2012 British Touring Car Championship: Shedden Takes the Title as Honda Holds Firm

The 2012 British Touring Car Championship ran ten rounds and 30 races, and Gordon Shedden won the drivers' title at the penultimate meeting at Brands Hatch. Honda kept both its teams and manufacturers titles, and the season ran on a new points system that rewarded the top 15 finishers.

What was the 2012 BTCC season?

The 2012 season was the 55th of the British Touring Car Championship and the second in which NGTC-specification cars could race. It was also the third and final year of the phased switch away from Super 2000 cars, so the grid mixed both chassis types.

Teams could run either NGTC chassis or S2000 chassis, and they could pick the NGTC turbocharged engine or a naturally aspirated unit. TOCA kept the two chassis types on equal terms by reviewing turbo boost pressures across the year and adjusting them after every second round.

It was also the first year since 2000 without BTC Touring cars on the grid. The points system changed as well, so the top 15 cars now scored rather than the top 10 as before.

A season of NGTC turbo battles and Honda strength, settled on the penultimate day at Brands Hatch.

Who won the 2012 title?

Gordon Shedden won his first BTCC drivers' title at Round 29, the penultimate race, held at Brands Hatch GP. Shedden's title was secured before the last race of the year. Jordan took the Independents' crown in that same meeting, and Honda kept the teams and manufacturers championships.

The reigning champion, Matt Neal, tried to defend his crown but finished runner-up behind Shedden. James Nash, the reigning Independent Drivers' champion, stepped up to the WTCC and so did not defend that title.

Triple Eight Race Engineering had been the reigning Independent Teams' champions, but it could not defend the title because it entered alongside the returning manufacturer MG.

How did the early rounds unfold?

Round one at Brands Hatch brought Dave Newsham his maiden pole in an ex-888 Super 2000 Vauxhall Vectra. Neal started alongside him on the front row in the new NGTC Civic. Collard took race one in his BMW ahead of Neal, following a clash between Newsham and Plato on the approach to Paddock Hill Bend.

Race two gave NGTC-built cars their first win, as Neal's Honda Yuasa Racing Civic beat Plato's new MG6 after a long duel. Plato won race three, which was red-flagged after a seven-car crash at Druids Bend that began with oil dropped by Jackson's damaged Focus.

Donington Park opened with MG's first pole since the marque returned, set by Plato. Jackson won the first race of the round, and Shedden won the second, with Neal and Jackson behind him. The final race turned controversial when Plato collided with Shedden on the last corner.

Jackson's Focus was excluded over a turbo boost issue, and Plato received a two-second penalty for the contact, so Shedden inherited the win. By then five different drivers had won from four teams in the first five races.

What happened at Thruxton and Oulton Park?

Andrew Jordan and Pirtek Racing took their first pole of 2012 at Thruxton, but a very wet opening race saw him slide into Plato at the first corner. Jackson claimed his second victory of the year, with Newsham and a recovering Plato behind him, after a red flag followed Liam Griffin's crash at turn one.

For race two the field started behind the safety car, and Shedden came through the field to win. By the final race conditions had improved, and Shedden led a Honda one-two, scoring every fastest-lap point available at the circuit.

Plato started from pole at Oulton Park, but his car failed on the warm-up lap and was pushed back off the grid. Neal won race one after passing Collard, and Neal won again in race three after Shedden had taken the second race.

Honda Yuasa Racing won seven of the last eight races at that point in the year, a run that kept the team at the front as the season reached its halfway stage.

Why did the mid-season standings tighten?

At Croft, Neal took his first pole of the season, and Plato was pushed off the grid again in an exciting first race. Neal recovered from a poor start to win the first race, his fourth win of the year, ahead of Collard and Shedden. Shedden won race two, and Plato took the third race after a strong run.

Going into the summer break, Neal held the drivers' lead by one point over Shedden, his Honda team-mate, while Plato was third, 29 points back. Honda led eBay Motors by 213 points in the teams' table and MG by 123 points in the manufacturers' table.

Snetterton brought new faces. Team HARD. put American driver Robb Holland in its car for his series debut, and Frank Wrathall took the first pole of his career. Plato won race one from second, while Jordan won race two for his first victory of the season.

Race one had seen Newsham disqualified for being underweight, and in race three Newsham won for his first BTCC victory. Shedden's third place was later wiped out after his Honda was found to have over-boosted, which promoted Plato to third, while Neal recovered from a spin to finish eighth.

At Knockhill, Plato took pole after a wet qualifying session, but Rob Collard won the first two races for eBay Motors. Dave Newsham won the final race in front of his home crowd.

How did the title race end at Rockingham and Silverstone?

Rockingham saw Plato set a new qualifying lap record, and he won the first race comfortably from Jordan. In the wet second race Shedden and Neal filled a Honda one-two ahead of Plato. The final race was won by Shedden, his eighth victory of the year.

At Silverstone, the straight-line nature of the circuit favoured the faster cars, and MG KX Momentum Racing with Plato led qualifying. Plato won the first race after Jackson retired, Redstone Racing's Focus took the second from 17th on the grid, and Plato won the third race ahead of Jackson.

Neal had a difficult weekend at Silverstone. His car lost turbo pressure in race one, burst into flames in race two and crashed at Brooklands Corner in the third race. The drivers' title was now open to four men.

Which drivers changed teams for 2012?

Several drivers switched teams. Dave Newsham left Special Tuning Racing for Team ES Racing, while Aron Smith and Ollie Jackson both ran full seasons, with Jackson joining AmD Tuning.com and Smith moving to Motorbase Performance. Andy Neate came from Team Aon and Jason Plato from Silverline Chevrolet, and both joined MG KX Momentum Racing.

Onslow-Cole switched from Team Aon to eBay Motors. Paul O'Neill, who was an ITV Sport pundit that year, made two appearances with Speedworks Motorsport at Croft and Knockhill. Tony Gilham ran Thorney Motorsport's other Insignia and replaced Chris Stockton at Silverstone.

New faces included Will Bratt, a former FIA Formula Two driver who started out with Rob Austin Racing at Oulton Park, and Aaron Williamson, who graduated from the Renault Clio Cup UK for the Brands Hatch finale with Team HARD. Adam Morgan arrived with a fully funded seat won through the Ginetta GT Supercup.

Some drivers left for the World Touring Car Championship. Tom Chilton and James Nash joined Arena Motorsport, Tom Boardman moved to Special Tuning Racing and Alex MacDowall went to Bamboo Engineering, all in the WTCC.

What changed in the team line-ups?

The Honda Racing Team moved to a new ninth-generation Civic built to full NGTC specification, and it became a works team running wholly to the NGTC rules. Triple Eight also switched to new cars, with two NGTC MG6 GT entries for Plato and Neate under the MG KX Momentum banner, supported by MG Motor.

Pirtek Racing moved to a new full NGTC car as well, and ran Honda Civics as a satellite of Team Dynamics. Welch Automotive announced a two-car expansion for 2012 but ran only one car all season. Team ES Racing moved to NGTC machinery, running a former Triple Eight Vectra fitted with NGTC engines.

Lea Wood also changed machinery, running an ex-Pirtek Vectra with a TOCA NGTC engine. RML decided not to enter a team. Gilham acquired the Thorney Insignias on 16 October 2012 and fielded them as Team HARD. entries for the finale.

How did the points and standings work?

The 2012 system was new. The top 15 cars scored championship points, where the season before only ten did, and the Race 1 pole-sitter received one point. A driver could collect only one Lead a Lap point per race, however many laps he led.

Separate tables ran for drivers, Independent drivers, manufacturers, teams and Independent teams. Honda sat at the top of both the manufacturers and teams tables, and Pirtek Racing and eBay Motors fought over the Independent team places.

What decided the final round at Brands Hatch?

The final round began with a rain-soaked circuit. Tom Onslow-Cole took pole in an S2000 BMW 320si, and Neal won the first race after passing him. Jordan finished half a second behind Neal, which was not enough to stay in the drivers' title chase.

The second race included two safety car periods. Aron Smith scored a debut win in a Redstone Racing Ford Focus ST, and Shedden finished second, which was enough for the drivers' crown. Rob Collard spun and crashed out on the opening lap, handing the Independents' title to Jordan.

The final race went to Frank Wrathall, who won on debut for the NGTC Toyota Avensis. Neal finished second, Shedden third and Plato eighth, and Pirtek Racing took the Independent Teams' Championship ahead of eBay Motors.