2005 British Touring Car Championship

The 2005 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 48th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. As in 2004, there were ten racing weekends at nine different circuits; each round comprising three races, making a thirty round competition in total.

2005 British Touring Car Championship
Previous: 2004 Next: 2006
2005 ToCA Support series:
2005 Formula BMW UK
2005 Porsche Carrera Cup GB
2005 Formula Renault UK
2005 SEAT Cupra Championship
2005 Renault Clio Cup UK

Changes for 2005

Teams and drivers

After 2004 saw the BTCC boasting its largest number of entries since the height of the Super Touring era in the 1990s, the following season brought a significant decline in interest. Proton and Honda pulled their manufacturer support from the series, with many of the smaller independent teams also deciding against returning.

Reigning champions Vauxhall stayed on as one of the two remaining manufacturers, dropping its Astra Coupe after four straight titles with the chassis, and introducing the all new Astra Sport Hatch (again prepared by Triple 8). Reigning champion James Thompson had left the BTCC to contest the World Touring Car Championship with Alfa Romeo, leaving the 2004 runner-up and 2003 champion Yvan Muller to head the team. SEAT Cupra Cup graduate Gavin Smith joined the team after appearing in an Astra Coupe for GA Motorsport at one meeting in 2004, and Colin Turkington moved into Thompson's seat after two promising seasons with the WSR MG squad.

Their only manufacturer opposition came from SEAT, expanding their effort to three Super 2000-spec Toledos for their second season. 2001 champion Jason Plato remained as team leader, but Rob Huff departed to join the Chevrolet WTCC campaign. He was replaced by Luke Hines, moving from Vauxhall, with James Pickford taking the third seat as reward for winning the SEAT Cupra Cup in 2004.

Team Dynamics took a brave gamble by replacing their Honda Civic Type Rs with a pair of brand new, self-developed Integras. Matt Neal and Dan Eaves remained as drivers. A third car was entered late in the season for Gareth Howell in order to support Neal's title campaign. West Surrey Racing again campaigned the MG ZS as an independent entry after MG Rover withdrew their support at the end of 2003. Rob Collard moved from his self-run Astra Coupe to fill Colin Turkington's seat, but a second driver with sufficient budget could not be found.

Arena Motorsport also continued their campaign despite losing manufacturer support, entering a single Honda Civic Type-R for the returning Tom Chilton from the second round onwards. The only other full-time returnees were Synchro Motorsport, with James Kaye driving their ex-works Civic Type-R once again.

Two new squads joined the series, both on very low budgets. SpeedEquipe (as HPI Racing) graduated from the Renault Clio Cup together with their drivers Richard Williams and Ian Curley, to run Lexus IS200s, while Fast-Tec Motorsports and team owner/driver Mark Proctor moved from the SCSA stock car series to run the Astra Coupe that Rob Collard had taken to the Independents title in 2003.

Kartworld Racing returned mid-season with team principal Jason Hughes again racing an ex-works MG ZS, as did Tech-Speed Motorsport running their Astra Coupe (now bio-ethanol powered) for rookie Fiona Leggate. Daniels Motorsport entered another Astra Coupe for Andy Neate for the final round at Brands Hatch.

Other changes
  • Dunlop were announced as the new title sponsor of the series[1]
  • The grid for race three was determined by race two's finishing order but with the top ten positions reversed. In 2004 this rule had applied to race two based on the finishing order of race one.
  • The cars of the championship's top five drivers carried "Championship Ballast" for each race meeting's practice, qualifying and first race. Success Ballast was then carried in race two by the top five finishers from race one and in race three by the top five finishers from race two respectively.
  • 'Negative' ballast for finishing outside the top five in races was abolished
  • Tyres were limited to 16 new slicks per race weekend, but with no limit on wet-weather tyres
  • All teams were permitted only up to four days' testing during the season
  • Teams were permitted to build their own Super 2000 specification cars and enter them for the championship even if they did not have proper FIA homologation. Provided they met all current S2000 requirements the BTCC was able to grant the cars 'local homologation'.

Teams and drivers
Team Car No. Drivers Rounds
Works BTC-T Entries
VX Racing Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch 2 Yvan Muller All
6 Colin Turkington All
88 Gavin Smith All
Works S2000 Entries
SEAT Sport UK SEAT Toledo Cupra 11 Jason Plato All
12 James Pickford All
57 Luke Hines All
Independent BTC-T Entries
Team Halfords Honda Integra Type-R 5 Matt Neal All
8 Dan Eaves All
25 Gareth Howell 8–10
Arena Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R 9 Tom Chilton 2–9
Synchro Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R 10 James Kaye 1–9
31 10
West Surrey Racing MG ZS 21 Rob Collard All
Fast-Tec Motorsport Vauxhall Astra Coupé 23 Mark Proctor 1, 3–10
Kartworld Racing MG ZS 36 Jason Hughes 6, 8, 10
Team Nuts with Daniels Motorsport Vauxhall Astra Coupé 44 Andy Neate 10
Tech-Speed Motorsport Vauxhall Astra Coupé 82 Fiona Leggate 5–10
Independent S2000 Entries
HPI Racing with Friends Reunited Lexus IS200 77 Richard Williams All
78 Ian Curley 3–10

Season Calendar

All races were held in the United Kingdom (excepting Mondello Park round that held in Ireland).

Round Circuit Date Pole Position Fastest Lap Winning Driver Winning Team
1 R1 Donington Park National 10 April Colin Turkington Yvan Muller Matt Neal Team Halfords
R2 Rob Collard Yvan Muller VX Racing
R3 Dan Eaves Matt Neal Team Halfords
2 R5 Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire 1 May Tom Chilton Tom Chilton Dan Eaves Team Halfords
R5 Dan Eaves Dan Eaves Team Halfords
R6 Jason Plato Dan Eaves Team Halfords
3 R7 Brands Hatch Indy, Kent 5 June Matt Neal James Pickford Matt Neal Team Halfords
R8 Dan Eaves Matt Neal Team Halfords
R9 Tom Chilton Yvan Muller VX Racing
4 R10 Oulton Park Island, Cheshire 19 June Jason Plato Matt Neal Jason Plato SEAT Sport UK
R11 Matt Neal Matt Neal Team Halfords
R12 Jason Plato Tom Chilton Arena Motorsport
5 R13 Croft Circuit, Yorkshire 17 July Colin Turkington Colin Turkington Colin Turkington VX Racing
R14 Yvan Muller Yvan Muller VX Racing
R15 Dan Eaves Dan Eaves Team Halfords
6 R16 Mondello Park 24 July Yvan Muller Yvan Muller Yvan Muller VX Racing
R17 Matt Neal Colin Turkington VX Racing
R18 Yvan Muller Yvan Muller VX Racing
7 R19 Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit, Norfolk 7 August Tom Chilton Matt Neal Tom Chilton Arena Motorsport
R20 Matt Neal Tom Chilton Arena Motorsport
R21 Yvan Muller Jason Plato SEAT Sport UK
8 R22 Knockhill Racing Circuit, Fife 28 August Colin Turkington Matt Neal Yvan Muller VX Racing
R23 Matt Neal Matt Neal Team Halfords
R24 Matt Neal Rob Collard West Surrey Racing
9 R25 Silverstone National 18 September Gareth Howell Jason Plato Tom Chilton Arena Motorsport
R26 Gareth Howell Luke Hines SEAT Sport UK
R27 Gareth Howell Gareth Howell Team Halfords
10 R28 Brands Hatch GP, Kent 2 October Dan Eaves Dan Eaves Dan Eaves Team Halfords
R29 Matt Neal Jason Plato SEAT Sport UK
R30 Rob Collard Rob Collard West Surrey Racing

Championship Standings
Points system
 1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th  Fastest Lap Lead a lap
15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 1
  • No driver may collect more than one "Lead a Lap" point per race no matter how many laps they lead.
  • Race 1 polesitter receives 1 point.

Drivers Championship

(key)

Pos Driver DON THR BHI OUL CRO MON SNE KNO SIL BHGP Pts
1 Matt Neal 1* 3 1* 3 2 4 1* 1* 6 2 1* 2 3 6 2 3 3 7 3 3 4 2 1* 2 9 4 7 4 3 5 316
2 Yvan Muller 2* 1* 3 6 3 3 3 4 1* 4 2 Ret 2 1* 8 1* 6 1* 4 4 3 1* 2* Ret 4 Ret 5 2 11 Ret 273
3 Dan Eaves 3 4 2 1* 1* 1* Ret 3 2 3 3 6 5 10 1* 6 2 4 2 2 5 4 Ret 6 Ret 3 4 1* 2* Ret 269
4 Jason Plato 6 5 6* 2* 5 5* 4 2 3 1* 10* 3 4 13 3 2 10 Ret Ret 10 1* 6 8 5 3 DSQ 6 3 1* Ret 208
5 Tom Chilton 10* 6 Ret 7 NC 7 5 5 1* 6 3 9 9 8* 2* 1* 1* 7 5 3 3 1* 8* 3 175
6 Colin Turkington 5 Ret 8 4 7 2 2 5 5 10 6 Ret 1* 2 7 4 1* 5 7 7 Ret 3 4 7 7 Ret 9 7 Ret 6 174
7 Rob Collard 4 2 4 5 11 Ret 6 6 Ret 8 4 4* 7 4 5 5 4 3 5 5 12 9 9 1* 10 10 2* Ret 9 1* 173
8 James Pickford 9 7 7 7 4 6 9 8 DSQ 9 7 7 10 8 4 11 9 Ret 6 9 2 Ret 12 Ret 2 6 8 9 5 2 116
9 Luke Hines 7 8 9 8 8 8* 5 Ret Ret 7 Ret 5 Ret 9 6 12 5 Ret 10 8 Ret 7 5 Ret 6 1* Ret Ret 7 Ret 87
10 Gavin Smith 8 6 5 9 10 Ret 10 7 Ret 6 11 Ret 8 7 Ret 7 Ret 6 9 11 8 8 Ret Ret 11 2 11 6 4 3 86
11 James Kaye Ret Ret Ret Ret 9 7 8 Ret 4 11 DNS Ret 9 5 Ret 8 Ret 11 8 6 6 10 Ret Ret 8 Ret 10 8 6 7 58
12 Gareth Howell Ret* 6 4 5 Ret* 1* 5 DSQ 4 54
13 Jason Hughes 10 7 8 11 7 8 10 8 8 22
14 Richard Williams NC 9 11 DNS DNS DNS Ret DNS 9 13 9 Ret 13 12 Ret 15 12 13 13 12 9 DNS Ret DNS 12 7 Ret 11 Ret 9 14
15 Mark Proctor 10 Ret 10 Ret DNS 8 12 8 Ret Ret DNS DNS 14 Ret 10 12 Ret 11 13 10 10 Ret 9 12 NC Ret 13 13
16 Fiona Leggate 11 14 10 13 13 9 11 13 DNS 14 11 9 13 5 13 13 Ret 10 12
17 Ian Curley NC 9 NC DNS DNS DNS 12 11 Ret 16 11 12 14 Ret 10 12 Ret DNS 14 11 14 14 12 12 3
18 Andy Neate 12 10 11 1
Pos Driver DON THR BHI OUL CRO MON SNE KNO SIL BHGP Pts
  • Note: bold signifies pole position (1 point given in first race only, and race 2 and 3 poles are based on race results), italics signifies fastest lap (1 point given all races) and * signifies at least one lap in the lead (1 point given all races).

Manufacturers Championship
Pos Manufacturer DON THR BHI OUL CRO MON SNE KNO SIL BHGP Pts
1 Vauxhall / VX Racing 2 1 3 4 3 2 2 4 1 4 2 Ret 1 1 7 1 1 1 4 4 3 1 2 7 4 2 5 2 4 3 781
5 6 5 6 7 3 3 5 5 6 6 Ret 2 2 8 4 6 5 7 7 8 3 4 Ret 7 Ret 9 6 11 6
8 Ret 8 9 10 Ret 10 7 Ret 10 11 Ret 8 7 Ret 7 Ret 6 9 11 Ret 8 Ret Ret 11 Ret 11 7 Ret Ret
2 SEAT / SEAT Sport UK 6 5 6 2 4 5 4 2 3 1 7 3 4 8 3 2 5 Ret 6 8 1 6 5 5 2 1 6 3 1 2 629
7 7 7 7 5 6 5 8 Ret 7 10 5 10 9 4 11 9 Ret 10 9 2 7 8 Ret 3 6 8 9 5 Ret
9 8 9 8 8 8 9 Ret DSQ 9 Ret 7 Ret 13 6 12 10 Ret Ret 10 Ret Ret 12 Ret 6 DSQ Ret Ret 7 Ret

Teams Championship
Pos Team DON THR BHI OUL CRO MON SNE KNO SIL BHGP Pts
1 Team Halfords 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 2 3 6 1 3 2 4 2 2 4 2 1 2 5 3 1 1 2 4 573
3 4 2 3 2 4 Ret 3 6 3 3 6 5 10 2 6 3 7 3 3 5 4 6 4 9 4 4 4 3 5
2 VX Racing 2 1 3 4 3 2 2 4 1 4 2 Ret 1 1 7 1 1 1 4 4 3 1 2 7 4 2 5 2 4 3 470
5 6 5 6 7 3 3 5 5 6 6 Ret 2 2 8 4 6 5 7 7 8 3 4 Ret 7 Ret 9 6 11 6
3 SEAT Sport UK 6 5 6 2 4 5 4 2 3 1 7 3 4 8 3 2 5 Ret 6 8 1 6 5 5 2 1 6 3 1 2 306
7 7 7 7 5 6 5 8 Ret 7 10 5 10 9 4 11 9 Ret 10 9 2 7 8 Ret 3 6 8 9 5 Ret
4 West Surrey Racing 4 2 4 5 11 Ret 6 6 Ret 8 4 4 7 4 5 5 4 3 5 5 12 9 9 1 10 10 2 Ret 9 1 172
5 Arena Motorsport 10 6 Ret 7 NC 7 5 5 1 6 3 9 9 8 2 1 1 7 5 3 3 1 8 3 157
6 Synchro Motorsport Ret Ret Ret Ret 9 7 8 Ret 4 11 DNS Ret 9 5 Ret 8 Ret 11 8 6 6 10 Ret Ret 8 Ret 10 8 6 7 49
7 Kartworld Racing 10 7 8 11 7 8 10 8 8 29
8 HPI Racing with Friends Reunited NC 9 11 DNS DNS DNS NC 9 9 13 9 Ret 12 11 Ret 15 11 12 13 12 9 12 Ret DNS 12 7 14 11 12 9 27
Ret DNS NC DNS DNS DNS 13 12 Ret 16 12 13 14 Ret 10 DNS Ret DNS 14 11 Ret 14 Ret 12
9 Fast-Tec Motorsport 10 Ret 10 Ret DNS 8 12 8 Ret Ret DNS DNS 14 Ret 10 12 Ret 11 13 10 10 Ret 9 12 NC Ret 13 21
10 Tech-Speed Motorsport 11 14 10 13 13 9 11 13 DNS 14 11 9 13 5 13 13 Ret 10 17
11 Team Nuts with Daniels Motorsport 12 10 11 3
Pos Team DON THR BHI OUL CRO MON SNE KNO SIL BHGP Pts

Independents Trophy
Pos Driver DON THR BHI OUL CRO MON SNE KNO SIL BHGP Pts
1 Matt Neal 1 3 1 3 2 4 1 1 6 2 1 2 3 6 2 3 3 7 3 3 4 2 1 2 9 4 7 4 3 5 367
2 Dan Eaves 3 4 2 1 1 1 Ret 3 2 3 3 6 5 10 1 6 2 4 2 2 5 4 Ret 6 Ret 3 4 1 2 Ret 313
3 Rob Collard 4 2 4 5 11 Ret 6 6 Ret 8 4 4 7 4 5 5 4 3 5 5 12 9 9 1 10 10 2 Ret 9 1 256
4 Tom Chilton 10 6 Ret 7 NC 7 5 5 1 6 3 9 9 8 2 1 1 7 5 3 3 1 8 3 230
5 James Kaye Ret Ret Ret Ret 9 7 8 Ret 4 11 DNS Ret 9 5 Ret 8 Ret 11 8 6 6 10 Ret Ret 8 Ret 10 8 6 7 140
6 Richard Williams NC 9 11 DNS DNS DNS Ret DNS 9 13 9 Ret 13 12 Ret 15 12 13 13 12 9 DNS Ret DNS 12 7 Ret 11 Ret 9 79
7 Mark Proctor 10 Ret 10 Ret DNS 8 12 8 Ret Ret DNS DNS 14 Ret 10 12 Ret 11 13 10 10 Ret 9 12 NC Ret 13 70
8 Fiona Leggate 11 14 10 13 13 9 11 13 DNS 14 11 9 13 5 13 13 Ret 10 69
9 Gareth Howell Ret 6 4 5 Ret 1 5 DSQ 4 67
10 Jason Hughes 10 7 8 11 7 8 10 8 8 57
11 Ian Curley NC 9 NC DNS DNS DNS 12 11 Ret 16 11 12 14 Ret 10 12 Ret DNS 14 11 14 14 12 12 52
12 Andy Neate 12 10 11 12
Pos Driver DON THR BHI OUL CRO MON SNE KNO SIL BHGP Pts

Independent Teams Championship
Pos Team DON THR BHI OUL CRO MON SNE KNO SIL BHGP Pts
1 Team Halfords 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 2 3 6 1 3 2 4 2 2 4 2 1 2 5 3 1 1 2 4 725
3 4 2 3 2 4 Ret 3 6 3 3 6 5 10 2 6 3 7 3 3 5 4 6 4 9 4 4 4 3 5
2 West Surrey Racing 4 2 4 5 11 Ret 6 6 Ret 8 4 4 7 4 5 5 4 3 5 5 12 9 9 1 10 10 2 Ret 9 1 256
3 Arena Motorsport 10 6 Ret 7 NC 7 5 5 1 6 3 9 9 8 2 1 1 7 5 3 3 1 8 3 230
4 Synchro Motorsport Ret Ret Ret Ret 9 7 8 Ret 4 11 DNS Ret 9 5 Ret 8 Ret 11 8 6 6 10 Ret Ret 8 Ret 10 8 6 7 143
5 HPI Racing with Friends Reunited NC 9 11 DNS DNS DNS NC 9 9 13 9 Ret 12 11 Ret 15 11 12 13 12 9 12 Ret DNS 12 7 14 11 12 9 134
Ret DNS NC DNS DNS DNS 13 12 Ret 16 12 13 14 Ret 10 DNS Ret DNS 14 11 Ret 14 Ret 12
6 Fast-Tec Motorsport 10 Ret 10 Ret DNS 8 12 8 Ret Ret DNS DNS 14 Ret 10 12 Ret 11 13 10 10 Ret 9 12 NC Ret 13 73
7 Tech-Speed Motorsport 11 14 10 13 13 9 11 13 DNS 14 11 9 13 5 13 13 Ret 10 72
8 Kartworld Racing 10 7 8 11 7 8 10 8 8 60
9 Team Nuts with Daniels Motorsport 12 10 11 13
Pos Team DON THR BHI OUL CRO MON SNE KNO SIL BHGP Pts

References
  1. Meissner, John (17 March 2005). "Dunlop main sponsor for BTCC". TouringCarTimes. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
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