The 2012 Dunlop[1] MSA British Touring Car Championship was a multi-event motor racing championship for production-based touring cars held across England and Scotland. The championship features a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded amateur drivers competing in highly modified versions of family cars which are sold to the general public and conform to the technical regulations for the championship. It is one of the most popular domestic motor racing series in the United Kingdom, with an extensive program of support categories built up around the BTCC centrepiece. It was the 55th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.
This was the second season that cars conforming to the Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) specification were allowed to compete and the third and final season of the phased transition from the Super 2000 specification. The season will see teams compete with car chassis built to either NGTC or S2000 specification. Teams can choose to run the NGTC turbocharged engine or the Naturally Aspirated engines. The phased transition from S2000 to NGTC means that the organising body, TOCA, will maintain a performance equalisation between the two chassis specifications. They achieved this by monitoring the turbo boost pressures of all cars throughout the season, adjusting the pressure levels after every two rounds to maintain performance parity between all cars. The amount the turbo was adjusted was determined via a mathematical calculation based on race performance.[2] The season was also the first season without cars built to the BTC Touring specification since 2000.[3] A revised championship points system was introduced for the 2012 season, in which the top 15 cars scored championship points instead of the top 10 previously.[4]
2011 series champion Matt Neal defended his title along with Honda, who defended and retained both the Teams' and Manufacturers' championships. Reigning Independent Drivers' champion James Nash didn't defend his title after graduating into the World Touring Car Championship. Triple Eight Race Engineering were the reigning Independent Teams' champions, but as they entered with returning manufacturer MG, they were ineligible to defend the Independents' championship.
Gordon Shedden claimed his first BTCC Drivers' title at the penultimate race of the year, Round 29 at the Brands Hatch GP circuit. Andrew Jordan claimed his first Independents' title during the same race.
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- ^ "Dunlop returns as title sponsor in 2010". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 27 November 2009. Archived from the original on 2012-03-04. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
- ^ "Turbo study almost complete". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 10 February 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-02-21. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
- ^ Hudson, Neil (26 February 2011). "BTC-spec cars get another year". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
- ^ "New points format announced". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 29 November 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-01-29. Retrieved 29 November 2011.