British Touring Car Championship organiser TOCA says that its implementation of hybrid power in the BTCC is ‘running ahead of schedule’ as the series prepares to give its hybrid-equipped test car a public début in the summer.

‘Impressive progress’ has been made during a recent meeting of the BTCC Hybrid Working Group, featuring teams, partners and other stakeholders, as parties worked towards establishing a roadmap for hybrid power implementation in the BTCC.

Since first being announced in August 2018, work has been underway behind the scenes to ensure that every BTCC car will feature hybrid electric and petrol power from the start of the 2022 season.

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Cosworth Electronics was awarded the contract for the design, supply and servicing of the BTCC Hybrid System last year.

The implementation of hybrid power will be part of an evolution of the current set of technical regulations.

An existing BTCC car will be selected to act as the test car for the hybrid system. TOCA states that “all technical and practical targets are being met during the design and build stage.

“The hybrid equipped BTCC test car is set to hit the track in June, ahead of a projected public debut during the annual two-day tyre test at Snetterton in July.”

Following the implementation of the test car, “rigorous testing and simulations will then commence in order to refine the exact nature of the driver-selectable hybrid power delivery (i.e. how many seconds per lap, when/how it can be used etc.) as well as configuring the varying amounts of regeneration and hybrid power that will be used to replace the current success ballast system.

“The additional hybrid power will be used by each driver using a steering wheel mounted button – after lap one – for either passing or defending. This will provide new competitive strategies and opportunities during each BTCC race.”

BTCC Chief Executive Alan Gow praised the progress so far in implementing the world-first touring car system.

“I’m incredibly pleased with the fantastic progress we are making on this project,” said Gow. “One always assumes there will be some hiccups along the way, but so far…nothing.

“And that’s great testament to the high quality of the technical partners involved – not just Cosworth of course but also Xtrac, PWR, Delta Motorsport, AP Racing and Goodyear.”