Engine choice will be free for the British Touring Car Championship’s next ruleset, to be introduced in 2027 for a five-year period.
That, and the freedom to run car models not currently on sale in the UK, is the biggest revelation in BTCC organiser TOCA’s announcement of the regulations.
Other than this, the hugely successful NGTC ruleset, which was introduced in 2011, is largely carried over to the new era.
This is as outlined by TOCA supremo Alan Gow in an exclusive interview with Autosport in March 2024, when he explained that, for cost reasons, the new generation of cars would be an evolution of those currently in existence, with none of the current models made obsolete.
To that end, the TOCA statement said: “The goal of the new regulation cycle was to protect the assets of teams by maintaining eligibility for existing machinery, whilst introducing additional car and engine options, thereby expanding opportunities.”
On the engine side, “any BTCC-homologated engine can be used – not necessarily from the original manufacturer of that specific car”.
This means that, in theory, BMW team West Surrey Racing would be allowed to use the Swindon-built Hyundai powerplants run by Excelr8 Motorsport and Restart Racing, or vice versa.
