The HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship is a UK based saloon car race-series. The championship is contested over 10 race meetings throughout the season, with 3 action packed sprint races per meeting. The BTCC visit's all the major race circuits in the UK from Knockhill in Scotland to the famous Brands Hatch in Kent. The BTCC is firmly established as Britain's most popular form of motor racing and is seen as one of the UK’s top sporting attractions.

The Championship was established 50 years ago and in that time has grown into this country’s biggest motor racing show, with massive audience appeal. From the start, in 1958, it was a huge success with the public, who would pack into Britain’s racing venues to watch drivers compete in racing versions of their road cars at simply unbelievable speeds. Traditional, great British names of the times, such as Jaguar, Austin, Ford, Mini, Lotus, Sunbeam, Hillman and Triumph, were all winners in the first 20 years, each aware of the importance of using the BTCC to showcase their latest models.

By the Eighties, the BTCC was moving with the times and beginning to attract a truly international flavour. Mazda, Toyota and Alfa Romeo were the first three winners of the decade as the championship continued to be run for different sized classes of cars, but the mighty Ford Sierra RS500 and BMW M3 are probably the two most evocative models of the period. It was in the Nineties, however, that the BTCC boomed.

The championship was already beginning to grow in stature with regular television coverage on the BBC’s flagship sports show Grandstand on Saturday afternoons. When the decision was taken to make the BTCC exclusively for two-litre cars, it instantly created closer racing and attracted a host of high-profile manufacturers and teams to the series. Combined with enhanced television coverage and marketing genius, this made the BTCC essential viewing for millions throughout the UK – and many millions more worldwide. Witty one-liners, tears and laughter, dirty moves, crashes, controversy, drama, heroes and villains – the BTCC had it all and became one of sport’s biggest overnight success stories. No other sport has surely enjoyed such a rapid growth in popularity.

Support Races

At each BTCC race meeting the crowds are kept further entertained by appearances from five high profile supporting championships from popular manufacturers Ginetta, Porsche, Renault and SEAT. Formula Renault UK is contested by ambitious, young drivers each aiming for a future in Formula 1.

The other four are production car championships – Ginetta Juniors, Porsche Carrera Cup GB, Renault Clio Cup and SEAT Cupra Championship. These attract a mix of career-minded drivers and amateurs out to enjoy their racing. Each championship races twice during at every BTCC event (although Renault's two championships miss Knockhill). That means in addition to seeing their BTCC heroes in action three times, the crowds regularly also get at least another ten races to enjoy during the weekend.