British Touring Car Championship 2002 season preview.
Pictures by Kelvin Fagan.
TV Deal!
GRANADA SPORT has revealed the team that will front its exciting new
coverage of the 2002 MSA British Touring Car Championship on all the major
regions of the ITV1 network.
Vicki Butler-Henderson has been signed up to present the programme, while
Ben Edwards will be the main commentator. The role of expert analyst will be
filled by guests, including former drivers and team bosses, at selected
races.
Both Butler-Henderson and Edwards are well qualified to talk about the
sport, as they each have single-seater race experience.
Vicki rose to prominence as a presenter on Top Gear, but the BTCC
opportunity offers her the biggest anchor role yet of her career. Edwards,
meanwhile, has years of experience commentating both sides of the Atlantic
on Formula One and Indycar. He was a leading contender to fill the shoes of
Murray Walker when the veteran retired from ITV's Grand Prix coverage.
"I'm very excited to be involved," said Edwards. "Touring cars are
definitely on the up again. Everyone has done a great job building the BTCC'
s profile in the past year and I'm very proud to be part of the show. I'm
looking forward to working with Vicki, too. She's great fun."
BTCC Series Director Richard West welcomed the appointments. "It's a breath
of fresh air for the championship - a new-look team to cover a new-look
series," he said. "Ben and Vicki are full of enthusiasm and that will shine
through. I think Granada Sport's line-up and expertise will help take the
BTCC from strength to strength."
"We are very excited at bringing Britain's premier motor racing series to
the ITV regions," said Jim Raven, Managing Director of Granada Sport. "It
will complement the network's coverage of Formula One, and give a complete
package to motorsport fans around the country."
This year's BTCC will occupy a prime one-hour slot in all the major ITV
regions. All 10 events will be televised on a one-week deferred basis, with
seven of them screened after Grand Prix qualifying. The shows will be
produced by Granada Sport, whose key players have a wealth of experience in
televising major sporting events.
New Sponsor Announced
The 2002 MSA British Touring Car Championship is to receive title
sponsorship from motoring assistance provider Green Flag.
The major new deal is announced today (19th March) at the BTCC's 2002 media
launch. It will involve all 30 competing cars and drivers sporting Green
Flag motoring assistance branding.
Green Flag, a former sponsor of the England football team, is recognised for
raising the level of motoring assistance services and is an ideal partner
for the British Touring Car Championship. The company provides roadside
rescue and recovery services to 3.5m drivers across the UK and was title
sponsor of the British Formula 3 Championship for the past two seasons.
"The tie-up with Green Flag is great news for the championship," commented
Richard West, Series Director for the BTCC and TOCA Tour. "There are many
synergies between Green Flag motoring assistance and the BTCC. Both rely on
technical expertise and speed of response, and both are experiencing periods
of rapid growth. I'm delighted to welcome Green Flag aboard, and am
convinced that this partnership will take the series to new heights."
Stephen Geraghty, Green Flag Group's Managing Director, said: "This is
another great sponsorship for Green Flag. We are proud to be associated with
the British Touring Car Championship, which has such a fabulous history. The
new television deal with ITV is fantastic news for the championship, and was
a big factor in our decision to associate ourselves with Britain's premier
saloon car series. We are now looking forward to an exciting year ahead."
This year's BTCC will occupy a prime one-hour slot in all the major regions
of ITV's network. All ten events will be televised on a one-week deferred
basis, with seven of them screened after Grand Prix qualifying. The shows
will be produced by Granada Sport.
Vauxall on Top!
Vauxhall Motorsport's James Thompson pipped his team mate Yvan Muller by
just 4/100ths of a second to head the time sheets at the end of the second
official MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) test at Brands Hatch
today.
The day kicked off with the 2002 BTCC Media Launch, where the title sponsor
of the championship, Green Flag, was officially revealed in addition to the
announcement that Vicki Butler-Henderson and Ben Edwards are to present this
year's Granada Sport's package.
Vauxhall headed the times for the majority of the day with Muller posting a
1:33.476 at the end of the morning session. Thompson subsequently retaliated
towards the end of the day with an impressive 1:33.126, laying down the
gauntlet before the first rounds at Brands in ten days times.
Thompson said: "It was a very constructive day; we have improved a few
things on the car with regards to the set up which, in turn, has improved
the lap times and competitiveness of the Vauxhall Astra Coupé. I am very
pleased with the overall result."
Third quickest was Matt Neal for Egg Sport, with youngster Tom Chilton
sensationally fourth quickest for Barwell Motorsport on his first visit to
the Grand Prix track. Just 3/100ths of a second shy of Chilton was Warren
Hughes for MG Sport & Racing. Hughes undertook the majority of the testing
work for the team today as team mate Anthony Reid only took delivery of his
race car on the morning of the test.
Team Petronas Syntium Proton (PSP) driver David Leslie was delighted to end
the day sixth quickest - and equally pleased with his performance was former
Superbike Champion Aaron Slight, who finished seventh quickest despite a
heavy off towards the end of the day.
Tim Harvey, for the newly-announced Team Halfords outfit, was eighth
quickest from Paul O'Neill, Egg Sport, in ninth. Tenth quickest was Phil
Bennett for Team PSP.
Rounding out the Touring grid were Andy Priaulx for Honda Racing and Anthony
Reid for MG Sport & Racing, both of whom only ran in one session.
Tech-speed's Mark Fullalove yet again set the pace for the Production title
chasing pack, clocking a time of 1:38.825, closely followed by Edenbridge
Racing's Jamie Davies with a 1:39.067. Fellow Edenbridge driver Tom Boardman
set the third fastest time of the day proving that the Tonbridge-based
outfit will be a force to be reckoned with this season.
Mark Thomas for Beacon Motorsport and Alan Blencowe for Gary Ayles
Motorsport were split by under two tenths of a second in fourth and fifth
places respectively. Closer still were Graham Saunders (GA Motorsport) and
Spencer Marsh (Beacon Motorsport) who ran to within 1/100th of a second of
each other, ahead of Annie Templeton for Tech-speed Motorsport and John B&Q
for his new outfit Team B&Q Jet York City.
With official testing now over, the real work begins and all runners go
head-to-head for the first time at Brands Hatch over the Easter Bank Holiday
weekend (30th March - 1st April). If pre-season testing is anything to go
by, it should be a storming opener to the 2002 Green Flag British Touring
Car Championship season.
Times
1 3 James Thompson GBR Vauxhall Astra Coupe 1:33.126
2 2 Yvan Muller FRA Vauxhall Astra Coupe 1:33.166
3 0 Matt Neal GBR Vauxhall Astra Coupe 1:33.637
4 17 Tom Chilton GBR Vauxhall Astra Coupe 1:34.016
5 12 Warren Hughes GBR MG ZS 1:34.049
6 15 David Leslie GBR Proton Impian 1:34.224
7 111 Aaron Slight NZL Vauxhall Astra Coupe 1:34.450
8 5 Tim Harvey GBR Peugeot 406 Coupe 1:34.452
9 29 Paul O'Neill GBR Vauxhall Astra Coupe 1:34.718
10 20 Phil Bennett GBR Proton Impian 1:34.954
11 28 Andy Priaulx GBR Honda Civic Type-R 1:35.055
12 11 Anthony Reid GBR MG ZS 1: 36.685
13 60 Mark Fullalove GBR Peugeot 306 1:38.825
14 78 Jamie Davies GBR BMW 320i 1:39.067
15 77 Tom Boardman GBR BMW 320i 1:39.540
16 63 Mark Thomas GBR Honda Accord 1:40.098
17 56 Alan Blencowe GBR Alfa 156 1:40.214
18 55 Graham Saunders GBR Alfa 156 1:40.632
19 62 Spencer Marsh GBR Honda Accord 1:40.647
20 59 Annie Templeton GBR Peugeot 306 1:43.667
21 88 John B&Q GBR Honda Accord 1:52.980
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