| Next Generation Touring Car | |
|---|---|
| Motor racing formula | |
| Category | Touring cars |
| Country or region |  United Kingdom /  Scandinavia |
| Championships | BTCC (2011 – present) STCC (2012) |
| Inaugural season | 2011 |
| Status | Active |
Next Generation Touring Car, also known as NGTC and by its Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) designation TCN-1,[1] is an FIA and TOCA specification and classification for production based race cars. The specification covers national level touring car racing. The goal of the limited choices in engines and parts in the NGTC classification is to allow more manufacturers and privateers to race by reducing the cost of a competitive car and to reduce reliance on the increasingly expensive Super 2000 equipment. The only significant differences between different models is the external body shells and the use of front- or rear-wheel drive; the suspension, brakes and transmissions are common to all cars, and engines are of uniform performance.
The specification was created for use in the British Touring Car Championship and was phased in over three years from the 2011 British Touring Car Championship season.[2] NGTC engines were first used in the 2010 season by Pinkney Motorsport, Pirtek Racing and Special Tuning UK.[3]
The introduction of these new technical regulations were designed to fulfil the following criteria:
- Dramatically reduce the design, build and running costs of the cars and engines
- Maintain present levels of performance until 2013 to ensure performance parity with current S2000 cars until that point
- Reduce the potential for significant performance disparities between cars
- ‘Future-proof’ the regulations by being able to easily modify the various performance parameters
- Reduce reliance on WTCC S2000 equipment, due to increasing costs/complexity and concerns as to its future sustainability/direction[4]
In December 2014 the FIA ratified support for technical regulations used in BTCC, designating the specification as TCN-1. The specification is a model for higher class national touring car championships to follow.[1]
- ^ a b Hudson, Neil (3 December 2014). "FIA introduces support for technical regulations used in BTCC and TN". TCT. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
- ^ "BTCC :: Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship". Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
- ^ "BTCC :: Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship". Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
- ^ "Technical overview: NGTC". btcc.net. British Touring Car Championship. 2 June 2009. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2010.