The British Touring Cars Championship Support Classes 

24 August 2024

We pushed a report out a few weeks ago featuring the British Touring Cars Championship (BTCC) who were racing at Croft. It was a standard article with information on the drivers, teams, a little bit about the circuit and a load of photos.

That is what we do on the PistonClick site, we give you, the spectator, some information on an event so you can decide if you want to go and experience it. On occasion we will dive a little deeper, giving you some tips and guidance on the photography side as that’s what the PistonClick team like doing, being spectator photographers. 

There are four main support series racing at most of the BTCC rounds and they are Rokit British F4, Porsche Carrera Cup GB and the Mini Challenge UK. At most rounds there are invitational race series added to the race card. These regulars can be supplemented by the Legends Championship, Vertex Caterham Seven UK Championship or the Hagerty Radical UK Cup. Previously  Ginettas ran along side the BTCC, that championship might re-apper on the race card at some point so is included for your knowledge. 

A welcome extra at the Croft round this year was the CTCRC Everard Garage Equipment Pre-66 Touring Cars. Adding classic touring cars is a great supplement to the weekend racing.

I personally would like to see the Pre-66 Touring Cars and one more classic touring car race series at every round. The MRL Historic Touring Car Challenge would be the one for me. It runs at the larger events like the Masters, Gold Cup and the Silverstone Festival but would make a great addition to the BTCC race card.

The MRL Historic Touring Car have some of the greatest touring cars of that period out on track, Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500, Nissan Skyline R32, Ford Capri 3S, BMW CSL 3.0 and 635 CSi spitting flames that look great on the track and make for entertaining racing. 

ROKiT F4 British Championship

So let’s look at the four main support race series and what they bring to the table. The ROKiT F4 British Championship has traditionally been the stepping stone for young racers who want to progress from Karting to the next single set level. What this means for the race fan and the spectator photographer is that you could well be watching the next F1 star learning their race craft.

Lando Norris won the championship in 2015 at the young age of 15 and looks to have a bright future as a McLaren F1 driver. The F4 cars look like mini F1 cars without all of the aero, but now with the halo safety feature added in 2022 they are not far off and look good on the track.

Porsche Carrera Cup GB

The Porsche Carrera Cup GB is a GT3 championship and is celebrating its 22nd season in 2024. The Carrera Cup GB brands itself as one of the fastest single marque GT racing championships within the UK, focusing on the pure driving skill of the racers as all the cars are identical. Lapping at 3-4 seconds faster at Croft than the BTCC cars they are not wrong.

With a four-litre six-cylinder boxer engine producing 500bhp these are quick cars. The 911 GT3 Cup cars are purpose built for the track and are a popular car in many race and endurance series around the world.

The prize money for winning the championship is a healthy £25,000 for the professional racers, whilst the amateurs pick up £7000 and a Porsche for a year. However, that’s a drop in the ocean when you consider the running costs for a season’s racing and a price tag of around £180,000 for a new Carrera Cup car alone.

Porsche Sprint Challenge GB

If the running costs put you off the Carrera Cup there is a cheaper (but not by much) option, the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB. This is a GT4 championship that runs the Porsche Cayman with professional and amateur drivers.

The 425bhp Caymans are all the same specification, so it’s down to the teams and drivers to set them up for the different tracks, which ensures close racing. At £128,000 for a GT4 it’s not exactly grass roots racing. 

The Vertu MINI Challenge 

Another one make race series on the TOCA race programme is the Vertu MINI Challenge. There are three classes, the entry level is the Cooper class, or Trophy cars if you like. The Cooper class R50 Minis have a normally aspirated 1.6 litre engine making 130bhp.

Next is the JCW class which are F56 Minis making 250bhp from the 2.0-litre turbo engine. The final class is the JCW Sport class which was introduced in 2024 to reduce costs.

The JCW Sport class look like JCW class cars but run cheaper components, such as standard H gearboxes instead of sequential to keep the costs down. It also has the benefit of not being such a big jump in performance and running costs if you want to upgrade from the Cooper class. 

So those are the main support classes running along site the BTCC, single seat F4, Porsches and Minis. As we have said, at the race meetings other series are usually invited, like the Legends, Caterham Seven or Radicals to max out the race programme.

You will need to check to see what is racing when you go to watch the BTCC, but one thing you can guarantee is that there will be plenty of different race cars out on track at these meetings.