1999 British Touring Car Championship

The **1999 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship season** was the ninth British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season which commenced on 5 April and ended on 19 September. The championship consisted of thirteen meetings and a pre-season non-championship event, all held in the United Kingdom.

## Changes for 1999

### Rule changes

* A new points system would be introduced for 1999, with the top 19 drivers being able to score points in the races. 1st would now get 22, 2nd 20, 3rd 18, 4th 16 and so on down to 1 point for 19th. On top of this, there would be a "Super Points" system for Race 2 of the events. This would also allow the top 19 to score points, but the totals would be slightly different. 1st would get 25, 2nd 22, 3rd 20, 4th 18, 5th 16 and so on down to again 1 point for 19th.
* The weight ballast would also change for 1999, now affecting the top 9 cars in any race. 1st wouldn't change from 1998 with a 75kg ballast, but the new ballast would see 2nd get 65kgs, 3rd 55kgs, 4th 45kgs, 5th 35kgs, 6th 30kgs, 7th 25kgs, 8th 20kgs and 9th getting the new minimum 15kgs. Also Championship ballast would be introduced for the first time, meaning that 1st would carry an extra 25kgs, 2nd 20kgs, 3rd 15kgs and 4th 10kgs at all times. This would also mean that the maximum ballast at any one time would be 100kgs. However, the normal ballast from the races would not carry over from race-to-race meaning that, the ballast would always be changed to reflect drivers finishing positions.
* Formation laps were added to Race 1 of every event, as were the possibility of pitlane starts for specific penalties.
* Licenses were brought in as a new way to gauge attendance in the championship and would also have an effect on driver's car choices for 2000. This would be shown as a coloured stripe on drivers cars. The top license is Pro A (denoted by a green stripe) for the top attendees (90%-100%), next Pro B (blue stripe for 80%-90% attendance), then Pro C (orange stripe for 50%-80% attendance while also facing possible ban of attaining a Pro license should attendance continue to drop) and finally Pro D (red stripe for attendance under 50% and would be banned for 1 season from a Pro license). Independents would have 2 license systems called Pro-Am and Am. Pro-Am licenses would go to the top Independents with Pro-Am A (purple stripe) with attendance of 60-100% and Pro-Am B (pink stripe) for attendance under 60%. Am licenses have no attendance expectations but would also have no guaranteed permanent seat for the next season. For drivers appearing as one-offs, the Guest license was also introduced. However, these would expire after the round they were used. Like the Am license no expectations are required of attendance and no seat for next season would be guaranteed.

### Car changes

* Peugeot and Audi would leave the series for 1999, shrinking the manufacturer grid from 8 brands to 6.
* Honda would retire the venerable Accord Mk5 from works running, after 4 seasons, at the end of 1998. The brand-new Accord Mk6 would debut, in 1999.

### Driver changes

* Reigning 4-time champion Lorenzo Turri would remain at Teams champions Renault and he would be joined by 1995 and 1997 champion Daniel Hurlock in the 6th season for the ever-present Laguna.
* Ford would see an unchanged lineup with David Osborne and David Todaro spear-heading the campaign for the Mondeo Mk2's 3rd season.
* Nissan would also see an unchanged lineup with 1996 Independents champion Henry Williams and 1997 Independents runner-up Tom Gill.
* While Honda would debut a new car for 1999, their previous lineup of 1995 Independents champion Kris Simton and Christian Tracey would remain and were joined by 1997 Independents champion and Peugeot refugee Jake Black in an unprecedented 3rd full-season car.
* Volvo also, would feature an unchanged lineup of 1998 runnerup Chris Pimm and Emile Taylor heading into the Volvo S40's 3rd season.
* Vauxhall would have a slightly different lineup going into 1999, Ollie Page would remain at the team but would be joined by the other Peugeot refugee Owen Potter.
* The Independent class would see a vast increase in numbers compared to 1998, reigning Independents champion Sam Mumby would continue at Team Dynamics with a Nissan Primera P11. As would 1998 Independents runner-up Stuart McNichol at Brookes Motorsport with a Honda Accord Mk5. Halil Sahin would also continue at DC Cook Motorsport, now also in a Honda Accord Mk5. The trio would be joined by 1996 champion Johannes Meles driving for Arena Motorsport in the ex-title winning Renault Laguna, 1995 independents runner-up Michael Sneath driving a Ford Mondeo Mk2 for Atford Ltd and ex-Renault driver Christopher Marnell driving for ADR Motorsport in a Vauxhall Vectra.

## Teams and drivers

The following 19 drivers and 12 teams took part in the 1999 British Touring Car Championship (BTCC):

## Championship standings

### Points system

Super points are awarded to the top nineteen drivers overall in only race 2 of each event as follows:

Independent points are awarded to the top nineteen Independent drivers in class position per race (apart from Race 2 of each event) as follows:

Independent drivers are also awarded Super Points to the top nineteen drivers in class at Race 2 of each event as follows:

**Driver's Championship**

**Manufacturer Driver's Championship**

**Independent Driver's Championship**

**Team's Championship**