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JEP The best of the BTCC show how it should be done Absolute class. In the past, the British Touring Car Championship had built a reputation for overly aggressive driving and shunts, but the title-deciding battle between Jake Hill and Tom Ingram at Brands Hatch last weekend was a great example for the rest of motorsport. Just three years after we had a Formula 1 championship contest in which the main two protagonists couldn’t go side-by-side through a corner without one or both ending up off the road, Hill and Ingram put on brilliant displays in races two and three – the racing was tough but fair. Either one would have been a worthy champion, but Hill’s hard-won success means that all of the Big Four from the past few years now has a BTCC title to their name. Congratulations to Jake, his family and supporters, and West Surrey Racing. Of the other two members of that club, Colin Turkington put in one of the great supporting roles to help Hill, and Ash Sutton underlined why he is still a strong contender to become the first driver to win five BTCC titles with a dominant display in the wet finale. The camaraderie between the rivals afterwards merely served to give many another reminder of why we became fans of the sport in the first place. Marcus Simmons was there to witness one of the great BTCC showdowns and speak to the contenders (page 36). Will we get an F1 title fight this year? The fact that we’re asking the question at all is largely thanks to the incredible progress made by McLaren over the past 18 months. Jake Boxall-Legge explains how the team has done it and what could come next on p16. Kevin Turner Chief Editor kevin.turner@autosport.com NEVER MISS AN ISSUE Special deals for Autosport p52 Autosport editorial Motorsport Network Media UK Ltd 2 Stephen Street London,W1T 1AN @ E-mail autosport@ autosport.com Visit our website autosport.com Twitter twitter.com/ autosport Facebook facebook.com/ autosport Instagram instagram.com/ autosport YouTube youtube.com/ AUTOSPORTdotcom Cover image Steven Tee/Motorsport Images; JEP PIT & PADDOCK 4 F1 cans rookie sprint race plan 6 Lapierre retires to take up Alpine role 8 Rovanpera ready for full WRC return 11 Alliance plans new BTCC manufacturer 13 Opinion: Alex Kalinauckas 14 Opinion: Phil Branagan 15 Opinion: Gary Watkins FEATURES 16 Secrets of McLaren’s Red Bull beater 24 Maloney’s move from F2 to Formula E 28 WRC’s quest for a female star 32 RML at 40: Super Touring colossus RACE CENTRE 36 Hill pips Ingram in BTCC title showdown 45 World of Sport: NASCAR Cup; Intercontinental GT Challenge; MotoGP CLUB AUTOSPORT 55 Equipe to run six-hour race at Donington 56 Sherwood escapes injury in Brands roll 58 Solberg wins Irish Land Rover rally 60 Opinion: Stephen Lickorish 61 National reports: Silverstone; Brands Hatch; Knockhill; Snetterton; Castle Combe; Mallory Park FINISHING STRAIGHT 70 What’s on this week 72 From the archive: 1975 Italian GP 74 My favourite car: Marco Werner Visit autosport.com for other ways to read Britain’s best motorsport weekly 10 OCTOBER 2024 AUTOSPORT.COM 3

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