Triple Eight Racing BTCC team ceases to exist

Multiple title-winning British Touring Car Championship team Triple Eight Racing no longer exists.

The Supercar operation, Triple Eight Race Engineering, is an entirely independent offshoot of the original British Touring Car Championship team and the Australian team is unaffected.

But the British counterpart has now ceased trading and the name will disappear from UK motorsport.

The firm was dissolved by Companies House on November 13.

The UK arm of the firm, which was created by Derek Warwick, Ian Harrison and Roland Dane in 1996, took over the contract to run the works Vauxhall attack in the BTCC in 1997.

It ran the British firm's products as a factory-backed outfit until the end of 2009, when Vauxhall withdrew from the category.

In that time, Triple Eight Racing, originally known as Triple Eight Race Engineering, won more championships than any other team previously seen in the BTCC.

It won nine manufacturers' championships (including one with MG), six teams' championships and six drivers' titles, alongside the Independents Trophy in 2011 with James Nash.

After Vauxhall withdrew in 2009, Triple Eight continued as an Independent entry until landing the deal to run the factory MGs in 2012. At the end of 2016, the team was sold to Team BMR chief Warren Scott.

Scott's Team BMR outfit oversaw Triple Eight's factory MG programme in 2016 and 2017, until the cars were sold to AmDTuning.com for 2018.

Warren Scott, the owner of the Triple Eight Racing name, said: "We had nothing to use [the Triple Eight Racing] name for any more. We have sold the assets – or they are with other people now – and so we decided to wind it up.

"It is a shame. We looked at running cars in the TCR UK Championship under the Triple Eight name, but that didn't happen. It is a shame, but that is just how things go."

Scott confirmed that the Team BMR squad is fully committed to return to the BTCC next season, and developments were being made to its Subaru Levorg GT machines ahead of the new attack. He said drivers would be announced in due course.