Updated: BTCC 2021 drivers and teams – Nicolas Hamilton completes grid | GRR

As would be expected after a year in which so many commercial deals were forced to take long hard looks at themselves, there’s been some big moves already ahead of the 2021 season. The biggest came with the shock split of Tom Ingram and Speedworks (or Toyota Gazoo Racing UK as we’re supposed to call them). Enjoying a seven year relationship stretching back to Ingram’s freshman year, the 27-year-old has been on the cusp of success over the last couple of years, hustling the aging Avensis to the runner’s up spot in 2018 before two years developing the Corolla into a bona-fide race winner. Where Ingram could end up is anyone’s guess, and whoever does secure his services will be very pleased with the talent behind the wheel.

The Ingram/Speedworks split came just days after the merger of Laser Tools Racing and Team HARD, meaning the Tony Gilham-led squad now has no fewer than seven cars under its banner, having run five in 2020. Out are the very long-in-the-tooth Volkswagen CCs, and in come four brand new, and incredibly slick-looking Cupra Leons for Jack Goff, Glynn Geddie and the returning Aron Taylor-Smith, with a fourth driver still to be announced. The Laser Tools Racing section of the stable retains its 2020 squad of drivers’ Champion Ash Sutton and Aiden Moffat, but also welcomes Carl Boardley, who switches his BMW 1 Series for an Infiniti Q50.

It was confirmed late in the 2020 season that we would be watching the Mercedes A-Class for the last time, as Ciceley Motorsport announced it would be switching models for 2021. Swapping one German car for another, the team will now put out two West Surrey Racing-prepared BMW 330is in a bid to make some more regular trips to the podium.

With all of that in mind, here’s a round-up of the BTCC 2021 drivers and teams. Don’t forget to read our list of the top 10 BTCC drivers of 2020.

Update: Nicolas Hamilton completes 2021 grid

Updated 08:05 Friday 19^th March. Nicolas Hamilton will return to Team HARD for a second season, and as such provides us with the final piece of the BTCC puzzle for 2021. Perennial fan favourite Hamilton joined the Team HARD squad in 2020, piloting one of the team’s aging Volkswagen CCs, achieving his first BTCC point in the final race at the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. His reward for his efforts with Team HARD will be to get behind the wheel of one of the team’s all-new Cupra Leons alongside the team’s already announced trio Jack Goff, Aron Taylor-Smith and Glynn Geddie, as well as their Infiniti-driving stablemates Aiden Moffat, Carl Boardley and reigning champion Ash Sutton.

Update: Matt Neal takes sabbatical, Dan Rowbottom joins Team Dynamics

Updated 12:05 Thursday 18^th March. Daniel Rowbottom has signed with Team Dynamics, filling the second Honda Civic Type R seat alongside the returning three-time champion Gordon Shedden, and also confirming that Matt Neal will not be competing in the BTCC for the first time in 30 years. Rowbottom’s deal means he now joins for the grid for his second campaign, having competed with Ciceley Motorsport in 2019, finishing in the points on four occasions en route to 28^th in the standings. With no BTCC drive in 2020, Rowbottom made a one-off appearance in the 2020 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series at Vallelunga.

His return to the championship also signals the end of an era. Matt Neal had, up until 2021, competed in at least one round of the BTCC since 1991, and with Rowbottom taking the second seat at the Neal family-run team, so ends a BTCC story spanning three decades.

The announcement also confirms that the Team Dynamics squad are no longer a works outfit, with both Honda and Yuasa “deciding to focus on different challenges” for 2021. As a result the team has now embarked on a multi-year partnership with previous sponsor Halfords and incoming sponsor Cataclean.

Update: Daniel Lloyd joins Power Maxed Racing

Updated 9:30 Thursday 11^th March. Former BTCC race winner and TCR UK Daniel Lloyd champion will return to the British Touring Car Championship, having signed a deal with Power Maxed Racing for the 2021 season. Lloyd, who last competed in Britain’s premier tin-top series in 2018, will line-up alongside two-time champion Jason Plato in the Vauxhall Astra. It is set to be the first full season for the Yorkshireman, who enjoyed stints with Eurotech, Triple Eight Racing and BTC Racing between 2016 and 2018. It was with BTC Racing in 2018 that he really impressed the BTCC fraternity, regularly finishing in the top ten and topping it off by winning the reverse grid race at Croft alongside a dominant performance in that year’s inaugural TCR UK season.

Update: Gordon Shedden returns to the BTCC with Team Dynamics

Updated 12:05 Friday 5^th March. Three-time BTCC champion Gordon Shedden will return to the series after a three-year hiatus, effectively stepping back into the seat that was kept warm for him by the outgoing Dan Cammish. Shedden’s return to Dynamics is effectively a return home for the Scot, with 333 of his 347 BTCC starts coming with the Neal family team. During his tenure outside of the BTCC, Shedden competed for the Leopard Racing Audi Sport squad in WTCR, with his only win during that time coming at Wuhan in 2018.

Shedden’s appointment leaves one seat remaining in the Team Dynamics stable, and only three left across the grid.

Update: Dan Cammish loses Team Dynamics drive

Updated 09:00 Tuesday 2^nd March. Despite having been expected to return to the seat he has kept warm for the past three years, Dan Cammish has today announced that he will no longer be part of Team Dynamics ahead of the 2021 season. Cammish provided Honda’s best chance of a Drivers’ championship victory in the last two years, coming agonisingly close in 2019 when a mechanical failure saw his Honda Civic hit the barriers around the Brands Hatch GP loop and handed the title to eventual champion Colin Turkington.

Team Dynamics will announce its first driver on Friday with the teammate to come in the coming weeks. The move also leaves little options on the table for Cammish in 2021, with only two seats on the grid remaining outside of Honda – the final Team HARD Cupra and the second Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra.

Stephen Jelley returns to West Surrey Racing

Updates 17th February 2021, 09.00: The final driver in the three-car Team BMW stable has been confirmed as Stephen Jelley, who moves from Team Parker Racing and returns to West Surrey Racing after a 12-year hiatus. Jelley last competed with WSR under the Team RAC banner in 2009, taking two wins at Rockingham of that year in a supporting effort to Colin Turkington’s first of an eventual four Drivers’ Championship wins, before stepping away from the series for eight years. The 2021 season will be Jelley’s seventh BTCC campaign, having returned to the championship in 2017 with Team Parker Racing, and has competed in BMW machinery in all but one of his years on the grid. The announcement of Jelley confirms the Team BMW lineup for 2021, as he joins the already confirmed Colin Turkington and Tom Oliphant.

Update: Team BMW retain Tom Oliphant for 2021

Updated 10:00 Wednesday 10^th February. Team BMW have confirmed that Tom Oliphant will return to the West Surrey Racing-run squad for a second season after enjoying his strongest year to date in 2020. Scoring 50 points more in 2020 over his 2019 tally, despite fewer races, and helping BMW secure its fifth-consecutive Manufacturers’ title – a record-equalling feat. The announcement confirms a consistent team line-up for BMW, following the confirmation that Colin Turkington will return to the team for his 17^th BTCC campaign, and leaves one works BMW 330i M Sport seat to be filled.

Update: Ollie Jackson to MB Motorsport, Andy Neate and Sam Osborne to Motorbase Performance

Updated 18:15 Thursday 4^th February 2021. The remaining seats in Ford Focuses have been filled for 2021 following a brace of announcements from MB Motorsport and Motorbase Performance. Ollie Jackson will rekindle his working relationship with former boss Shaun Hollamby as he joins forces with Jake Hill in the MB Motorsport stable. Jackson enjoyed something of a breakout year in 2020 with two wins in the Motorbase Focus, and will be looking to continue that form with his new colours in 2021.

In line with the MB Motorsport announcement, Motorbase Performance confirmed that Andy Neate would return for a second season with the Ford squad. Announced alongside Neate, Sam Osborne, who drove for MB Motorsport last year, moves across to Motorbase for 2021 following his father Pete and Hollamby’s purchase of the team over the winter and set his eyes firmly on a Jack Sears Trophy push.

Update: Colin Turkington returns to spearhead BMW effort

Updated 9:15 Wednesday 3^rd February 2021. Four-time British Touring Car Champion Colin Turkington has been confirmed at West Surrey Racing for his 17^th campaign in the premier British racing series after narrowly losing out to Ash Sutton in 2020. With a career that has been closely linked to the squad who once ran title-winning campaigns for the likes of Ayrton Senna, Mika Häkkinen and Rubens Barrichello in Formula 3, Turkington will line up for his 14^th season with West Surrey Racing as he chases a record-breaking fifth BTCC title.

Rory Butcher and Sam Smelt join Toyota Gazoo Racing UK

Updated Wednesday 27^th January. With an expanded programme for 2020, and the departure of long-term driver Tom Ingram, the Speedworks-run Toyota Gazoo Racing UK squad had two seats to fill for the 2021 season, and today the team have confirmed that Rory Butcher and Sam Smelt will line up in the pair of corporate-liveried Toyota Corollas. Butcher, who took the Independents’ crown in 2019, will be eyeing up overall honours in 2021 in the car which took five podiums in the final six races of last year’s campaign. Smelt, meanwhile, returns to the BTCC after two seasons in British GT, including a 2020 campaign for Speedworks in a Toyota GR Supra GT4.

Update: Plato returns to the BTCC with Power Maxed Racing

Updated 15:10 Friday 22^nd January. Power Maxed Racing have today confirmed that Jason Plato will return to the grid in 2021, after last year's entry was deferred 12 months in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of commercial value for sponsors. Plato will make his 600^th start in the BTCC at the season-opening Brands Hatch round.

Update: Tom Ingram switches Toyota for Hyundai in Excelr8 switch

Updated 09:30 Wednesday 20^th January. One of the hottest prospects in the BTCC in recent years, Tom Ingram, made one of the biggest headlines in the 2020/21 off-season with his departure from the Speedworks squad after seven years. With the rumour mill incredibly active following the announcement, it all came to rest today as Excelr8 Motorsport announced that Ingram has signed a “multi-year deal” to sit behind the wheel of one of their two remaining Hyundai i30s, slotting in alongside the previously confirmed Chris Smiley and Jack Butel.

Updated: Excelr8 Motorsport retain Chris Smiley

Updated 12:00 Friday 15^th January. Following a solid 2020, and after Chris Smiley took the Hyundai i30 Fastback N to the podium in only its third race in the BTCC, Excelr8 have retained the services of the Ulsterman for 2021. Going into his fifth full season in the BTCC, Smiley will be looking to continue his current run of form of at least one podium a year, stretching back to 2018 with the BTC team. Following the Excelr8 and Trade Price Cars merger, that leaves two Hyundais still looking for drivers in 2021 alongside Smiley and the previously announced Jack Butel.

Update: Jade Edwards takes final BTC Racing seat

Updated 11:30 Thursday 14^th January. The final seat at the BTC Racing camp will be filled by Jade Edwards, following a popular appearance at Silverstone in 2020 for Power Maxed Racing. Despite a day of on-track scuffles with Andy Neate, Edwards impressed many with how she handled herself in her BTCC debut, and her signing with the Honda squad will leave many happy fans around the country.

Update: Tom Chilton moves from BTC Racing to Ciceley Motorsport

Updated 12:30 Wednesday 13^th January. Ciceley Motorsport has today announced that former World Touring Car race winner Tom Chilton will jump across from BTC Racing to the Morgan family team for 2021. Switching his Honda Civic Type R for the BMW 3 Series, 2021 will mark the first time that the Surrey-based driver will compete in a rear-wheel-drive touring car in his near-20-year career. The move leaves one seat still open at BTC, who previously announced both Cook and Crees would return to the squad this year.

Halfords Team Dynamics Motorsport – Gordon Shedden, Daniel Rowbottom

It was thought to be a surefire seat for Dan Cammish, but the 31-year-old driver has announced that he will not be back on the grid for his fourth season with the Team Dynamics squad after two years of being a whisker away from taking the crown. Meanwhile, the second seat, what became one of the most talked about seats for 2021, has gone to Daniel Rowbottom, with the three-time BTCC champion Matt Neal taking a sabbatical year.

Team BMW – Colin Turkington, Tom Oliphant, Stephen Jelley

West Surrey Racing returns to three cars for 2021, after Andrew Jordan dropped out on the eve of the 2020 campaign. Colin Turkington and Tom Olphant have been confirmed so far, with team boss Dick Bennets hinting that there were seven drivers in the frame for the trio of available seats before the news of those signings broke. Stephen Jelley claims the third seat, making a return to the squad after a 12-year hiatus.

Toyota Gazoo Racing UK – Rory Butcher, Sam Smelt

When the announcement was made that Tom Ingram would leave the Speedworks-run Toyota squad, it took the shine away somewhat from the confirmation that the team were looking to double its efforts in 2021 to a two-car programme. Thankfully it looks as though there's some serious talent on the way in, with Rory Butcher and Sam Smelt confirmed to be behind the wheel of the Corollas this year.

Laser Tools Racing – Ash Sutton, Aiden Moffat, Carl Boardley

Reigning champion Ash Sutton returns to try and defend his crown after a fantastic debut year with the Moffat family team, who unsurprisingly keeps Aiden Moffat for his eighth full season in the BTCC. Joining the stable in 2021 is four-time World Hot Rod champion Carl Boardley, who continues his climb up the grid and will be hoping the evidently quick Infiniti Q50 will provide the best opportunity of Jack Sears Trophy honours.

Team HARD – Jack Goff, Aron Taylor-Smith, Glynn Geddie, Nicolas Hamilton

Fan favourite Jack Goff returns for the third season in this stint with Team HARD, hoping the switch from Volkswagen to Cupra is promising after a somewhat disappointing 2020 campaign saw only 11 points bagged in 27 races. Glynn Geddie also steps up to a full-time drive with the squad after substituting for two meetings in 2020, for what should be his first full season in the championship. The two other seats will be filled by Aron Taylor-Smith and Nicolas Hamilton.  

Power Maxed Racing – Jason Plato

Jason Plato is scheduled to return to the grid after a COVID-enforced sabbatical in 2020 and will be itching to get back to the sharp end after some promising results at the end of 2019. Mat Jackson was scheduled to be in the second seat in 2020, and reportedly has first refusal on said seat for 2021, but PMR effectively spent a season auditioning second drivers throughout 2020 with six different newcomers behind the wheel of the Astra, so there’s plenty of options for the Vauxhall squad.

MB Motorsport – Jake Hill, Ollie Jackson

MB Motorsport retains the services of Jake Hill, who was one of the breakout stars of 2020 with one of the more impressive Saturday records on the grid, and both he and the team will be hoping to back up a strong year with some trips to the top step of the podium in 2021. Ollie Jackson, meanwhile, has made the jump from Motorbase Performance to MB Motorsport. The duo will be driving Ford Focuses. 

Motorbase Performance – Andy Neate, Sam Osbourne

In another of the big off-season switcheroos, long-time owner of Motorbase David Bartrum is stepping aside, with AmD Tuning head Shaun Hollamby and Pete Osborne taking the lead going forward. Sam Osborne, son of Pete, has taken one of the seats, while Andy Neate has been confirmed for the second spot. 

Excelr8 Trade Price Cars – Jack Butel, Chris Smiley, Tom Ingram

Another case of two teams merging for 2021, Excelr8 Motorsport and Trade Price Cars have joined forces for the upcoming season, bringing an additional two Hyundai i30 Fastback Ns to the grid – which is no bad thing as they were two of the best-looking cars in 2020. Jack Butel, who made his BTCC debut with Ciceley Motorsport in 2020 jumps from Mercedes to Hyundai. Chris Smiley has been retained by the team and Tom Ingram has joined on a "multi-year deal".

Ciceley Motorsport – Adam Morgan, Tom Chilton

Switching from its trusty Mercedes A-Class, Ciceley Motorsport will run a pair of WSR-prepared BMW 3 Series in 2021, potentially just what the doctor ordered to shift the team up a couple of spaces on the grid. Adam Morgan returns with his family team, while Jack Butel’s move to Excelr8 left one seat remaining in the Ciceley squad, which has now been scooped up by Tom Chilton.

BTC Racing – Josh Cook, Michael Crees

One of the dark horses of 2020, BTC Racing’s place in the final standings didn’t truly reflect the season the team had, and Josh Cook returns to the squad hoping for some better luck than that which cost him a shot at the title last year. Fan-favourite and Jack Sears Trophy champion Michael Crees also returns to the fold for 2021, leaving one seat remaining in the Honda squad.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.