1995 British Touring Car Championship

Season review

All the race weekends were now double header meetings, with full points awarded at each race. The exception was the British Grand Prix support round.

Following the controversies over aerodynamic aids in 1994 first used by Alfa Romeo, TOCA announced wings and spoilers were eligible for all the cars in the new season.

After their domination in 1994, Alfa Corse went back to contesting the Italian Supertouring Championship, leaving Prodrive to run the works Alfa team. Derek Warwick was signed to drive alongside Giampiero Simoni with champion Gabriele Tarquini doing occasional appearances. The season was hugely disappointing. Alfa's rivals had overtaken the 155 in development and the Italian team did not score a win or even get on the podium during the whole season. Alfa withdrew from the championship completely at the end of the season to concentrate on their European championship entries.

TWR Volvo replaced the 850 estate with the 850 saloon. Rickard Rydell was partnered with 1992 champion Tim Harvey, and both drivers were in the hunt or the title. Rydell scored 13 pole positions during the season, and challenged for the championship right until the penultimate round.

Renault joined up with WilliamsF1, who re-engineered the Laguna. Alain Menu took more wins than any other driver during the season, ably supported by 1991 champion Will Hoy. Renault won the manufacturers title overall, while Menu fought Rydell and John Cleland for the driver's championship.

Ford were in their third year with the Mondeo, and big things were expected of Paul Radisich, double touring car world cup champion. Sadly, the Mondeo lost ground throughout the year as Ford were not investing in development as heavily as other teams and Radisich would win just once all season. Andy Rouse had retired from driving at the end of the previous year, and is place was taken by Kelvin Burt, who also took one win.

Vauxhall announced that the Cavalier was to be replaced by the new Vectra at the end of the season, so 1995 was the last hurrah for the venerable car. John Cleland was joined by James Thompson who replaced Jeff Allam, and despite the Volvo and Renault giving strong competition, Cleland's consistency and the Cavalier's reliability took the driver's and teams championships.

Team Schnitzer were heavily involved in other touring car championships around the world in 1995, with 1994 BTCC drivers Joachim Winkelhock competing in the German Supertouring championship which he won, while Steve Soper raced in Japan and took the title there. BMW instead employed it's UK arm to take on the challenge, with factory drivers Johnny Cecotto and David Brabham. The season was a disaster however with no wins or even a podium finish to their credit.

Toyota retained Julian Bailey and Tim Sugden with Toyota Team Europe engineering the Carina, but the squad was short on good results, causing Toyota to drastically reduce their presence in the paddock for the following season.

Peugeot were into their last year running the 405. Patrick Watts led the team once again and managed to score solid results when others ran into trouble. The 405 was now outclassed and would be replaced with the 406 in 1996.

Honda joined the championship with David Leslie leading the team, driving the Accord. Results were promising for the new outfit and towards the end of the season, Leslie managed to step onto the podium.

After a poor year in 1994, Nissan chose to sit out the season, concentrating on the STW. Sadly, BTCC stalwart Kieth O'dor was killed in a crash late on the season.

In the Independents Championship, Matt Neal dominated the season and easily won his second Independent title in his family run Ford Mondeo.

Entry List

Race calendar and winners

All races were held in the United Kingdom.

Results

Points tables for the various titles as follows:

Drivers Championship

Note: bold signifies pole position, italics signifies fastest lap.