The news that Ginetta would depart the British Touring Car Championship bill for 2023 was a shock when it first emerged in September 2022. After all, the Yorkshire brand’s championships, especially the all-action Ginetta Junior, had been a popular fixture on the TOCA package for 14 years.
But, as one chapter ends, another begins and straight away TOCA chief executive Alan Gow knew he wanted a fresh junior championship to fill the void. Unsurprisingly, he was inundated with enquiries, but one stood out in particular.
Early on, Junior Saloons boss Dave Beecroft approached Gow with the idea of developing a bespoke rear-wheel drive, front-engined saloon – and that ticked all the boxes for Gow. He even rejected manufacturer-backed front-wheel-drive bids in favour of the versatility that training teenagers in a rear-wheel-drive machine brings.
Soon, meetings were held between the pair, initial sketches were shown, a business plan was developed and Gow gave the green light. Yet this was not an idea Beecroft had just plucked from thin air. Instead, it was the realisation of a plan he had formulated a few years beforehand for Junior Saloons – the category he has run for a decade – amid fears the sport’s governors could block him from using the ageing Citroen Saxos.
He had been inspired by a similar concept racing in South Africa and had even pondered importing some cars at the time. That idea was then revisited in the wake of Ginetta’s surprise news. But developing the plan into reality and creating the TOCA Junior car was not straightforward, so Beecroft needed some help.
“Finding rear-wheel-drive components these days isn’t as easy as it used to be because everything’s front-wheel drive,” he explains. “We ended up with this spec, and Alan liked the spec, and we got on with it. I built a spaceframe chassis, got the welding gear out, I took that chassis to Custom Cages [which has constructed the successful Alliance Racing BTCC Ford Focuses] and said, ‘Those points there are fixed, let’s now design a chassis to the new spec’.”
Many factors were considered in this design and even electric power was very briefly contemplated before, per Beecroft, it was decided that “it wasn’t going to fly”. Then, towards the end of last year, car builder Patrick Scharfegger got involved with the project and has become production/technical manager.
“I’ve taken on the role of taking a step back and looking at what Dave’s designed already and going, ‘Can we improve that, do we need to improve that?’” he says. “So just giving him a bit of a steer.”
One of the aspects that really attracted Scharfegger was the way the car was being created from scratch, including the development of an in-house 1.8-litre engine.
“We’ve got a clean slate, and there’s all these things that for years I’ve been wanting in a race car but couldn’t have that we can implement in this,” he says.
Above all else, there are two overarching considerations in the design. First is safety, and this car is constructed to the very latest regulations and standards, and the other is practicality
“One thing I’m really pleased about, and I think this is something that should’ve been introduced a long time ago with all series, is with the ECU – now we have the capability where, if a child stalls on the startline, the rain light starts flashing like mad so it at least warns the rest of the grid there’s a stationary car.
“The amount of accidents I’ve seen on a startline, and I just think to myself it’s preventable. I’ve tried to do it on one of my own cars and I’ve failed miserably because I don’t have the know-how on the electronics side but, fortunately, others do and they’ve made it work. That’s one of things I’m really pleased we’ve been able to introduce in it.”
Another example is that Scharfegger has been able to tailor the controls to suit what a teenager wants – and his own children beginning their car racing journey has helped inform this – so the switches found in other cars have been replaced by buttons. But, above all else, there are two overarching considerations in the design. First is safety, and this car is constructed to the very latest regulations and standards, and the other is practicality.
“For me, the main thing is serviceability,” Scharfegger continues. “Because I run a team, I’ve maintained cars, I know that’s the biggest downfall of some cars. You look at it and go, ‘I’ve got to change a gearbox, how am I going to get to it?’
“I always look at it from a technical point of view, can I maintain it, can I get the parts out quickly enough if I have to? And also looking at things like kids are going to crash. If they do have an impact, how much damage will it cause? Can we design it in a way that we put a crash structure there and then we’ve got the next subframe section, you’ve got a front corner that can come off.”
Inevitably, going down the rear-wheel-drive route has created some challenges. One of these concerns the bodywork, and the car’s appearance did divide opinions when it was revealed at a special launch in Daventry earlier this month.
“On the styling of it, the beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” reckons Beecroft. “Manufacturers don’t really make saloons in the traditional sense anymore – they’re either a semi-4x4 little blob or they’re a very swoopy ‘BMW’. The traditional three-box doesn’t exist anymore, so we tried to get something in between.
“We didn’t want a hatchback and, with it being rear-wheel drive, it gave us other fundamental design issues. Manufacturers go front-wheel drive because it’s compact, they don’t have to have a propshaft, they don’t have to have this, they don’t have to have that, it’s all in one unit and they drop it in the car. So we have different challenges, shall we say.
“Even if we started off with A N Other car as the body, they’ve all got the engine the wrong way round. And to get the weight distribution to make the car handle well, the engine’s far back.”
All of these different considerations have been fused together in the pre-production model that was on display at the launch. And the final element of the puzzle was the car’s name.
For Bolton-born Beecroft, he knew exactly what he wanted. He acquired rights to use the iconic Chevron brand name a couple of years ago and decided to designate the new model the B1417. The B being the traditional nod to Chevron founder Derek Bennett that forms part of all the car names from the original company, while the 1417 reflects the age of the drivers taking part. Beecroft acknowledges the Chevron brand means little to these 21st century children, but says it brings benefits in other ways.
“I think for people who aren’t into racing it’s a bit of, ‘Ooh, what’s that?’” he suggests. “For older people, there’s a recollection there.
“For me, I could never afford a real Chevron, but I grew up a quarter of a mile from the factory. As a child, at the age of nine, I was picked up by Derek Bennett and sat in the original aluminium-bodied Chevron B19 that Brian Redman was testing the next day at Oulton Park. There is a long-lost photograph of that that my father took. Back then, it was a bit like football teams: you either supported March, Ralt, Chevron, Lola, all these things.”
Beecroft has been encouraged by how supportive and enthusiastic the wealth of different partners and suppliers have been about his vision, but admits the bespoke nature of the B1417 does come at a price. An initial small production run of 26 cars means the Chevron costs over £94,000 (including VAT), significantly more than the Ginetta G40 that previously featured on the BTCC bill. But Beecroft says teams must view it as an investment over a period of time in a car that once again allows 14-year-olds to race on the TOCA package.
Testing of the new machine is due to begin soon and it is then the intention to have all 26 of the initial cars ready in February.
"If you want to be on that TOCA package and you want to run juniors, this is your only option – and TOCA and BTCC is where the action is"
Dave Beecroft
But launching a new championship is about so much more than just a car. The whole infrastructure surrounding it needs to be created and that is the responsibility of Vickie MacClinton, who has previously served as a long-standing Junior Saloons clerk of the course.
“We’ve got to build the championship,” she says. “We want these teams to sign – we’ve got some amazing teams that have shown real interest as well as some new teams that want to come into the BTCC paddock. So it’s getting the conversations going and moving forward.”
Glancing around the launch in Daventry, there were certainly some big players in attendance and demonstrating an interest. Squads that have achieved countless titles in the BTCC, in sportscars and in other leading junior categories were all represented. Mini and Porsche outfit Graves Motorsport, currently running Porsche Sprint Challenge GB points leader Max Coates, has become the first team to commit. And MacClinton believes the experience she and Beecroft bring from Junior Saloons strikes a chord.
“I also worked in education, which brings in another step of knowledge within it,” she adds. “Most people could put a championship together, but could you run a junior championship? You have to be a special person because it’s not just going racing, making mistakes and getting penalised, you’ve got to educate these drivers as you move forward. So I think we’re going to bring a lot to it.”
While the launch may have been completed, the hard work really begins in tempting the teams to commit now that registrations have officially opened.
“As they say, talk is cheap isn’t it,” concludes Beecroft. “Is the guy who says he’s going to buy four cars, will he actually buy two? Is the guy who wants to buy one car not going to buy any? Who knows, we’ll find out. But, if you want to be on that TOCA package and you want to run juniors, this is your only option – and TOCA and BTCC is where the action is.”
It is the plan for TOCA Junior to appear at all 10 of next year’s BTCC events, most likely with three races per weekend. And, speaking of the BTCC, last weekend the public got to see Beecroft’s vision when the B1417 was put on display at the Donington Park event.
But it is the teams and drivers who will ultimately decide if TOCA Junior can be as successful as its predecessor was on the BTCC bill.
