2001 British Touring Car Championship

[2] The escalating costs of Supertouring in the late 1990s had seen manufacturers withdrawing as they were no longer able to justify spending the vast amounts of money required to stay competitive and in the British championship in particular independent entries had dropped to an all-time low.

[3] In June 2000 BMP unveiled plans for the new look formula designed to be "both spectacular and cost effective..."[2] this included allowing manufacturers to use 2 or 3 door cars, no complicated aerodynamics, and standardized parts such as brakes, wheels, gearbox and differential.

This format was implemented at the opening round however due to the low grid numbers in the BTC-T class (only eight cars completed qualifying) the sprint race was also combined for the remainder of the season.

Yvan Muller and Jason Plato remained in first two entries under the Vauxhall Motorsport banner, while James Thompson moved from Honda to partner Phil Bennett, debuting in the BTCC, in Egg Sport-liveried cars.

The team re-expanded to three cars for Donington, as superbike racer Aaron Slight made a guest appearance whilst evaluating a full-time switch to four wheels the following year.

MG began development of a pair of ZS' built to the new regulations courtesy of West Surrey Racing, these made guest appearances in the hands of ex-Ford and Nissan driver Anthony Reid and former Formula 3 and STW racer Warren Hughes during closing rounds of the season in preparation for a full campaign in 2002.

Two small independent teams filled out the Touring class grid ambitiously entering new cars: JSM fielded a pair of Alfa Romeo 147s in an assault headed by 1992 BTCC champion Tim Harvey in a driver/team manager role.

After a failed attempt to hire former Volvo and Vauxhall works driver Vincent Radermecker, the car was driven by driver-turned-motoring journalist Steve Sutcliffe as a guest entry in the final round.

HTML headed the Peugeot entry with Roger Moen and Simon Harrison moving across from the National Saloon Cup, Tech-Speed Motorsport also entered a pair of 306s for MG-F racers Annie Templeton and young gun Paul O'Neill, and teenager Tom Boardman drove a fifth 306 for his family-run team.

The Ford Focus was also competitive in the hands of GR Motorsport, who entered a quartet of cars for youngsters Gareth Howell and Mat Jackson, and veterans Rick Kraemer and Richard Meins.

Cranfield Automotive entered Mitsubishi Carismas for reigning National Saloon champion Toni Ruokonen, James Levy and Sandro Proietti but the latter was replaced by Andy Neate before the season started.