Series organiser TOCA has announced that the British Touring Car Championship will once again feature an unchanged calendar for the sixth consecutive season with the format of each race weekend and the order in which the circus travels around the UK to remain the same.
A major factor in the decision to ratify and publish the schedule so early into the current motorsport season, with less than half of the current campaign already run, is the motivation to avoid clashes with other headline motorsport events in Britain.
The breadth and variance in the BTCC’s calendar ensures that hundreds of thousands are once again set to take in the nations most popular tin-top series, with the circus beginning once again at Brands Hatch in April and finishing in Kent once more with the GP loop in the Autumn.
In between are visits to some of the country’s most legendary venues, including Donington Park, Thruxton, Oulton Park, Rockingham and Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix.
The date and venue for the official Season Launch prior to the first round are yet to be announced. Donington Park has consistently hosted the event in late March for the past few seasons.
“With the BTCC’s enormous and ever-increasing popularity, this format has continually proven to be a real winner,” said Series Director Alan Gow.
“It provides our teams, partners, venues, huge TV audience and of course our hundreds of thousands of fans with a consistent and proven calendar that always delivers a great championship”.
“We have defined our 2017 calendar as early as possible with this unprecedented mid-June announcement to help other UK motor sport events in reducing the amount of clashes that can inevitably occur”.
In keeping with their extended television rights deal, ITV4 will continue to broadcast each race weekend live on free-to-air and in high definition. Streaming will also be available via the ITV website and ‘ITV Hub’ app on portable devices. Regular highlights programmes following each event will continue to be available and are also set to be made available via catch-up as at present.
The current season marks its halfway stage at Croft this weekend, with local hero Sam Tordoff currently atop the standings by a single point from three-time champion, Matt Neal.
| Date | Round | Circuit |
|---|---|---|
| 1st / 2nd April | 1, 2, 3 | Brands Hatch (Indy) |
| 15th / 16th April | 4, 5, 6 | Donington Park |
| 6th / 7th May | 7, 8, 9 | Thruxton |
| 20th / 21st May | 10, 11, 12 | Oulton Park (Island) |
| 10th / 11th June | 13, 14, 15 | Croft Circuit |
| 29th / 30th July | 16, 17, 18 | Snetterton 300 |
| 12th / 13th August | 19, 20, 21 | Knockhill |
| 26th / 27th August | 22, 23, 24 | Rockingham Motor Speedway |
| 16th / 17th September | 25, 26, 27 | Silverstone (National) |
| 30th Sep / 1st October | 28, 29, 30 | Brands Hatch (Grand Prix) |