12/11/2024 09:00
The short answer is no for a myriad of reasons, not least the fact that access to the circuit is far from straightforward and also that the paddock facilities once you get there simply aren’t big enough to deal with the large number of vehicles that are used across the BTCC and its various support championships.
That is largely the reason why the same eight venues feature on the calendar every season, despite the fact that there are numerous other race circuits that host events across the UK.
Although Anglesey itself has never played host to the BTCC, and likely never will, there are a number of venues where the championship has competed through the years – as we detail below...
Aintree:
Aintree is synonymous with racing, but of the four-legged variety rather than the four-wheeled given the venue in Liverpool plays host to the Grand National every year.
Within the racecourse however is a race circuit which remains in use to this day, albeit for lower level sprints and motorcycle events as opposed to national level competition.
That hasn’t always been the case however, with Aintree hosting the British Grand Prix five times during the 1950s and 60s and winners including Stirling Moss and Jim Clark.
Aintree hosted six BTCC races between 1959 and 1964, with Jack Sears and Graham Hill scoring two wins apiece and Ivor Bueb and Roy Salvardori also making it onto the top step.
Five of those wins came for Jaguar cars, with Sears’ victory in a Ford Galaxie being the exception.
Birmingham:
Birmingham is the only street circuit to have featured on the BTCC calendar, with races held in both 1989 and 1990 – after the race in 1988 was cancelled due to timetable delays.
Both races were won by Andy Rouse at the wheel of the fearsome Ford Sierra RS500 around a circuit that included a pitlane based at the original Bristol Street Motors dealership on Bristol Street itself.
Crystal Palace:
In the same way Aintree makes people think about horse racing, mention Crystal Palace and most people will immediately think about the Premier League football club as opposed to the race track that closed back in the mid-1970s.
In total, 22 races were held at Crystal Palace between 1958 and 1972 with winners including Brian Muir (3), Jim Clark and Steve Neal – the latter being the father of multiple BTCC title winner Matt.
Six different manufacturers enjoyed wins, with Ford the most successful thanks to ten victories.
Goodwood:
BTCC racers, including Team VERTU’s Tom Ingram, are regular attendees in historic events held at the Goodwood circuit every year although the days of touring cars racing at the circuit as part of the championship season are long gone.
Goodwood hosted races for the BTCC between 1959 and 1966, with Graham Hill being the only driver to taste victory on more than one occasion – scoring wins in both 1962 and 1963.
Jaguar cars took five of the eight wins, with the other three going the way of Ford.
Ingliston:
Since 1992, the BTCC has visited the Knockhill circuit in Fife but it wasn’t the first Scottish circuit to play host to the series, with five races held at Ingliston between 1973 and 1975.
The circuit was located on the outskirts of Edinburgh at the Royal Highland Showground and was surrounded by buildings and trees, which meant each lap of just over a mile was far from straightforward.
Tom Walkinshaw was the only multiple winner, coming home first in both races held at the circuit in 1974.
Mallory Park:
Mallory Park is still very much active as a race circuit, although the last of the 33 BTCC races to be held at the venue took place back in 1982 – with Jeff Allam and Win Percy sharing the race wins.
Multiple champion Andy Rouse is the most successful driver to have raced in the BTCC at Mallory Park with five victories, whilst the circuit has a unique place in history thanks to what happened during the race involving Class A and Class B cars during the 1969 season.
Gordon Spice in his Mini Cooper S and Chris Craft in his Ford Escort 1300 were so close at the chequered flag that there was no way to determine who had crossed the line as the winner – resulting in the first, and only, dead heat in a BTCC race.
Mondello Park:
Mondello Park is the only circuit outside the UK to have played a host to the BTCC, being located around an hour from Dublin in the Republic of Ireland.
The Irish venue first featured on the calendar in 2001 and would remain through until 2006 when it was removed from the schedule for the following season for ‘logistical reasons.’
With the event moved instead to Thruxton, the initial plans had been for Mondello Park to return in 2008 but the BTCC hasn’t raced at the circuit again – and appears unlikely to do so going forwards.
Frenchman Yvan Muller was the undoubted man to beat at Mondello during the 15 races that were held, scoring six of the ten victories that went the way of Vauxhall. Team VERTU driver Tom Chilton raced at Mondello Park during the early stages of his BTCC career and scored podium finishes in both 2003 and 2005 at the wheel of a Honda Civic.
Pembrey:
Although Anglesey has never featured on the BTCC calendar, the series has visited Wales in the past with two trips to the Pembrey circuit in Carmarthenshire in the early 1990s.
BMW won both races thanks to ITV commentator Tim Harvey and German ace Joachim Winkelhock but the venue dropped off the schedule for 1994 and has never returned – although it has been used by various teams through the seasons for testing purposes.
Although the Vertu MINI CHALLENGE has competed at the circuit alongside the British Truck Racing Championship in recent seasons, it is unlikely that the BTCC will ever return with both the circuit facilities and access not being of the required standard.
Rockingham:
Rockingham only opened for business in early 2001 as the first banked circuit to be built in the UK since the 1930s, with a focus on bringing American open-wheel racing to these shores.
The initial Champ Car World Series race was held in difficult circumstances – being scheduled a matter of weeks after the 9/11 attacks in New York, and following on from a near-fatal accident for Alex Zanardi in the previous event in Germany. Only once more would the series resturn, with Rockingham instead focusing on national competition, with the BTCC arriving for the first time in 2003.
After a one-off meeting, the series then returned in 2007 and would remain part of the calendar until 2018, by which stage the venue was in administration and approaching closure.
In total, 17 drivers scored victories at Rockingham, which is now a transport logistics hub, with Jason Plato and Gordon Shedden the most successful drivers with six wins apiece.
Team VERTU racers Tom Chilton and Tom Ingram picked up a combined total of seven podiums whilst racing at Rockingham earlier in the careers, with Ingram’s second place finish in 2015 being the first time he had scored a top three result in the BTCC.