1994 British Touring Car Championship Explained

The 1994 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship season was the 37th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.

Changes for 1994

• The number of double header meetings were increased from three to eight
• Double headers now awarded full points in both races instead of half, as had previously been the case

Season summary

The lead up to the 1994 season saw both consolidation and major news amongst the manufacturers. Reigning champions BMW retained Joachim Winkelhock and Steve Soper, and the team would again be managed by works outfit Schnitzer Motorsport. Soper however would miss some races when they clashed with his JTCC programme; his place would then be taken by Roberto Ravaglia. Ford were looking to build on their late 1993 success with Paul Radisich and Andy Rouse, while Toyota added Tim Sugden to their 1993 drivers Will Hoy and Julian Bailey. While Vauxhall retained drivers John Cleland and Jeff Allam they had handed over the running of their works team to Ray Mallock Ltd., who had previously run semi-works cars as Ecurie Ecosse.

Renault also retained their drivers Alain Menu and Tim Harvey, but replaced their Renault 19 with more modern Lagunas. Keith O’Dor continued with Nissan but was joined by ex-Formula One driver Eric van de Poele, who replaced Win Percy. Patrick Watts moved from Mazda to Peugeot, replacing Robb Gravett, while Mazda expanded to a two-car line up with drivers Matt Neal and David Leslie.

Two new manufacturers joined the championship. Tom Walkinshaw made a comeback with Volvo, the Swedish manufacturer surprisingly choosing to run the estate version of their 850 model. 1988 Le Mans winner Jan Lammers and Swedish Formula Three racer Rickard Rydell would be the team’s two drivers. Alfa Romeo was the other manufacturer to join; Italian works outfit Alfa Corse would run two cars for Gabriele Tarquini and Giampiero Simoni. Alfa had produced a unique homologation special version of their 155 model complete with wings and spoilers, significantly improving the aerodynamics of the car. The 155 was to revolutionize Super Touring racing. The rules stated that aerodynamic wings could be used provided they were fitted to a limited number of road cars. Peugeot, Ford and Toyota had all run with rear spoilers in previous years due to this. Alfa exploited the rules by releasing a special edition of the 155 called the 'Silverstone' just to gain the aero advantage.^[1] Renault and BMW eventually followed suit by releasing limited "homologation special" editions of their cars, the Laguna Airflow and the 318is, respectively.

The start of the season showed that Alfa Romeo had a substantial advantage over their opponents as Gabriele Tarquini dominated, taking the first five wins of the season. Several complaints and protests were lodged by other manufacturers, and just prior to Oulton Park Alfa were told to run without the aerodynamic aids fitted. Alfa refused and left the circuit in protest, allowing Alain Menu to take Renault’s first win of the season. Eventually matters were resolved and Alfa re-instated after agreeing to run with the spoilers lowered, but having lost out on any points from Oulton Park. Even with lowered spoilers, however, Tarquini was able to keep much of his advantage.

Silverstone hosted the twelfth round of the championship, and there rule changes were exploited by other manufacturers to add aerodynamic aids to their own cars. This levelled the playing field considerably and allowed Joachim Winkelhock to make a bid for victory, overtaking Tarquini and winning the race. Tarquini would only win one more race that season, but was always in contention: it was not so much a matter of if but when the Italian would become champion. When turned out to be the penultimate weekend at Silverstone, where Tarquini’s second place in the first race of the day secured the title for him. The main battle going into the final rounds at Donington Park was for second place, and would stand between Alain Menu and Paul Radisich. Radisich won the first race of the day bringing him up to level on points with Menu, but mechanical gremlins put a stop to his challenge in the second race. Menu thus finished second in the championship from Radisich, with John Cleland in fourth and Simoni in fifth.

Teams and drivers

BTCC

Team	Car	No.	Drivers	Rounds
Manufacturers
BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer	BMW 318i	1	nowrap	Joachim Winkelhock	All
2		Steve Soper	nowrap	1–3, 5, 7, 9, 11–13
21		Roberto Ravaglia	4, 6, 8, 10
Team Mondeo	Ford Mondeo Ghia	3	Paul Radisich	All
		31	Robb Gravett	13
		32	Kelvin Burt	12
		33	Andy Rouse	All
Vauxhall Sport	Vauxhall Cavalier 16v	4	John Cleland	All
	9	Jeff Allam	All
Toyota Castrol Team	Toyota Carina E	5	Julian Bailey	All
		7	Will Hoy	All
		57	Tim Sugden	2–6, 8, 12–13
Team Mazda	Mazda Xedos 6	8	David Leslie	1–8
		12	Matt Neal	1–4
Renault Dealer Racing	Renault Laguna	10	Alain Menu	All
		11	Tim Harvey	All
Peugeot Sport	Peugeot 405 Mi16	13	Eugene O'Brien	1, 3–12
		18	Patrick Watts	All
Volvo 850 Racing	Volvo 850 SE/GLT	14	Jan Lammers	All
		15	Rickard Rydell	All
Old Spice Nissan Racing	Nissan Primera eGT	23	Kieth O'dor	All
		24	Eric van de Poele	1–8
		34	Tiff Needell	5, 7–13
Alfa Corse	Alfa Romeo 155 TS	55	Gabriele Tarquini	1–4, 6–13
		56	Giampiero Simoni	1–4, 6–13
Independents
Maxted Motorsport	Vauxhall Cavalier 16v	17	Ian Khan	3, 5–7
	Toyota Carina E			1–2
		29	James Kaye	All
Woodkirk Peugeot	Peugeot 405 Mi16	19	James Thompson	1–4, 7–13
SuperPower		20	Ian Flux	None
Geoff Steel Racing	BMW 318is	22	Geoff Steel	1–3, 5–6, 10–11
Team HMSO Cavalier	Vauxhall Cavalier 16v	25	Nigel Smith	All
Hamish Irvine	BMW 318is	26	Hamish Irvine	4–13
Harlow Motorsport	Renault 19 16v	27	Nigel Albon	All
Roy Kennedy Racing	Vauxhall Cavalier 16v	30	Chris Goodwin	2–8, 10–13

• Ian Flux appeared on the official entry list but never raced. (https://1990sbtcc.com/2024/02/15/the-french-peugeot-that-never-raced/)

ToCA Shoot Out

Team	Car	No.	Drivers
Manufacturers
Alfa Corse	Alfa Romeo 155 TS	1	Gabriele Tarquini
		5	nowrap	Giampiero Simoni
Team Mondeo	Ford Mondeo Ghia	3	Paul Radisich
		31	Robb Gravett
Vauxhall Sport	Vauxhall Cavalier 16v	4	John Cleland
	10	Jeff Allam
	20	Anthony Reid
nowrap	BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer	BMW 318i	6	Steve Soper
Peugeot Sport	Peugeot 405 Mi16	8	Patrick Watts
		18	Eugene O'Brien
Old Spice Nissan Racing	Nissan Primera eGT	22	Tiff Needell
Team Mazda	Mazda 323F	24	Matt Neal
Independents
Team HMSO Cavalier	Vauxhall Cavalier 16v	25	Nigel Smith
Maxted Motorsport	Toyota Carina E	29	James Kaye
Roy Kennedy Racing	Vauxhall Cavalier 16v	30	Julian Westwood

Race calendar and winners

All races were held in the United Kingdom.

Round		Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team	Winning Privateer
1	R1	Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire	4 April	Gabriele Tarquini	Gabriele Tarquini	Gabriele Tarquini	Alfa Corse	James Kaye
2	R2	Brands Hatch (Indy), Kent	17 April	Gabriele Tarquini	Gabriele Tarquini	Gabriele Tarquini	Alfa Corse	Nigel Smith
	R3				Giampiero Simoni	Gabriele Tarquini	Alfa Corse	Chris Goodwin
3	R4	Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit, Norfolk	2 May	Giampiero Simoni	Gabriele Tarquini	Gabriele Tarquini	Alfa Corse	James Kaye
4	R5	Silverstone Circuit (National), Northamptonshire	15 May	Alain Menu	Paul Radisich	Gabriele Tarquini	Alfa Corse	Chris Goodwin
	R6				Alain Menu	Paul Radisich	Team Mondeo	James Kaye
5	R7	Oulton Park (International), Cheshire	30 May	Alain Menu	Alain Menu	Alain Menu	Renault Dealer Racing	Chris Goodwin
6	R8	Donington Park (Grand Prix), Leicestershire	12 June	Paul Radisich	John Cleland	John Cleland	Vauxhall Sport	James Kaye
	R9				Paul Radisich	John Cleland	Vauxhall Sport	James Kaye
7	R10	Brands Hatch (Grand Prix), Kent	26 June	Giampiero Simoni	Gabriele Tarquini	Gabriele Tarquini	Alfa Corse	James Kaye
	R11				Gabriele Tarquini	Gabriele Tarquini	Alfa Corse	nowrap	James Thompson
8	R12	nowrap	Silverstone Circuit (Grand Prix), Northamptonshire	10 July	nowrap	Joachim Winkelhock	Gabriele Tarquini	nowrap	Joachim Winkelhock	nowrap	BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer	James Thompson
9	R13	Knockhill Racing Circuit, Fife	31 July	Paul Radisich	Steve Soper	Alain Menu	Renault Dealer Racing	James Kaye
	R14				Steve Soper	Steve Soper	BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer	Nigel Smith
10	R15	Oulton Park (International), Cheshire	14 August	Alain Menu	nowrap	Joachim Winkelhock	Joachim Winkelhock	BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer	Nigel Albon
11	R16	Brands Hatch (Indy), Kent	29 August	Joachim Winkelhock	Joachim Winkelhock	Joachim Winkelhock	BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer	James Kaye
	R17				Gabriele Tarquini	Joachim Winkelhock	BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer	Nigel Smith
12	R18	Silverstone Circuit (Grand Prix), Northamptonshire	11 September	Tim Harvey	Steve Soper	Tim Harvey	Renault Dealer Racing	Nigel Smith
	R19				Gabriele Tarquini	Gabriele Tarquini	Alfa Corse	James Kaye
13	R20	Donington Park (Grand Prix), Leicestershire	18 September	Joachim Winkelhock	Paul Radisich	Paul Radisich	Team Mondeo	Chris Goodwin
	R21			Paul Radisich	Giampiero Simoni	Alfa Corse	James Kaye

Championship results

Drivers Championship

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Points system
1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
24	18	12	10	8	6	4	3	2	1

• Race 2 grid for Double Headers are based on Race 1 results.

valign=middle	Pos	valign=middle	Driver	THR	BRH		SNE	SIL		OUL	DON		BRH		SIL	KNO		OUL	BRH		SIL		DON		valign=middle	Pts
1	Gabriele Tarquini	1	1	1	1	1	DNS	WD	3	DNS	1	1	2	Ret	DNS	3	2	2	2	1	Ret	4	298
2	Alain Menu	6	18	Ret	Ret	3	2	1	5	4	9	6	5	1	3	2	7	7	3	2	2	2	222
3	Paul Radisich	Ret	5	4	2	2	1	2	2	2	Ret	Ret	3	2	2	Ret	14	DSQ	Ret	DNS	1	9	206
4	John Cleland	2	3	2	Ret	7	4	7	1	1	5	4	DNS	5	6	Ret	Ret	DNS	4	4	8	5	177
5	Giampiero Simoni	11	2	DSQ	3	Ret	DNS	WD	Ret	DNS	2	2	Ret	Ret	9	4	3	3	6	3	3	1	156
6	Joachim Winkelhock	3	Ret	7	Ret	14	14	8	Ret	8	8	7	1	Ret	11	1	1	1	Ret	DNS	4	3	147
7	Steve Soper	4	10	6	8			4			4	14		3	1		5	4	22	5	12	Ret	102
8	Patrick Watts	7	7	8	5	5	3	3	7	11	3	3	6	15	Ret	8	6	DNS	Ret	Ret	7	11	98
9	Tim Harvey	10	Ret	DNS	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	9	10	Ret	11	4	DSQ	4	6	4	Ret	1	18	5	8	78
10	Jeff Allam	14	6	5	6	12	9	6	6	3	19	10	7	4	5	12	13	Ret	8	9	9	13	76
11	Andy Rouse	21	4	3	DNS	4	19	Ret	4	6	6	5	Ret	11	15	Ret	11	DNS	13	8	20	10	66
12	Julian Bailey	20	19	10	Ret	10	5	10	8	5	11	9	DNS	8	7	9	10	6	5	6	6	6	66
13	Will Hoy	5	9	9	12	6	6	Ret	10	7	Ret	17	9	9	8	11	12	DNS	7	7	18	7	48
14	Rickard Rydell	15	22	15	Ret	19	13	5	11	Ret	10	8	8	6	10	Ret	15	8	10	12	10	12	27
15	Jan Lammers	Ret	12	16	11	Ret	16	13	14	15	7	16	12	NC	12	7	9	5	16	17	13	16	18
16	Kieth O'Dor	9	11	Ret	4	8	DNS	11	13	12	12	13	DNS	14	14	10	16	DNS	11	Ret	22	18	16
17	Eugene O'Brien	Ret			7	11	10	9	16	20	13	Ret	Ret	7	13	14	8	Ret	12	Ret			14
18	Roberto Ravaglia					Ret	Ret		12	9			Ret			5							10
19	Tim Sugden		20	12	Ret	9	7	12	15	14			Ret						9	10	19	14	9
20	David Leslie	8	8	11	17	16	11	Ret	Ret	DNS	Ret	19	11										6
21	Tiff Needell							17			Ret	18	DNS	10	16	13	17	9	15	14	15	15	3
22	Eric van de Poele	13	DNS	DNS	9	13	12	14	17	13	14	12	DNS										2
23	Matt Neal	12	15	17	10	15	DNS																1
24	James Thompson	Ret	16	18	Ret	21	DNS				18	15	10	Ret	DNS	Ret	20	Ret	18	Ret	16	19	1
25	Nigel Smith	18	13	14	15	20	Ret	16	20	18	16	20	13	Ret	17	17	19	10	17	16	23	20	1
26	Chris Goodwin		14	13	14	17	17	15	19	17	17	Ret	DNS			18	22	11	19	15	14	21	0
27	Kelvin Burt																		14	11			0
28	Robb Gravett																				11	Ret	0
29	James Kaye	16	17	19	13	18	15	Ret	18	16	15	21	15	12	18	Ret	18	Ret	20	13	17	17	0
30	Nigel Albon	17	Ret	DNS	16	22	18	DNS	22	Ret	DNS	DNS	Ret	Ret	DNS	15	Ret	12	21	DNS	Ret	22	0
31	Hamish Irvine					23	20	Ret	23	Ret	21	Ret	14	13	Ret	16	21	DNS	23	DNS	21	23	0
32	Geoff Steel	22	21	20	18			18	24	21						Ret	23	13					0
33	Ian Khan	19	DNS	DNS	Ret			Ret	21	19	20	22											0
valign=middle	Pos	valign=middle	Driver	THR	BRH		SNE	SIL		OUL	DON		BRH		SIL	KNO		OUL	BRH		SIL		DON		valign=middle	Pts

Privateers Championship

valign=middle	Pos	valign=middle	Driver	THR	BRH		SNE	SIL		OUL	DON		BRH		SIL	KNO		OUL	BRH		SIL		DON		valign=middle	Pts
1	James Kaye	16	17	19	13	18	15	Ret	18	16	15	21	15	12	18	Ret	18	Ret	20	13	17	17	340
2	Nigel Smith	18	13	14	15	20	Ret	16	20	18	16	20	13	Ret	17	17	19	10	17	16	23	20	308
3	Chris Goodwin		14	13	14	17	17	15	19	17	17	Ret	DNS			18	22	11	19	15	14	21	274
4	James Thompson	Ret	16	18	Ret	21	DNS				18	15	10	Ret	DNS	Ret	20	Ret	18	Ret	16	19	158
5	Nigel Albon	17	Ret	DNS	16	22	18	DNS	22	Ret	DNS	DNS	Ret	Ret	DNS	15	Ret	12	21	DNS	Ret	22	108
6	Hamish Irvine					23	20	Ret	23	Ret	21	Ret	14	13	Ret	16	21	DNS	23	DNS	21	23	108
7	Geoff Steel	22	21	20	18			18	24	21						Ret	23	13					72
8	Ian Khan	19	DNS	DNS	Ret			Ret	21	19	20	22											48
valign=middle	Pos	valign=middle	Driver	THR	BRH		SNE	SIL		OUL	DON		BRH		SIL	KNO		OUL	BRH		SIL		DON		valign=middle	Pts

Manufacturers Championship

valign=middle	Pos	valign=middle	Manufacturer	THR	BRH		SNE	SIL		OUL	DON		BRH		SIL	KNO		OUL	BRH		SIL		DON		valign=middle	Pts
1	Alfa Romeo / Alfa Corse	1	1	1	1	1	DNS	WD	3	DNS	1	1	2	Ret	9	3	2	2	2	1	3	1	330
2	Renault / Renault Dealer Racing	6	18	Ret	Ret	3	2	1	5	4	9	6	4	1	3	2	4	7	1	2	2	2	259
3	Ford / Team Mondeo	21	4	3	2	2	1	2	2	2	6	5	3	2	2	Ret	11	DSQ	13	8	1	9	248
4	align=left nowrap	BMW / BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer	3	10	6	8	14	14	4	12	8	4	7	1	3	1	1	1	1	22	5	4	3	242
5	Vauxhall / Vauxhall Motorsport	2	3	2	6	7	4	6	1	1	5	4	7	4	5	12	13	Ret	4	4	8	5	224
6	Peugeot / Peugeot Sport	7	7	8	5	5	3	3	7	11	3	3	6	7	13	8	6	Ret	12	Ret	7	11	167
7	Toyota / Toyota Castrol Team	5	9	9	12	6	5	10	8	5	11	9	9	8	7	9	10	6	5	6	6	6	137
8	Volvo / Volvo 850 Racing	15	12	15	11	19	13	5	11	15	7	8	8	6	10	7	9	5	10	12	10	12	103
9	Nissan / Old Spice Nissan Racing	9	11	Ret	4	8	12	11	13	12	12	12	DNS	10	14	10	16	9	11	14	15	15	69
10	Mazda / Team Mazda	8	8	11	10	15	11	Ret	Ret	DNS	Ret	19	11										31
valign=middle	Pos	valign=middle	Driver	THR	BRH		SNE	SIL		OUL	DON		BRH		SIL	KNO		OUL	BRH		SIL		DON		valign=middle	Pts

External links

• Full championship results

Notes and References

1. Web site: Road cars of Touring Car Racing - Alfa Romeo 155. 15 March 2009.