BTCC 2007 Preview and Driver Interviews | The NEC Autosport Show 2007 Birmingham

Date: 11th January 2007

For EnterF1, it seemed to be all about getting the low down on the forthcoming British Touring Car Championship of 2007.

We found ourselves lucky enough to be mingling amongst the top drivers and getting news on how the season is shaping up as we move quickly to round 1 at Brands Hatch in April.

First of all we got to see the new Vauxhal Vectra, the replacement machine for last years Astra. With 2007 having new regulations, it means that all cars entering in the main manufacturers championship have to conform to the same regulations as World Touring Cars. The only car to have done so in the past is the smart new Leon that ran last year and gave Jason Plato a second place in the driver’s title. Will that extra years experience give them an advantage? The responses today have been varied.

We spoke to Tom Chilton who said “On paper the Vectra looks a good car, but I haven’t actually driven it yet, but will be in ten days time in Spain.” Of the test he said “We are going out there to test basic settings, reliability and to make sure nothing falls off!”. Tom went on to answer our question about whether the Leon has an advantage this year. He said “Obviously the Leon has a years experience racing, I’m not going to deny that, but it can’t go much faster than that, so if I took my Astra out and the Vectra on the same circuit, I know I could get the Vectra to go a few of tenths quicker so I already know I’m gonna be faster than the Leon.” Very confident then!

We then got to quiz Matt Neal, the current champion, who couldn’t comment on his Honda racer this year as it is yet to be launched, but we strongly think a new style Civic is going to be unveiled. When talking about his confidence for the championship he sounded concerned: “If we can win some races this year, then we’ll get stuck into Jason… I think they are gonna hit the ground running – we’re not, and you can’t win a championship unless you do that. We need a bit of luck”

So with Tom Chilton and Matt Neal both changing cars for this year, how does Jason Plato feel about his season ahead? We got to ask the man himself and he said “If we don’t win I’ll be a bit pissed off.  We are in a very good position; everyone’s been building new cars. They get to find out what it’s been like to drive round with 20 horse power less than the rest.” He then goes on to comment on his bitter rival: “It will be interesting to see how Matt Neals gets on with 30 horse power less and 20% less downforce!” Jason also had a pop at Neal seemingly putting on some weight over the Winter months!

So as you can see from all the top championship contenders, a close and unpredictable season lies ahead and we look forward to watching it unfold as the year goes on.