2014 dream driver and car lineup

Now that the chaos of 30 BTCC races has finished, the big question now is who will be there at Media Day in 2014, and who will they be driving for? 

With the new licence system that TOCA have introduced for the upcoming season, places are limited. There are more restrictions on the teams as to how many cars and drivers they can run, and the experience of the drivers. So that makes driver choices quite difficult for a new team coming into the series. 

For me, if I was a team manager entering a brand new team into the series, I wouldn't want to go for the obvious choice of NGTC machinery - the Honda Civic. Of course, it has proven to be the best car on the grid over the last two years, and aided Gordon Shedden and Andrew Jordan to their maiden BTCC titles in 2012 and 2013 respectively, but with it being likely that Honda and Pirtek will return, then there will be at least 6 Honda's on the grid - and one thing that makes the BTCC so special is the variety of cars that appear on the grid every year, no matter what era. 

Going on the basis of that, I would choose a car that has not really seen much track action this year, but I think has huge potential and can be a real front-runner with the right engineering and development - the NGTC spec Chevrolet Cruze, which will feature next year in the hands of Aiden Moffat and possibly IP Tech Race Engineering. In my opinion, it was the best looking car on the grid throughout the year, and we have had some amazing looking cars on the grid this season. If the Cruze was to be engineered and developed by the guys at RML, like the S2000 spec car, then it'd be a force to be reckoned with.

So that's the car sorted, but what about the drivers? To get the best out of a new car, then two top experienced drivers will be needed. The first driver I'd love to see in the wheel of an NGTC Cruze next season is BTCC double champion Fabrizio Giovanardi - firstly because it will have been 4 years since the Italian last appeared in the series, but mainly due to his driving style and huge reputation around the paddock. For a team mate, I'd go for Josh Files. He's shown his skill over the years in the Clio’s and now has the championship under his belt. As well as that, a young driver can learn a lot from someone as experienced as Fabrizio, and if they were both in the same team in the Cruze, then I think they'd be able to compete with the big boys. The chances of that happening though are unlikely, but I'd love to see it happen next year