British Touring Car Championship organiser TOCA is targeting two new teams for the 2025 season, but is capping its grid at a maximum of 24 cars.
The series has dropped from 27 cars last year to an average of 20 this term. While TOCA chief Alan Gow was always adamant that he wanted numbers to drop from the BTCC’s recent spike in the low thirties, he wants new blood in for 2025.
Gow has stipulated that he wants any new entries to be ‘fresh, high-quality’ operations, indicating that he is less interested in a return from some of those who have dropped off the grid in recent seasons.
“For the last six years I’ve said many times that, ideally, I’d like to cap our numbers to around 24 cars for several different reasons – not least of which is to support our teams by utilising the sound commercial principle of maintaining ‘supply’ just below ‘demand’ in order to underpin their entries and investment,” said Gow.
“Whilst reviewing these plans I also appreciate that some interested new teams [ie non-current TBL holders] have, until now, been unable to join the championship due to the tightly controlled restrictions of the TBL allocation system.
“With that in mind, I’ve opened the door for expressions of interest from up to two, two-car teams who are looking to join the championship from 2025.
“With high and consistent levels of quality and competitiveness throughout the current grid, the final number could then be capped at 24 cars/TBLs.”
When pressed as to whether it had to be a two-car team as opposed to, say, a new three-car squad, Gow told Autosport: “The ideal is to have two two-car teams.
“A lot of people think it’s a closed shop and that there are no licences available.
“Every time someone has requested a licence, there hasn’t been one, but the changes during the off-season [of 2023-24] have made some available.
“I’m going to try to keep it to 24 cars, but if it transpires that you have two teams – one of three cars, one of two – and you end up with 25, that’s OK.”
As he did in an interview with Autosport earlier this year, Gow stressed that the new technical regulations to replace the current NGTC formula for 2027 will be minor in nature, and that it will be possible to run existing cars into the new era.
“There’s going to be an evolution in the NGTC regulations so that current cars remain eligible with very minor updates,” he said.
“Those updates will actually be cost-saving updates, and we won’t be making any current cars redundant.
“Therefore, cars purchased or built by current or new teams will also be valid to use during that next phase of the regulations.”
