Series director Alan Gow says the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship has again underlined its position as the premier series in the UK in 2005, with interest in the series for next season at an all-time high.
Last weekend saw the season draw to a close with
Matt Neal and Team Halfords becoming the first Independent team for 14 years to beat the manufacturers while the 2005 season has seen more people through the gates at events and an increase in television viewing figures thanks in no small part to the decision taken by
ITV to up its coverage of live events to seven and to provide mid-week repeats for people who may have been at the track and missed the action.
Street demonstrations on the NewcastleGateshead Quayside and in Milton Keynes and a spectacular crossing of the Forth Road Bridge have also seen the profile of the BTCC increase massively during the season, with Gow confident that Cricket aside following Ashes fever' no other sport will raised its profile as much during the course of the year.
"The BTCC is leagues ahead of anything else in British motor racing as far as public profile goes," he said. "Just look at the volume of viewers and spectators. Our TV audience is up by some 38 per cent and the gate numbers by around 22 per cent.
"No other championship in Britain has had that sort of an increase. In fact, I doubt any other sport has, with the exception of cricket. This has been a great year for the BTCC and has been better than we've had for many years."
Gow added that Neal's title triumph was an indicator of the strength of the championships technical and sporting regulations which had allowed Steve Neal and his team to compete and succeed at the highest level.
