The 1996 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship season marked the arrival of Audi to the sport with their four wheel drive A4s. The title was won by Frank Biela, with Swiss driver Alain Menu again finishing in second place and Swede Rickard Rydell in third.

Season review

After seeing the success that rivals BMW and Alfa Romeo had achieved in the series, and wanting to expand their successful touring car programme, Audi entered a works team for the season, headed up by Audi Sport UK's Frank Biela. Biela had won multiple touring car championships and the 1995 Touring Car World Cup for the Four Rings. The Audi A4 proved the class of the field from the get go, helped considerably by its four wheel drive system. This led to an argument between the manufacturers throughout the season, and a weight penalty was added to the Audis. It did not help much; Biela dominated the season and won the title with 4 races to run, one of 7 titles won by the Audi A4 Quattro in 1996.^[1] Joining Biela at Audi was rookie John Bintcliffe, winner of the 1995 Ford Fiesta championship and the 1994 Renault Clio Cup. The Yorkshireman would finish seventh in the standings.

Williams Renault were seen as the team to beat before the start of the year after a strong finish to 1995, with Alain Menu title favourite. Early season reliability issues meant that the Swiss driver was never really in title contention but a strong second half of the year allowed him to take runners up spot for the third year in a row. Team mate Will Hoy endured a tough season despite starting strongly, finishing 2nd to Biela in the opening two rounds. He would visit the podium just once more on his way to 9th overall and the following season would move to the Ford team.

Volvo, run by Tom Walkinshaw Racing, developed the 850 further, allowing Rickard Rydell to challenge for wins throughout the year and the Swede was Biela's closest challenger for most of the season. His new team-mate Kelvin Burt, switching from Ford, took a single victory at Silverstone in May. During the following round at Oulton Park he was involved in a vicious accident, knocking him unconscious and having to be cut free from the car. He was taken to Chester Hospital suffering from severe concussion.^[2] Burt would miss the next round at Snetterton and was due to be replaced by British Formula 3 driver Jamie Davies, however Davies crashed the car heavily in testing, destroying it^[3] and also suffering a concussion, but was otherwise unharmed.^[3] As a result Volvo entered just one car for Rydell and Burt would return at the following meeting.

Vauxhall retained their title winning driver line up of John Cleland and James Thompson driving the new Vectra. The new car had a difficult development and was not as mechanically suited to racing as the Cavalier was. Thompson took the team's only win of the season, while Cleland would only finish 8th in the driver's championship.

Ford switched from Andy Rouse to West Surrey Racing to run the Mondeo in cooperation with race car engineering specialist Reynard and Schubel Engineering who built the Mondeo for the equivalent Super Tourenwagen Cup in Germany. The season was a complete disaster with the car proving to be off the pace and unreliable. Paul Radisich suffered 13 retirements in 24 races while his new team-mate Steve Robertson scored just two points all season.

Honda continued their promise of 1995 despite a slow start David Leslie took three wins during the second half of the season, including the British Grand Prix support race. He was once again joined by James Kaye, although he was unable to match Leslie’s results.

After a disappointing 1995, BMW factory outfit Team Schnitzer returned to the series with 1993 champion Joachim Winkelhock and multiple touring car title winner Roberto Ravaglia leading the team, with Peter Kox running in a third car in selected races. Winkelhock took several wins during the year but was too inconsistent to challenge his compatriot for the title, whilst Ravaglia only won a single race and was mostly remembered for a string contentious moments with the likes of Radisich and Menu during the season.

Total Team Peugeot entered the new 406 model, but Tim Harvey and Patrick Watts struggled for pace and suffered poor reliability throughout the season.

Having been dropped by Ford, Andy Rouse ran a semi-works Nissan team, running Primeras for Gary Ayles and Owen McAuley, but results were limited. McAuley left the team after the British GP support rounds when it became clear the team were only going to get one new 1996-spec car and that would be driven by his team-mate.^[4] The team entered just one car thereafter until the final round at Brands Hatch where Jamie Spence drove the 1995 spec car.

In the Total Cup for Independents 1995 Renault Clio Cup champion Lee Brookes entered a 1995 TOM's built Toyota Carina^[5] and would secure the title in his debut season beating Richard Kaye's Mint Motorsport Vauxhall,^[6] the last RML built Cavalier. The combination was fastest of the non-works teams and Yorkshire-man won the class 16 times but lost out to Brookes on consistency.

Having lost out in their bid to win the Ford works deal Team Dynamics developed their own Ford Mondeos for Matt Neal and Robb Gravett. Success was limited with Neal finishing a distant 3rd in class. He later described the car as the worst he's ever driven and kissed the ground after the final round as he'd never have to drive the car again.

Ian Heward entered selected rounds in an ageing Vauxhall Cavalier ^[7] but the car lacked competitiveness and was a long way from the pace of the other independent runners.

Entry List

BTCC

Team	Car	No.	Drivers	Rounds
Manufacturers
Vauxhall Sport	Vauxhall Vectra	1	John Cleland	All
		7	James Thompson	All
Williams Renault Dealer Racing	Renault Laguna	2	Alain Menu	All
		4	Will Hoy	All
Volvo 850 Racing	Volvo 850 20v	3	Rickard Rydell	All
		8	Kelvin Burt	1–5, 7–13
		28	Jamie Davies	None
Total Team Peugeot	Peugeot 406	5	Tim Harvey	All
		10	Patrick Watts	All
Valvoline Team Mondeo with Reynard	Ford Mondeo	6	Paul Radisich	All
		16	Steve Robertson	All
Honda Team MSD	Honda Accord	11	David Leslie	All
		12	James Kaye	All
BMW Team Schnitzer	BMW 320i	20	Peter Kox	11–13
		21	Roberto Ravaglia	All
		22	Joachim Winkelhock	All
Audi Sport UK	Audi A4 quattro	44	John Bintcliffe	All
		45	Frank Biela	All
Semi-Works
Rouse Sport	Nissan Primera eGT	14	Gary Ayles	1–9, 11–13
		15	Owen McAuley	1–8
			Jamie Spence	13
Independents
TOM's Team Brookes	Toyota Carina E	17	Lee Brookes	All
ProMotor Sport	Vauxhall Cavalier	18	Ian Heward	2, 10–12
Mint Motorsport	Vauxhall Cavalier	23	Richard Kaye	All
Team Dynamics	Ford Mondeo Si	27	Robb Gravett	1–5, 8–9
		77	Matt Neal	2–4, 6, 8–13

• Rouse Sport were neither a works nor an independent entry.
• Jamie Davies would have stood in for Kelvin Burt at Round 6 (Snetterton) but was sidelined by a testing accident prior to the event.

(https://www.autosport.com/btcc/news/what-could-have-been-a-rising-stars-abruptly-curtailed-tin-top-debut/6644981/)

RAC Tourist Trophy

Team Car No. Drivers Manufacturers Williams Renault Dealer Racing Renault Laguna 2 Alain Menu 9 Will Hoy BMW Team Schnitzer BMW 320i 5 Joachim Winkelhock Audi Sport UK Audi A4 quattro 7 John Bintcliffe Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Vectra 8 John Cleland 28 Jan Brunstedt Volvo 850 Racing Volvo 850 20v 11 Kelvin Burt Honda Team Linder Honda Accord 14 Marco Werner 24 James Kaye Valvoline Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo 15 Warren Hughes Total Team Peugeot Peugeot 406 16 Tim Harvey Independents Yap Motorsport Honda Accord 12 Eugene O'Brien ProMotor Sport Vauxhall Cavalier 18 Ian Heward Mint Motorsport Vauxhall Cavalier 23 Hamish Irvine Race calendar and results All races were held in the United Kingdom.[8] Round Circuit Date Pole Position Fastest Lap Winning Driver Winning Team Winning Independent 1 R1 Donington Park (GP), Leicestershire 8 April Rickard Rydell Frank Biela Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Robb Gravett R2 Frank Biela Frank Biela Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Richard Kaye 2 R3 Brands Hatch (Indy), Kent 21 April Alain Menu Alain Menu Rickard Rydell Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Richard Kaye R4 Joachim Winkelhock Joachim Winkelhock Joachim Winkelhock BMW Team Schnitzer Richard Kaye 3 R5 Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire 6 May Frank Biela Frank Biela Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Lee Brookes R6 Joachim Winkelhock Joachim Winkelhock Joachim Winkelhock BMW Team Schnitzer Lee Brookes 4 R7 Silverstone Circuit (International), Northamptonshire 19 May Roberto Ravaglia Kelvin Burt Kelvin Burt Volvo 850 Racing Richard Kaye R8 Frank Biela Joachim Winkelhock Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Richard Kaye 5 R9 Oulton Park (International), Cheshire 27 May Frank Biela Joachim Winkelhock Joachim Winkelhock BMW Team Schnitzer Richard Kaye R10 Frank Biela Rickard Rydell Rickard Rydell Volvo 850 Racing Lee Brookes 6 R11 Snetterton Circuit, Norfolk 16 June Joachim Winkelhock Joachim Winkelhock James Thompson Vauxhall Sport Richard Kaye R12 Joachim Winkelhock Rickard Rydell Joachim Winkelhock BMW Team Schnitzer Richard Kaye 7 R13 Brands Hatch (GP), Kent 30 June Alain Menu Alain Menu Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Richard Kaye R14 Alain Menu Alain Menu Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Lee Brookes 8 R15 Silverstone Circuit (GP), Northamptonshire 14 July David Leslie Frank Biela Roberto Ravaglia BMW Team Schnitzer Richard Kaye R16 David Leslie Rickard Rydell David Leslie Honda Team MSD Richard Kaye 9 R17 Knockhill Racing Circuit, Fife 28 July Rickard Rydell Frank Biela Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Richard Kaye R18 Rickard Rydell John Bintcliffe Rickard Rydell Volvo 850 Racing Matt Neal 10 R19 Oulton Park (Fosters), Cheshire 11 August David Leslie Frank Biela Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Richard Kaye R20 Frank Biela Frank Biela Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Richard Kaye 11 R21 Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire 26 August Alain Menu David Leslie David Leslie Honda Team MSD Lee Brookes R22 Joachim Winkelhock Peter Kox Rickard Rydell Volvo 850 Racing Richard Kaye 12 R23 Donington Park (GP), Leicestershire 8 September Rickard Rydell Rickard Rydell Rickard Rydell Volvo 850 Racing Richard Kaye R24 Rickard Rydell Joachim Winkelhock David Leslie Honda Team MSD Lee Brookes 13 R25 Brands Hatch (Indy), Kent 22 September Joachim Winkelhock Peter Kox Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Matt Neal R26 Joachim Winkelhock Peter Kox Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Matt Neal Championships Drivers Championship Note: bold signifies pole position (1 point awarded all races), italics signifies fastest lap. Points system  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th  Pole Position 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 Pos Driver DON BRH THR SIL OUL SNE BRH SIL KNO OUL THR DON BRH Pts 1 Frank Biela 1 1 1 4 1 3 11 1 2 2 2 DSQ 2 8 3 2 1 2 2 1 2 3 4 3 4 1 289 2 Alain Menu 3 Ret 2 2 Ret DNS 5 4 5 4 Ret 3 1 1 6 5 9 Ret 1 3 Ret 4 3 2 1 4 197 3 Rickard Rydell Ret 3 4 3 3 8 4 5 4 1 Ret 5 3 12 2 4 4 1 5 Ret 3 1 1 Ret 5 Ret 194 4 David Leslie Ret Ret 10 Ret 8 5 3 9 8 7 9 Ret 5 7 4 1 6 7 3 2 1 8 2 1 3 5 159 5 Joachim Winkelhock 8 13 3 1 12 1 Ret Ret 1 Ret 5 1 6 2 5 Ret 5 5 6 4 Ret 6 7 6 DNS 3 158 6 Roberto Ravaglia 7 7 6 6 6 2 2 2 7 5 Ret Ret 9 Ret 1 3 3 3 9 5 4 5 Ret 5 NC 2 157 7 John Bintcliffe 6 4 16 5 2 7 7 3 3 3 6 6 11 13 11 10 2 4 Ret 9 6 11 8 13 9 10 113 8 John Cleland 5 6 7 Ret 4 4 10 Ret Ret 9 3 2 10 4 10 Ret Ret 6 7 7 5 7 6 8 6 Ret 102 9 Will Hoy 2 2 17 DSQ 5 15 8 Ret Ret 6 7 9 4 3 9 6 10 11 4 Ret Ret 19 5 4 8 Ret 95 10 James Thompson 10 Ret Ret 7 7 6 6 6 17 Ret 1 4 7 5 8 7 Ret Ret Ret 6 Ret 2 Ret 9 DNS DNS 83 11 Kelvin Burt 4 5 Ret Ret DSQ 13 1 Ret 6 DNS 8 6 7 8 Ret 10 8 8 Ret 17 9 12 7 7 66 12 James Kaye 9 10 9 11 Ret 9 9 8 13 Ret Ret 7 Ret 14 Ret 11 8 8 10 10 8 9 Ret 10 DNS 8 33 13 Paul Radisich Ret 8 5 8 Ret Ret Ret 7 Ret Ret Ret 8 Ret 11 Ret 9 7 9 Ret 11 Ret Ret 17 11 Ret Ret 27 14 Peter Kox 7 10 12 7 2 6 26 15 Tim Harvey 11 9 Ret 9 Ret Ret 13 Ret Ret 8 4 Ret Ret 9 Ret 13 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 12 10 14 13 9 20 16 Patrick Watts Ret Ret 8 10 Ret 10 12 Ret 11 11 Ret 12 Ret 15 Ret Ret Ret DNS Ret DNS Ret Ret Ret Ret 10 11 6 17 Richard Kaye 15 14 14 14 DNS NC 14 10 9 Ret 8 11 12 DSQ 12 14 11 15 11 13 DNS 15 13 16 DNS DNS 6 18 Owen McAuley 14 12 13 DNS 9 11 16 Ret 15 10 11 Ret 15 Ret Ret Ret 3 19 Lee Brookes 13 15 15 Ret 10 12 18 11 14 14 12 13 14 17 14 16 13 14 12 15 9 16 15 15 14 14 3 20 Steve Robertson Ret DNS 12 12 Ret Ret Ret 13 10 13 13 10 13 16 Ret 12 12 12 Ret 12 Ret 14 16 17 DNS DNS 2 21 Gary Ayles Ret 11 11 13 DNS DNS 15 12 12 12 10 14 Ret 10 13 15 Ret DNS 11 13 11 Ret DNS 12 2 22 Matt Neal Ret 16 11 Ret 17 Ret Ret DNS Ret 17 14 13 13 14 10 18 14 Ret 12 13 1 23 Jamie Spence 11 Ret 0 24 Robb Gravett 12 Ret Ret 15 13 14 19 Ret 16 15 Ret 18 15 16 0 25 Ian Heward DNS DNS DNS DNS 12 Ret 18 18 0 - Jamie Davies WD WD 0 Pos Driver DON BRH THR SIL OUL SNE BRH SIL KNO OUL THR DON BRH Pts Privateers Championship Pos Driver DON BRH THR SIL OUL SNE BRH SIL KNO OUL THR DON BRH Pts 1 Lee Brookes 13 15 15 Ret 10 12 18 11 14 14 12 13 14 17 14 16 13 14 12 15 9 16 15 15 14 14 312 2 Richard Kaye 15 14 14 14 DNS NC 14 10 9 Ret 8 11 12 DSQ 12 14 11 15 11 13 DNS 15 13 16 DNS DNS 272 3 Matt Neal Ret 16 11 Ret 17 Ret Ret DNS Ret 17 14 13 13 14 10 18 14 Ret 12 13 155 4 Robb Gravett 12 Ret Ret 15 13 14 19 Ret 16 15 Ret 18 15 16 103 5 Ian Heward DNS DNS DNS DNS 12 Ret 18 18 28 Pos Driver DON BRH THR SIL OUL SNE BRH SIL KNO OUL THR DON BRH Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX)

References

External links

• BTCC Pages Archived 2019-11-05 at the Wayback Machine
• Touring-Cars.net