The British Touring Car Championship will permit double the amount of hybrid power to be used from the 2024 season onwards, it has been confirmed.
All cars will gain twice as much hybrid turbo boost for next season, in an effort to improve the spectacle and aid overtaking in the championship.
The BTCC was already the world’s first touring car championship to introduce hybrid power in 2022, and for 2023 the system has been further refined, with reliability of the Cosworth Electronics-developed system now reported to be at 97.3% and comparable with any other major components in a touring car.
The Hybrid Energy Management System (HEM) will thus deliver twice as much power each time the button is pressed on a driver’s steering wheel.
The system is designed to allow drivers a greater amount of time using the hybrid button depending on their championship or race position – in qualifying, drivers higher in the championship standings get fewer seconds of hybrid per lap, whilst in the races the system is scaled to limit the number of laps it can be used in the race depending on either championship position (race one) or race finishing position (races two and three).
TOCA has confirmed that the increased power levels will be via a combination of both hybrid and turbo boost. The combined hybrid-turbo boost will work in tandem and deployed via the HEM system.
The uprated system has already been tested by three cars at a Goodyear test day at Snetterton in September.
“For the 2023 season we saw the first tweaks to the hybrid system, which was a positive step forward for the championship, but I have had a taste of what’s to come for 2024,” said 2023 champion Ash Sutton.
“During a test at Snetterton we were able to work with TOCA to trial a few different options for next season, and we are now receiving double the power delivery, which will definitely add some spice to the racing.
“It will be much harder to defend from, as the delta between a car with and without hybrid-turbo boost will be much greater.
“You will see cars being able to pull alongside each other via the system and maybe even make overtakes at corners we traditionally haven’t been able to before.”
BTCC Chief Executive Alan Gow cites increased reliability of the system as one of the reasons why the time is right to increase the power delivery for next season.
“With the hybrid system now proven to be extremely reliable, the time is right to further develop its overall performance,” said Gow.
“As we said last week with the introduction of ‘Quick Six’ qualifying, we are always looking to bring further energy to the championship and this latest development quite literally does just that.”