2000 British Touring Car Championship: Menu's Title in the Final Super Touring Year

The 2000 British Touring Car Championship was the last season for Super Touring cars, and it ran 24 rounds across 12 meetings. Alain Menu took the title in a Ford Mondeo, ahead of his Prodrive team-mates Anthony Reid and Rickard Rydell, while a new Class B category added Super Production cars to the grid.

What was the 2000 BTCC season?

The season began at Brands Hatch on 9 April and ended at Silverstone on 16 September. Twenty-four rounds were held in the United Kingdom, spread across 12 meetings, which kept the calendar compact for the teams involved, and the Silverstone finale closed the era.

It was also the final year in which Super Touring cars were eligible. The Michelin Cup for Independents ran alongside the main championship, giving independent drivers a title of their own. The class was ending, and the grid was shaped by which manufacturers chose to remain involved as costs climbed.

The last Super Touring season ended with a title decided by a collision on the penultimate lap.

Which teams and drivers were involved?

Three manufacturers, Nissan, Renault and Volvo, stepped back from factory involvement as the expense of remaining competitive climbed. Ford, Honda and Vauxhall were left as the works-supported brands, and their drivers led the field. Their presence set the tone for the whole season.

Prodrive ran the Ford Mondeos. Alain Menu, the 1997 overall winner, was joined by Anthony Reid, the 1998 runner-up, and Rickard Rydell, the 1998 champion, who moved over from Volvo. Vauxhall fielded Yvan Muller, Jason Plato and Vincent Radermecker.

Honda had a new arrangement. Laurent Aiello, the 1999 champion, did not return, since he had joined Audi for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the revived Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. His seat went to Tom Kristensen, a 1997 Le Mans co-winner, and Honda also brought in Gabriele Tarquini, the 1994 champion, running a car prepared by JAS Motorsport.

Matt Neal was the leading independent, racing a Nissan Primera from the previous year for Team Dynamics, which had support from Nissan. A second Nissan was run by PRO Motorsport for Colin Blair, who withdrew halfway through the season, with David Leslie driving at selected rounds. Two more names, Lee Brookes and Richard Cuene-Grandidier, were listed but never raced.

What happened at the top of the championship?

Expectations centred on Menu, who was seen by many as the strongest all-round driver of the three Prodrive men. A handful of non-finishes cost him, however, and he went into the final race behind Reid in the points. Those lost finishes mattered at the close.

Reid was a consistent performer. He did not take a win until round seventeen and finished the year with only two victories, yet he headed the table into the last meeting. A clash with Radermecker on the penultimate lap ended his race and gave Menu the crown.

Rydell claimed a season-best nine pole positions, and he was a serious title contender at Silverstone. A number of retirements, both from crashes and mechanical trouble, undermined his chances, and a water leak meant he could not take the start of the final race.

How did the Vauxhall and Honda drivers perform?

Vauxhall started strongly. Muller and Plato each won races early in the year, and Muller even led the points for a while. The team lost its momentum, partly because of a rivalry between Muller and Plato, and Vauxhall ended up as the best of the rest behind the Fords.

Radermecker had a poor season. He scored only one podium and was the only full-time main-class driver who did not win a race in 2000. The third Vauxhall driver therefore finished the year well down the table.

Honda had a difficult year. Thompson arrived hoping to challenge for the title, but he crashed in the opener at Brands Hatch and sat out the next two meetings. He returned to win a race, but by then the title was out of reach, and he spent part of the year on DTM duty with Audi.

Tarquini was the top Honda driver, with three race wins, and finished sixth in the standings. Kristensen, a British championship rookie, also won three races, including a double at the Silverstone finale, and ended the year just behind Tarquini.

What regulation changes shaped the 2000 season?

Michelin supplied the control tyres and created new compounds, but intermediates were dropped. Drivers could choose only between slicks and full wet tyres, and warmers were not allowed before races, so cars started on cold rubber each time, including after pit stops.

Each team had an allowance of 28 sets of dry tyres across all meetings and test days. Wet compounds had no such cap, and the stated purpose of the limit was to hold down running costs.

A success ballast was introduced to keep the racing close. The leading three in each sprint and feature race earned ballast for the following meeting, 40 kg for the winner, 30 kg for second and 20 kg for third, with no more than 40 kg carried.

The points system for the drivers' and teams' championships stayed the same as in 1999. The manufacturers' title, however, now allowed three cars to score, up from two, and drivers dropped their four worst results before totalling their points. Across 24 rounds, that left each driver's total built from 20 scores. A single race could earn a driver only one Lead a Lap point, however many laps he led.

Private testing was banned at every licensed circuit from 1 March 2000, except for official half-day sessions organised by the promoter, TOCA. Test cars could only join official sessions if they had raced at the preceding meeting, and the rules aimed to reduce costs and make set-up less predictable.

What was Class B?

Class B was created to increase grid numbers. Eligible machinery included cars built to FIA Super Production rules and those from the National Saloon Championship. Entries were taken in order of application from teams prepared to run the full BTCC calendar.

The category grew out of a request from National Saloon Championship competitors in December 1999. TOCA then partnered with the PowerTour series, organised by the British Racing Drivers' Club, in January 2000, so the two could coordinate race dates, rules and promotion.

Alan Morrison won the category in a Peugeot 306 GTi, running for Vic Lee Racing. Other entries included Honda Accords and Integras, Nissan Primeras, Alfa Romeo 156s and Ford Focuses, which gave the grid a wider range of cars.

How did the independents' rules work?

Independents no longer paid an entry fee, which lowered the cost of entering the category. Each team that signed up for a meeting was paid 5,000 pounds in starting money, free tyres were supplied, and the category champion won 10,000 pounds.

The new terms changed the category's economics, because the fee disappeared and teams were paid to attend. Matt Neal won the independents class in 21 of the 24 races, which showed that a privately run car could still lead its class.