Welcome to the first season of the Formula Touring Car Championship (FTCC). This season is looking to be a cracker with 28 drivers in 15 different teams, made up of eight different manufactures, battling in 24 grueling races in both the UK and Australia.
Calendar-
The current calendar consists of:
1-2 December 2012 - Thruxton
15-16 December 2012 - Brands Hatch (Indy)
29-30 December 2012 - Rockingham
12-13 January 2013 - Adelaide
19-20 January 2013 - Winton
2-3 February 2013 - Townsville
9-10 February 2013 - Gold Coast
23-24 February 2013 - Hidden Valley
9-10 March 2013 - Hamilton
30-31 March 2013 - Knockhill
13-14 April 2013 - Croft
27-28 April 2013 - Brands Hatch (GP)
(Note: These dates are subject to Change)
Teams and Drivers-
In terms of teams and drivers, there is lots to play out in terms of who could win, and who could flop out.
Pre-season testing has been looking good for Cowin Motorsports, who are using two BMW 318i for this season. Their drivers, Travis Kent in car number 6 and Matthew Lose in Number 22, are looking for excellent starts and can hopefully come together for a few wins.
After a lot of speculation, Scottish Racing decided that it will be more beneficial to have two drivers instead of three. Their two drivers are Stevn Red and Mark Role, in car numbers 78 and 79 respectively, and are hoping that they can make the most out of their Vauxhall Cavaliers.
Jack O'Ronald, in car 66, is the only driver in the 28 car field who will be driving a Mazda. He owns this team, Mazda Motors, and will be hoping to collect points in most of the races as their Mazda Xedos 6 is exceptionally known for it's reliability.
Whyte Motors has got three Nissan Primera P10's for this season. The drivers are Stan Still, Daniel Tosh and Lucas Whyte, who is the owner of the team. Their car numbers are 23, 24 and 34 respectively. The Primera P10 is known to be one of the most consistent cars within the field, and with Whyte Motors being the only team supporting this manufacture, they're hoping for some strong performances.
Random Racing is the fifth team contesting for the championship this season. These two Toyota Carinas, driven by Russell Long (#10) and Chris Walker (#20), are not extremely reliable but are very aerodynamic. This team is hoping to win the championship.
Probably the least funded team, Team Slow's main goal for the season is to collect a total of 10 points. Pre-season testing has shown that this team's Peugeot 405's are not have the fastest cars out there. The two drivers are Jason Mile in number 45 and Mark short in number 46.
Team Pink is a single car team planning to only be running in the first few events, unless the BMW 318i runs massively better than predicted. The driver, Bob Still (#12) is the younger brother of Whyte Racing's Stan Still.
Team Yellow is the only team this season running Renaults. The Renault19 is predicted to be a cage rattler, however pre-season testing has shown that the cars brakes and suspension are not the best in the business. Travis Kent is supporting the number 1 for the first season and his teammate, Mario Laurence is driving in the number 19 Renault.
Peugeot Racing is the ninth team contesting for the title in season 1. This single car team is more funded then the double car team which is also running the 405's. David Work is the driver in car number 14 and he has hoping to be a top competitor.
Sam Sniper, driving the #80 Vauxhall Cavalier, is the owner of Sniper Speedworks. Sam is a fighter and won't back down from a challenge.
Cars number 16 and 17 will be driven by Josh McQuire and Jack Ross in the Vauxhall Racing team. Both drivers are fairly inexperienced and are looking for consistent results in their Vauxhall Cavaliers.
Team Red is the second three car team in the field. The team was using its 3 BMW 318i's to the best of it's ability during pre-season testing, which should mean that they should be receiving some excellent results. The drivers for Team Red are James Debt (#11), Ken Soan (#13), and Charlie Rogers (#27).
The Main expected rival for Team red is Team Blue, the only team in the field using Fords. Their Mondeo si's are known to be exceptionally excellent on it's brakes. The two drivers are Adam Carn in number 5 and Peter Wild in number 15. Peter Wild is exceptionally known for his qualifying pace, which unfortunately doesn't appear during races.
The "Oh, What a Racing" Team is hoping that it's two Toyota Carina's, driven by #2 - Sven Swish and #21 - Carl Spark, can live up to their testing pace, which was terrific.
The final team to contest for the title this season is the Daily Mail Team, using two Vauxhall Cavaliers. Stewart Odd and Juan Chello will be racing in cars numbered 3 and 4, respectively. Pre-Season testing has shown some doubts in terms of mechanical gremlins but the head engineer is confident that all the issues have been resolved.
First Race:
The first event of the season will be held at the high speed Thruxton circuit on the weekend of the 1st and 2nd of December 2012. Practice and Qualifying will be held on Saturday and the Sprint and Feature Races will be held on Sunday.
