Erin Baker: 11 reasons BTCC is awesome this year

1) It’s full of amiable, extraordinarily talented, friendly guys: Gordon Shedden, Matt Neal, Andrew Jordan… compare with the F1 ‘stars’.

2) Jason Plato is STILL racing. The man’s unstoppable: since 1997, he’s been a top three contender in almost every season.

3) Even though the first race isn’t until this weekend, I can already promise you it will be a more interesting spectator sport than Formula One this season.

4) The drivers race cars you and I stand a chance of owning. Alright, so they’re a little bit, er modified, shall we say, but at least they look like what’s on your drive, albeit with a louder paint job.

5) BMW is back, after 21 years away, as a fully committed factory team with West Surrey Racing, and with Andrew Jordan on board. Time to tune in.

6) Vauxhall is back too, with Tom Chilton behind the wheel, a mere six years on from his last appearance.

7) You actually get bumper to bumper scrapes, crashes and overtaking. As in, it’s proper, live, heroic, British racing at its best. Only the Goodwood Revival matches it for homegrown excitement.

8) Zero ballast means qualifying is going to be… quick. Expect the difference between first and last on the grid to be a batsqueak of a second.

9) Honda is arriving on the grid with the Type R chassis and engine on song, instead of in development, which will make for tough competition.

10) New Dunlops are promising lap times a second quicker.

11) The grid contains the largest gathering of successful BTCC drivers ever: 16 previous race winners are set to go in a 32-strong field.

Images courtesy of LAT