Britain?s leading motorsport series, the British Touring Car Championship, begins its 2016 season this weekend.
The BTCC, the entrants in which are evolved directly from mainstream road cars, will stage its first three races of the year at Brands Hatch in Kent on Sunday (3rd April).
For the first time the series has attracted a full 32-strong entry, which comprises cars from 11 different brands, four of them full ?works? manufacturer programmes.
Most eagerly watched will be the entrance of Subaru into the BTCC ? Team BMR, which last season came close to taking the drivers title with Jason Plato in a Volkswagen CC, has brought the Japanese manufacturer into the championship with its brand-new Levorg sports tourer model.
The Subaru is new to the 2016 grid. Four of the new Levorgs are entered, and despite the race car first turning a wheel only a week before the opening meeting, the team has managed to finish building all four in time for their Brands Hatch debut – though the liveries were being applied on the Friday night before qualifying day.
The Subaru is causing a lot of interest in the BTCC paddock and a degree of concern, some rivals suggesting that its very compact ?Boxer? flat-four engine, which can be mounted low in the chassis for an improved centre of gravity, could make the team hard to beat once the car is sorted.
The other big story of the early 2016 races is likely to be the change in standard components that all teams must run on their cars. BTCC regula...