Five champions, 17 race winners on 2018 BTCC grid

Seventeen former race winners, headed by reigning champion Ashley Sutton, will be among the 32 drivers on this year’s capacity Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) grid.

The full field for the championship, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, was revealed at the annual pre-season launch day and test at Donington Park.   

The entry list includes five series champions: Sutton, his BMR Subaru team-mate Jason Plato, Honda’s Matt Neal and WSR BMW racers Colin Turkington and Andrew Jordan.

Neal will field a new Honda Civic Type R this year and will be joined in the Team Dynamics squad by Porsche Carrera Cup star Dan Cammish.

BTCC: 2017 Honda Civic Type R driven

BTCC boss Alan Gow said: “Last year, we saw the incredible ride-and-rise of eventual champion Sutton, and he is just one of an ever-growing number of emerging talents in the BTCC.

"The mix of young guns taking on the established stars has been one of the fascinating stories in recent years, and that looks set to continue in 2018.”

The season begins at Kent's Brands Hatch circuit on April 8.

BTCC entry list 2018

BMR Subaru Levorg GT: Ash Sutton, Jason Plato, Josh Price

WSR BMW 125i M Sport: Colin Turkington, Rob Collard, Andrew Jordan

Team Dynamics Honda Civic Type R: Matt Neal, Dan Cammish

Motorbase Performance Ford Focus RS: Tom Chilton, Sam Tordoff, James Cole

Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis: Tom Ingram

Power Maxed Vauxhall Astra: Josh Cook, Senna Proctor

Team Parker Racing BMW 125i M Sport: Stephen Jelley

Ciceley Racing Mercedes-Benz A-Class: Adam Morgan, Tom Oliphant

Laser Tools Racing Mercedes-Benz A-Class: Aiden Moffatt

Eurotech Honda Civic Type R: Jack Goff, Brett Smith, Matt Simpson

HMS Alfa Romeo Giulietta: Rob Austin

BTC Norlin Honda Civic Type R: James Nash, Chris Smiley

Team Hard Volkswagen CC: Jake Hill, Mike Bushell, Michael Caine, Bobby Thompson

AmD Tuning Audi S3: Ollie Jackson, Sam Smeldt

AmD tuning MG 6: Tom Boardman, Rory Butcher