Colin Turkington became the first Northern Irish driver to win the ChampionshipJason Plato came second, with only a 5-point marginItaly’s Fabrizio Giovanardi came third in the championship, 4 points behind Jason PlatoColin Turkington became the first Northern Irish winner of the championship. In addition, he wrapped up a third consecutive independents' driver title, with his Team RAC also picking up the Independent Teams Trophy.
The 2009 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 52nd British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. It began at Brands Hatch on the Indy layout on 5 April and finished after 30 races over 10 events on the Grand Prix layout at Brands Hatch on 4 October. Colin Turkington won the championship for the first time, ahead of Jason Plato and Fabrizio Giovanardi.
The season also saw Airwaves BMW score their first win in the series when Rob Collard won the second race of the day at the opening meeting at Brands Hatch. The team seemed to have added a second win in race three as Jonathan Adam crossed the line first but he was demoted to second after making contact with Jason Plato handing Plato the win.
Andrew Jordan became the youngest driver to qualify on pole at Donington after team-mate Fabrizio Giovanardi was excluded for failing technical checks.
Also, Stephen Jelley took his first win in the series at the first race at Rockingham. He followed this up with another victory in race 3, a race that saw Tom Chilton become the first driver to score a podium position in a Ford Focus following a collision between Plato, Turkington and Plato's team mate James Nash.
At the final meeting at Brands Hatch, Chilton took pole position becoming the first Ford driver to do so since 2000. All three races were won by Jason Plato, becoming only the second driver to do so following Dan Eaves' hat-trick at Thruxton in 2005; but this was not enough to win the title. Colin Turkington became British Touring Car Champion for the first time, coincidentally becoming the first Northern Irishman to do so.
Triple 8 continued to run Vauxhall Vectras under the VX Racing banner, retaining the reigning double Champion Fabrizio Giovanardi and Matt Neal but replacing Tom Onslow-Cole with Andrew Jordan. The Vauxhall Astra Coupe made a return after a two-year absence with Renault Clio Cup graduates Boulevard Team Racing with Martin Johnson driving an Astra previously run by Erkut Kizilirmak in the Turkish Touring Car Championship.
After SEAT withdrew at the end of 2008, Jason Plato made a last minute switch to an RML Group-run Chevrolet Lacetti under the Racing Silverline banner. As the season progressed, the team expanded to include 2008 Runner-up Mat Jackson and newcomer James Nash. Tempus Sport also entered a Lacetti for Harry Vaulkhard, a second entry was registered but never materialised and the team pulled out mid-season with Vaulkhard's entry taken over by Bamboo Engineering for the remainder of the season.
WSR retained Colin Turkington and Stephen Jelley and expanded to three cars with Anthony Reid returning for the last three meetings to help Turkington's title challenge. Motorbase Performance entered as Airwaves BMW with Rob Collard as lead driver but Steven Kane was replaced by double SEAT Cupra Champion Jonathan Adam. After sitting out the 2008 season, Team AFM Racing returned with their diesel-powered BMW 1 Series, this time with Nick Leason driving but the team pulled out after three meetings.
After a three-year absence, Arena Motorsport returned under the Team Aon banner, bringing Ford back to the BTCC for the first time since 2000. The team ran a pair of Ford Focuses for Tom Chilton and former Production Class Champion Alan Morrison but Morrison left after the first four meetings and was replaced by Tom Onslow-Cole.
Having previously tried and failed to enter bio-ethanol powered Chevrolets in 2007, Team Clyde Valley Racing finally made their debut under the Cartridge World Carbon Zero Racing banner, running bio-ethanol powered SEAT Leons. Former Independent's Champion Dan Eaves was the team's lead driver, Indian driver Phiroze Bilimoria was originally signed to partner Eaves, but before the season started, Bilimoria was replaced by Adam Jones. Eaves stood down mid-season and was replaced by Gordon Shedden but the team only lasted a couple more meetings before pulling out completely. Shedden returned for the last two meetings with his SEAT now run by GR Asia under the Club SEAT banner. Newcomers Maxtreme entered Liam McMillan in one of the SEAT Toledos that BTC Racing ran in 2008 but pulled out after just three meetings. BTC Racing initially planned to upgrade to a pair of SEAT Leons but shelved these plans before the season started.
Team Dynamics once again ran a pair of Super 2000 Honda Civics, initially retaining Gordon Shedden and replacing Tom Chilton with the returning David Pinkney. Shedden was replaced by returning former double Champion James Thompson after the first meeting. Thompson lasted six meetings before being replaced by ex-F1 driver Johnny Herbert for the remainder of the season. After two seasons of running the Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch, Tech-Speed switched to a pair of ex-Team Dynamics Honda Integras with Martyn Bell entering his second season with the team and Paul O'Neill joining for what would be his first full season since 2003. TH Motorsport continued to run a Honda Integra for John George and entered a Civic Type-R for Matt Hamilton in the final two meetings. A possible late-season return for Michael Doyle and his In-Tune Racing Civic was hinted at but never eventuated.
Jason Hughes intended to continue running his MG ZS but was forced to sit out the first four meetings and ultimately never raced. Other notable failed entries included Paul Luti in a Dreadnought-run MG and Ian Court in a self-run Alfa Romeo 156.
Indian driver Phiroze Bilimoria signed for Cartridge World Carbon Zero Racing alongside Dan Eaves but was replaced by Adam Jones before the official entry list was released.
Shedden returned to the series at Rockingham under the Club SEAT banner.
Calendar
All races were held in the United Kingdom. The 2009 season had ten race weekends with three BTCC rounds at each. Provisional dates were announced by series organisers on 11 July 2008.[1] The calendar was finalised on 17 March 2009, when all race timetables were announced.[2]
Note: bold signifies pole position (1 point given in first race only, and race 2 and 3 poles are based on race results), italics signifies fastest lap (1 point given all races) and * signifies at least one lap in the lead (1 point given all races).
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