TOCA have announced a string of regulation and procedural changes ahead of the 2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season, following a meeting between the organisation and all of the teams.
The first change is to the qualifying format for the rounds at Donington Park, Snetterton and Silverstone. At these meetings there will be a 25 minute session for all of the drivers to set their fastest times as opposed to the usual 30 minute session. After this, there will be a five minute break before the fastest ten drivers progress to a ten-minute pole position ‘Top Ten Showdown’ session to decide the first ten slots on the grid. This process was successfully trialled at Snetterton this season.
The second amendment sees the amount of success ballast awarded to the top ten drivers once again tweaked, with each race winning driver being given 75 kilograms of weight to carry for the next race. The full weight penalties are as follows:
1st: 75kgs
2nd: 66kgs
3rd: 57kgs
4th: 48kgs
5th: 39kgs
6th: 33kgs
7th: 27kgs
8th: 21kgs
9th: 15kgs
10th: 9kgs
The ‘option’ tyre will make a return for four rounds in 2021 following its absence in 2020 due to the hectic schedule. At Oulton Park, Croft and Snetterton the Goodyear soft tyre will be used as the ‘option’ tyre whilst the medium tyre will be the ‘option’ at Knockhill. All drivers will have to run the ‘option’ tyre for at least one of the three races at each meeting.
For the other events, the field will all run on the same tyre for the entire weekend. The medium tyre will be used at the two Brands Hatch meetings, Donington Park and Silverstone, and the hard tyre has been allocated for use at Thruxton.
The final change will see pit garages now face the paddock, as trialled at Silverstone in 2019, to allow fans to get a better view of the preparation of the teams and drivers in between each session of track action.
The 2021 season will begin at Brands Hatch on the weekend of the 3/4 April.
