BTCC ditches hybrid system in shift to sustainable fuels

The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) will ditch hybrids three years after they were introduced as it switches to using sustainable fuels.

The Cosworth-supplied hybrid system, introduced in 2022, will be discontinued at the end of this season.

Cars’ overall power outputs will remain the same, at around 350bhp, but they will now be 55kg lighter, due to the removal of the system.

The overtaking boost that was introduced by the electrical motor-generator (giving drivers an extra 60bhp for a short period) will instead come from the engine’s turbocharger from 2025.

The BTCC has also decided to remove the notification of turbo boost deployment from teams’ live timing screens in order to improve the racing.

“It was felt this gave teams and drivers immediate information to try to counteract its use,” the BTCC said in a statement.

LED lights on the side windows of each car, as well as live television broadcast graphics, will still be used to signal the deployment of boost to spectators.

BTCC boss Alan Gow said: “The introduction of 100% fossil-free sustainable fuel for 2025 shows that the BTCC remains committed to innovation in motorsport.

“As the highest-profile championship in the UK, this introduction is a significant and essential step in maintaining the competitiveness and excitement synonymous with the BTCC but in a more sustainable and forward-thinking way.”

Gow added that the series has “no more to prove” with hybridisation and that “now we’ve ticked that box, we can move further forward with the introduction of fossil-free sustainable fuel”.