Forthcoming UK Events

DateEventLocation
06-08.07.2012Formula 1 British Grand PrixSilverstone (Arena GP)
01-03.06.2012British Drift ChampionshipNorfolk Arena
23-24.06.2012MG Live 2012Silverstone
25-26.08.2012FIA World Endurance ChampionshipSilverstone

The 2012 Season Starts Here

2012-03-new-season-media-passThe last week has seen a flurry of activity as championships big and small held their annual media days and opening tests, with some already even getting down to racing proper. The British Touring Car Championship heads strongly into a new all-turbo generation and this year boasts 10 models from nine different marques on its 24-car grid, including the technicolour liveried return of the MG name.

The BTCC season opener hits Brands Hatch on 1st April, followed a week later by the first rounds of the British GT Championship and the British F3 International Series at Oulton Park. While some single-seater formulae have struggled in recent times - Formula Renault postponing its UK series due to poor entries - British F3 continues to attract young talent. With recent champions including the Scuderia Toro Rosso pairing of Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne, its status as a stepping-stone to Formula 1 is hard to dispute.

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BTCC TV Coverage Expands for 2010

The network’s ITV4 channel will dedicate some 65 hours to showing all ten BTCC rounds live on Sunday afternoons (6.5hrs each from 11.30am-6.00pm).

Ninety-minute highlight shows repeated three times in the following week – on ITV1 and twice on ITV4 – will mean a further 45 hours.

ITV4 has confirmed it will show the highlights on both Tuesday and Saturday afternoons.

ITV1’s highlights will move to Thursdays with a regular broadcast slot soon to be announced.

In addition, the ITV-owned Men & Motors channel will show the highlights after each round meaning a further 15 hours of air time for the BTCC and pushing overall coverage to a potential 125 hours.

In 2009, the ITV network’s BTCC content equalled an unprecedented 116 hours-plus and attracted a staggering 13.8 million viewers.

BTCC Series Director Alan Gow commented: “ITV’s increase in commitment to the BTCC for 2010 means yet more terrific news for all our teams, drivers, sponsors, circuits and fans. Our massive TV coverage further underlines the BTCC’s position at the very top of British motor sport.

“This continues to mean that households right across the UK can tune in and watch the country’s premier motor racing championship on free-to-air TV, this year with even more hours to enjoy all the action as the season unfolds.

“Yes, the BTCC has a TV arrangement that most other high-profile national and international race series can only dream of, but let’s also look at the bigger picture here – it’s simply fantastic exposure for UK motor sport and ITV should be roundly applauded by all within the sport and industry.”

ITV has filmed the BTCC since 2003. Its ITV4 channel reaches 94 per cent of households in the UK. In addition, its website www.itv.com also live-streams its Sunday afternoon coverage of BTCC race events.

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