2000 British Touring Car Championship

There were several changes of driver for the 2000 season. Nissan, Renault and Volvo retired their works teams because of the rising costs of staying competitive in the BTCC, thus leaving only three manufacturers with factory supported entries: Ford, Honda and Vauxhall.[2][3] 1999 Drivers' Champion Laurent Aïello did not return to defend his title; the Frenchman tested for Honda,[4] however he instead joined Audi to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race and the newly revived Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters championship in Germany.[5] His place was taken by 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans co-winner and former Super Tourenwagen Cup driver Tom Kristensen.[4] In the meantime, Peter Kox switched to competing in the European Super Touring Car Championship. Initially Honda planned to run two cars but to level the playing field with Ford and Vauxhall decided to draft in 1994 champion Gabriele Tarquini in a JAS Motorsport prepared car that originally would have been driven alongside Kox in the European championship.[6]

1998 series champion Rickard Rydell joined that year's runner-up Anthony Reid and 1997 overall winner Alain Menu at the Prodrive Ford team following Volvo's departure. At the Vauxhall team, Yvan Muller was partnered by Jason Plato and Vincent Radermecker, having joined from Renault and Volvo respectively.[7] After a difficult 1999 season, former double champion (1989 and 1995) John Cleland announced his retirement from the BTCC.[8] Independent driver Matt Neal drove a 1999 Nissan Primera fielded by Team Dynamics, who had semi-works support from the manufacturer and running with updated 2000 body work.[9][10] A second Nissan was entered by PRO Motorsport for rookie Colin Blair. David Leslie would race the car at selected rounds later in the season following Blair's withdrawal halfway through the season.[11] Lee Brookes appeared on the entry list but his plans of competing in the championship in 2000 did not come to fruition.[12]

The Prodrive Ford Mondeo’s would prove to be the class of the season, and it would be their three drivers who would battle for the championship. Alain Menu had been the favourite going into the year, but despite being arguably the best all-rounder out of the trio, a handful of non-finishes meant he entered the final race of the year behind Anthony Reid in points.

Reid’s season was based mostly on consistency, taking until round seventeen to win a race and only winning two all season, but he still led the championship going into the final race of the year. The Scot was doing all that he needed in the finale and looked to be on course for the title, until a collision with Vincent Radermecker on the penultimate lap put him out of the race and handed the crown to Menu.

Team newcomer Rickard Rydell also went to Silverstone with a chance of the title. The Swede claimed a season-best nine pole positions throughout the year, but a number of retirements, both crashes and mechanical, would ultimately prove to be his downfall. Indeed, it would be a car problem which would deny him a chance of competing with his teammates in the final race, as a water leak left him unable to take the start.

Vauxhall’s season started well, both Yvan Muller and Jason Plato won races early on and the Frenchman even lead the points for a time. But the team could not sustain that form, and along with an intra-team rivalry building between Muller and Plato, they were forced to settle for best of the rest behind the Fords. Third driver Radermecker had a poor season, scoring only one podium and being the only full-time main class driver to not win a race during the year.

Honda’s season would be one of frustration. James Thompson went into the season planning a title challenge, but those hopes were dashed by a crash at the opening round at Brands Hatch which forced him to miss the next two meetings. He would win a race on his return, but any hopes of the championship were gone, and come the end of the season he found himself combining his British campaign with DTM drives for Audi.

The returning Gabriele Tarquini would ultimately end the season as top Honda, picking up three race wins but only finishing sixth in the standings. British championship rookie Tom Kristensen would also pick up three race wins, including a double at the Silverstone finale (the final races of the Super Touring era), to end the year just behind Tarquini.

Independent king Matt Neal would once again compete admirably with the works teams. He would finish eighth in the standings with a race win late in the season at Brands Hatch. He won the independents class in every race he finished (21 out of 24 races).

The 2000 season saw the introduction of a type of car regulation called "Class B" to bolster the number of entrants on the grid. The class was open to all vehicles that complied with the FIA Super Production regulations and the National Saloon Championship.[16] To allow for suitable grid sizes, Class B entries were accepted on a "first-come, first served" basis from teams who could commit to competing in the BTCC full-time.[17] Class B was created as a consequence of a request to series promoters TOCA from potential competitors in the National Saloon Championship in December 1999 as a means of promoting themselves in a more visible national motor racing series.[17] TOCA subsequently formed a partnership with the British Racing Drivers' Club-organised PowerTour series in January 2000, so that the two championships could work closely with race dates, regulations and marketing and promoting of Class B.[18]

The entry fee for the Independents' Championship was abolished; teams would receive a starting money fee of £5,000 for each race meeting they entered, tyres would be given to teams at no extra cost and the champion of the category would receive £10,000 in prize money.[19]

Pos.	Driver	BRH		DON		THR		KNO		OUL		SIL		CRO		SNE		DON		BRH		OUL		SIL		Pts
Touring Class
1	Alain Menu	1	7*	1	1*	8	3	2	Ret	1	6	Ret	3	5	2	Ret	1*	8	9	4	1*	5	6	Ret	3*	195
2	Anthony Reid	5	2*	3	4	2	4	3	3	5	3	2	Ret	2	DSQ	4	6	1	3*	(8)	4	1	2*	(7)	Ret(*)	193(201)
3	Rickard Rydell	3	4*	2	3*	4	Ret	1	2	Ret	Ret	8	DSQ	1	1*	3	5	Ret	6	3	2	Ret	8	2	DNS	178
4	Yvan Muller	2	3	Ret	5	1	1*	7	4	Ret	5	7	1*	8	5	Ret	4	4	4	5	6	3	3	(8)	5	168(171)
5	Jason Plato	4	1*	6	7	3	2*	8	8	7	2	Ret	5	Ret	Ret‡	1	2	5	7	7	3*	9	4	Ret	2	160
6	Gabriele Tarquini	9	6*	4	2*	Ret	5	Ret	1*	9	8	5	2	6	Ret‡	6	7	6	1*	9	10	2	1*	Ret	6	149
7	Tom Kristensen	7	Ret	5	6	9	Ret	5	Ret	3	1*	3	6*	4	9	2	Ret	10	Ret	2	8	8	Ret	1	1*	143
8	Matt Neal	(10)	Ret	8	8	7	Ret	4	5	6	9	4	Ret	3	3	5	8*	2	2	1	9	7	7*	5	7	129(130)
9	James Thompson	6	Ret					6	DSQ	4	4	1	4	7	4	Ret	3*	3	5*	6	5*	4	5	3	8*	129
10	Vincent Radermecker	8	5	7	Ret	5	Ret*	9	6	2	7	6	Ret	9	Ret‡	Ret	DNS	9	8	10	7	6	Ret	4	4	81
11	Colin Blair	11	8	9	10	10	6	10	7	8	Ret	9	10													23
12	David Leslie					6	Ret											7	10					6	Ret	15
13	Peter Kox			Ret	9																					2
Class B
1	Alan Morrison	12	Ret	10	13	11	7	NC	9	Ret	Ret	10	7	10	7	7	13	11	12	11	15	10	13	9	Ret	264(266)
2	James Kaye	13	9	11	11	13	Ret	12	11	10	10	11	8	NC	6	8	10	12	11	Ret	11	12	9	10	10	260(265)
3	Mark Lemmer	14	10	12	12	12	DSQ	11	10	11	12	12	9	12	10	9	11	13	13	14	13	15	12	12	Ret	185(200)
4	Rob Collard			Ret	Ret	DNS	DNS			12	11	13	Ret	11	8	Ret	9	14	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	DNS	Ret	Ret	81
5	Dan Eaves																					11	10	11	9	53
6	Nick James											14	11	14	11	11	12	16	Ret	Ret	DNS	Ret	Ret	13	Ret	51
7	Marc Nordon	Ret	DNS	Ret	DNS	DNS	DNS			13	Ret	DNS	DNS	13	Ret‡	10	Ret	Ret	Ret	15	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	12	30
8	Tom Ferrier																			13	14	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNS	18
9	Gareth Howell																					13	11			18
10	Toni Ruokonen																			12	Ret					14
11	Geoff Kimber-Smith																							14	13	11
12	Bryce Wilson																							Ret	11	10
13	Andy Middlehurst																					14	Ret			6
14	Lee Linford																	15	Ret							6
15	Will Hoy											Ret	Ret													2
16	Gavin Pyper																			Ret	DNS	Ret	DNS			1
–	Simon Harrison																					Ret	Ret			0
–	David Pitcher	DNS	DNS																							0
Pos.	Driver	BRH		DON		THR		KNO		OUL		SIL		CRO		SNE		DON		BRH		OUL		SIL		Pts

Note: bold signifies pole position in class (1 point awarded all races), italics signifies fastest lap in class (1 point awarded all races) and * signifies that driver lead feature race for at least one lap (1 point given).

‡ Retired before second start of race

‡ Retired before second start of race