Btcc- Who's gone where? Part 1

The silly season is almost over, testing has begun and the 2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship is just a few weeks away. There are still several driver announcements to be made, including high profile ones like MG, but we already know an awful lot so here are the details of what we know.

Team BMR has been somewhat of a revelation since its conception in 2013. What started out as a small one car team running in the Jack Sears Trophy very quickly became a four car, championship challenging effort. Last year Jason Plato finished as runner up in the drivers title to Gordon Shedden and the team dominated the independents' championship finishing first, second, fourth and fourteenth in the independent drivers standings. BMR managed to win an incredible nineteen of thirty races in the independents trophy and an equally impressive ten races overall. For 2016 they have a new car and manufacturer support, for the first time Subaru are entering the BTCC and Team BMR have four new Subaru Levorg tourers for Jason Plato, Coling Turkington, Aron Smith and Warren Scott. It may be a tricky development process but BMR will as ever be a team to watch out for throughout 2016.

Reigning Manafacturers' champions Honda are back for 2016 with three new factory backed Civic Type-Rs for reigning Champion Gordon Shedded, three time champion Matt Neal and, to the surprise of many, Andy Neate. Shedden and Neal have been teammates at Honda since 2010 and in that time they have delivered three drivers' titles, in 2011 for Neal , and in 2012 and 2015 for Shedden. On top of that the dynamic duo have brought home five manufacturers; titles, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015. Shedden and Neal are expected to be at the forefront of the competition all season. Despite having Jack Clarke as part of the team, the talented youngster did not get the third race seat, instead it went to Andy Neate. Neate last competed in the BTCC in 2013 on a part time basis where he took part in nine races but failed to score a point in his Chevrolet Cruze. He did three full seasons from 2010-2012 but failed to impress. At WSR in 2010 he finished eighteenth in the drivers' standing with six points and a best finish of nineth compared to teammate Collard who scored one hundred and fourty four points and had five second place. In 2011 at Team Aon he had a similarly dismal year scoring just fifteen points with a best finish of sixth compared to teammates Chilton, who scored one hundred and thirty five points and two wins. and Tom Onslow-Cole who joined at Croft scoring sixty one points and two podiums. His final full season in 2012 was again a disappointment, now in a factory backed MG he finished with seventy nine points and a best result of sixth compared to teammate Plato who ended the season with three hundred and seventy six points with six wins and ten other podiums. Not much is expected of Neate in 2016.

There are four independant Civics as well. Three of which are being ran by Eurotech who keep drivers Martin Depper and Jeff Smith and have a third as yet unnamed driver. Unless their third signing is a highly competitive driver there is little chance of fighting right at the sharp endof the grid. A fourth Civic Type-R is being fielded by Speedworks for newbie Matt Simpson, with a good car and strong team behind him, Simpson is going to be a challenger for Jack Sears Trophy honors.

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