Following a close season of many rule and regulation changes, the 2024 British Touring Car Championship season got underway, albeit with weather delays, at  Donington Park. The first change to be seen by the fans was in Saturday’s qualifying session. 

Qualifying

In a change to the norm, the BTCC is now using an IndyCar style format with the field split into two groups and from that, the quickest drivers go forward to another session, where six are knocked out, leaving the pole shootout between the remaining six drivers.

Tom Ingram secured first on the grid, with reigning champion Ash Sutton joining him on the front row. The BMWs of Colin Turkington and Jake Hill were next, ahead of Ronan Pearson and Andrew Watson. 

Race One, 3/10 – Tom Ingram, Ash Sutton, Jake Hill

• Following a delay well over two hours because of rain and water running across the track, Ingram held the lead as the lights went out and although Turkington challenged strongly, he ended up making no progress after being on the outside line with Hill subsequently moving to second and Sutton in third. 
• Sam Osborne’s Focus found its way flying across the grass before having a heavy side impact with the barriers half way down the Craner Curves on the opening lap. Due to the damage to the barriers, the safety car was needed until Lap 16! 
• As racing resumed, Josh Cook and a speedy Adam Morgan overtook several in front of them to make good inroads in the top ten. 
• While Dan Rowbottom caused a collision at the bottom of the Craner Curves, Sutton passed Hill further up the track for second with three laps to go. 
• There was close racing in the limited laps of action, but Ingram came home first to secure the opening victory of the season from Sutton and Hill.

Race Two 7/10 – Tom Ingram, Ash Sutton, Jake Hill

• All drivers started the second race on medium tyres, although at Brands Hatch next time, the top 10 will have to start on the least favourable option tyre. The second race also saw the introduction of the new hybrid rules meaning more power for the drivers who didn’t do so well in race one and a higher deployment speed  for those that did. 
• Hill made a fantastic start to take the lead and following a big lock-up for Turkington, he lost a few places. 
• As the race settled down on lap 5, Sutton attacked Ingram for second in a great battle that lasted over the lap with the positions switching back and forth before Ingram held station. 
• Good battles were forming at the lower end of the top 10, but on lap 13, Hill was starting to struggle with his rear tyres and Ingram knew it. It didn’t take long for the opening race winner to overtake him on the Craners with Sutton taking advantage too. 
• Towards the end of the race, Cook had to put up stern resistance to stop Turkington taking fourth, with Dan Cammish was close behind him too, but at the front, Ingram sailed to his second victory of the day. 

Race Three, 8/10 – Aiden Moffat, Colin Turkington, Ash Sutton

• While many things have changed since last season, the reverse grid draw and race has not. Ingram pulled out ball 9 for the returning Rob Huff to be elevated to pole. He was joined on the front row by another Toyota, albeit in a different guise, of Aiden Moffat with Morgan, Cammish, Turkington and Cook completing the top six. 
• Morgan’s BMW made the best start as the lights went out and he powered into the lead with Huff second, leaving Moffat and Turkington to battle it out for third. 
• Sutton was aggressive in the opening laps, overtaking Cook and then battling his way through Hill for fifth. His progress was halted for a brief safety car period to recover Daryl Deleon’s stricken car. 
• As the race re-started, Morgan had lost tyre temperature and a lock-up meant that he fell to third, with Turkington on his bumper. 
• Lap 10 saw great action as Sutton overtook Turkington and Moffat overtook Huff, only for the positions to be reversed again within a lap, although Moffat made another move and this time it stuck. With the top gaggle of cars running closely, a snatched brake for Huff saw him and Morgan go wide allowing Turkington and Sutton through. 
• As the race reached its climax, Ingram made moves to finish fourth, but at the front Moffat had to defend stoutly for several laps to prevent a speedy Turkington stealing the victory, with Sutton in close proximity too. 

At the end of the opening set of races, there was much to be enjoyed about the first weekend of BTCC action in 2024. There are now only twenty cars on the grid after several casualties after the end of last season and while another four or five may be ideal, the twenty worked well. 

However, while the grid may look slightly different, it’s no surprise to see the top four drivers already being the usual suspects: Ingram, Sutton, Hill and Turkington. The new rules were meant to severely hamper the opening race winner from doubling up, but tell that to Ingram and the others podium finishers who made fine work of the second race.

But, from Brands Hatch onwards, the introduction of the top ten using the least favourable tyre in the second race, along with the hybrid boost allocation, it could well have the desired effect.

For the two previous seasons, there had been plenty of hybrid talk because in reality the system of restrictions failed. Too many drivers were at the front all weekend and it appeared too easy for the supposed faster cars and teams to carve their way through the field. However, now the boost power has been doubled and the deployment speed for the previous race’s front runners has been increased, along with limited laps of use, the system has a serious chance of success.

This was clearly evident in the final race of the day. On several occasions, cars could close up and pass or they would use their hybrid wisely to defend and pull away. There was no better example than this with the lead battle between Turkington and Moffat, as Turkington used his final lap of hybrid to close up, but Moffat used his two laps to pull away just enough to be out of the danger zone. While it could be argued the organisers are now having too much influence on races through artificial channels, it has to be given time to see how it works. 

Similarly, the restrictions will be in place for qualifying based on the championship standings and with Brands Hatch Indy being a ridiculously short circuit, every tenth of a second will be vital. Qualifying over the years has often seen the top 25 covered by less than a second. It could mean that if Ingram et al aren’t firing on all cylinders, there could be a real chance they may not progress from initial qualifying groups. 

Time will tell how the new rules and regulations pan out, but for now there are real signs of optimism for the 2024 season. Onwards and upwards! 

2024 BTCC Championship Standings after three rounds:

1.	Tom Ingram	58 points
2.	Ashley Sutton	49
3.	Jake Hill	42
4.	Colin Turkington	41
5.	Aiden Moffat	36
6.	Josh Cook	30

Editor’s Note: A tip of the hat to ESM favourite, Jade Edwards, on her first weekend of BTCC punditry for ITV. Genuinely insightful and entertaining, as much as we much rather have Jade competing, she is a great addition to the ITV team.