive”.
The revamped schedule features nine events in the space of three and a half months between August and mid-november, and includes all nine venues that originally appeared on the calendar. The second Silverstone event, featuring the International layout, is the only one not on the new timetable.
Porsche GB motorsport manager James
Macnaughton is happy that he has now got a schedule to “plan for and work towards”.
“I’ve been in reasonably regular contact with Alan [Gow, BTCC chief executive] and know he’s worked very hard to create a provisional calendar, so we’re very appreciative of everything he’s done,” said Macnaughton.
One of the main features of the new calendar is three back-to-back events, and Macnaughton acknowledges that this will pose some challenges, such as making sure there are enough spare parts available for the Oulton Park and Knockhill events on consecutive weekends.
“Going from Oulton Park straight to Knockhill means the teams aren’t going to be able to go back to base, so everyone will have to bear that in mind,” he said. “Unfortunately, it’s going to be a lot harder for people but, from the conversations I’ve been having with our teams and drivers, I know how keen they are to go racing for lots of reasons – business reasons and because we all love racing.”
The situation is complicated for Macnaughton because, as well as running the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at eight events, the new-for-2020 Sprint Challenge GB series – featuring the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport – was also due to appear at two BTCC rounds. While he has confirmed that Porsche will have a presence at all nine events, the exact calendars of the two series have yet to be finalised.
Also appearing at all nine TOCA fixtures will be British Formula 4. The single-seater category has, since its inception, appeared at all BTCC events and promoter Sam Roach is pleased with the new calendar.
“It’s an intensive schedule, not least four events in the opening five weeks and three back-to-back events, but I’m sure our drivers and teams are very enthusiastic to resume racing as soon as it is safe to do so, and I’m sure they’ll all rise to the challenge,” said Roach.
“I’d like to put on record my thanks to TOCA, and Alan Gow in particular, along with ITV for the exceptionally hard work they’ve put in to bring this revised calendar together.”
Another challenge will be the decreasing daylight for the late-october and November meetings. Gow has already said that bespoke BTCC night races will not be run, but Macnaughton says Porsche is preparing for the possibility of racing in darker late-afternoon conditions.