1994 British Touring Car Championship

• The number of double header meetings were increased from three to eight
• Double headers now awarded full points in both races instead of half, as had previously been the case

The lead up to the 1994 season saw both consolidation and major news amongst the manufacturers. Reigning champions BMW retained Joachim Winkelhock and Steve Soper, and the team would again be managed by works outfit Schnitzer Motorsport. Soper however would miss some races when they clashed with his JTCC programme; his place would then be taken by Roberto Ravaglia. Ford were looking to build on their late 1993 success with Paul Radisich and Andy Rouse, while Toyota added Tim Sugden to their 1993 drivers Will Hoy and Julian Bailey. While Vauxhall retained drivers John Cleland and Jeff Allam they had handed over the running of their works team to Ray Mallock Ltd., who had previously run semi-works cars as Ecurie Ecosse.

Renault also retained their drivers Alain Menu and Tim Harvey, but replaced their Renault 19 with more modern Lagunas. Keith O’Dor continued with Nissan but was joined by ex-Formula One driver Eric van de Poele, who replaced Win Percy. Patrick Watts moved from Mazda to Peugeot, replacing Robb Gravett, while Mazda expanded to a two-car line up with drivers Matt Neal and David Leslie.

Two new manufacturers joined the championship. Tom Walkinshaw made a comeback with Volvo, the Swedish manufacturer surprisingly choosing to run the estate version of their 850 model. 1988 Le Mans winner Jan Lammers and Swedish Formula Three racer Rickard Rydell would be the team’s two drivers. Alfa Romeo was the other manufacturer to join; Italian works outfit Alfa Corse would run two cars for Gabriele Tarquini and Giampiero Simoni. Alfa had produced a unique homologation special version of their 155 model complete with wings and spoilers, significantly improving the aerodynamics of the car. The 155 was to revolutionize Super Touring racing. The rules stated that aerodynamic wings could be used provided they were fitted to a limited number of road cars. Peugeot, Ford and Toyota had all run with rear spoilers in previous years due to this. Alfa exploited the rules by releasing a special edition of the 155 called the 'Silverstone' just to gain the aero advantage.[1] Renault and BMW eventually followed suit by releasing limited "homologation special" editions of their cars, the Laguna Airflow and the 318is, respectively.

The start of the season showed that Alfa Romeo had a substantial advantage over their opponents as Gabriele Tarquini dominated, taking the first five wins of the season. Several complaints and protests were lodged by other manufacturers, and just prior to Oulton Park Alfa were told to run without the aerodynamic aids fitted. Alfa refused and left the circuit in protest, allowing Alain Menu to take Renault’s first win of the season. Eventually matters were resolved and Alfa re-instated after agreeing to run with the spoilers lowered, but having lost out on any points from Oulton Park. Even with lowered spoilers, however, Tarquini was able to keep much of his advantage.

Silverstone hosted the twelfth round of the championship, and there rule changes were exploited by other manufacturers to add aerodynamic aids to their own cars. This levelled the playing field considerably and allowed Joachim Winkelhock to make a bid for victory, overtaking Tarquini and winning the race. Tarquini would only win one more race that season, but was always in contention: it was not so much a matter of if but when the Italian would become champion. When turned out to be the penultimate weekend at Silverstone, where Tarquini’s second place in the first race of the day secured the title for him. The main battle going into the final rounds at Donington Park was for second place, and would stand between Alain Menu and Paul Radisich. Radisich won the first race of the day bringing him up to level on points with Menu, but mechanical gremlins put a stop to his challenge in the second race. Menu thus finished second in the championship from Radisich, with John Cleland in fourth and Simoni in fifth.

All races were held in the United Kingdom.

Round		Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team	Winning Privateer
1	R1	Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire	4 April	Gabriele Tarquini	Gabriele Tarquini	Gabriele Tarquini	Alfa Corse	James Kaye
2	R2	Brands Hatch (Indy), Kent	17 April	Gabriele Tarquini	Gabriele Tarquini	Gabriele Tarquini	Alfa Corse	Nigel Smith
	R3				Giampiero Simoni	Gabriele Tarquini	Alfa Corse	Chris Goodwin
3	R4	Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit, Norfolk	2 May	Giampiero Simoni	Gabriele Tarquini	Gabriele Tarquini	Alfa Corse	James Kaye
4	R5	Silverstone Circuit (National), Northamptonshire	15 May	Alain Menu	Paul Radisich	Gabriele Tarquini	Alfa Corse	Chris Goodwin
	R6				Alain Menu	Paul Radisich	Team Mondeo	James Kaye
5	R7	Oulton Park (International), Cheshire	30 May	Alain Menu	Alain Menu	Alain Menu	Renault Dealer Racing	Chris Goodwin
6	R8	Donington Park (Grand Prix), Leicestershire	12 June	Paul Radisich	John Cleland	John Cleland	Vauxhall Sport	James Kaye
	R9				Paul Radisich	John Cleland	Vauxhall Sport	James Kaye
7	R10	Brands Hatch (Grand Prix), Kent	26 June	Giampiero Simoni	Gabriele Tarquini	Gabriele Tarquini	Alfa Corse	James Kaye
	R11				Gabriele Tarquini	Gabriele Tarquini	Alfa Corse	James Thompson
8	R12	Silverstone Circuit (Grand Prix), Northamptonshire	10 July	Joachim Winkelhock	Gabriele Tarquini	Joachim Winkelhock	BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer	James Thompson
9	R13	Knockhill Racing Circuit, Fife	31 July	Paul Radisich	Steve Soper	Alain Menu	Renault Dealer Racing	James Kaye
	R14				Steve Soper	Steve Soper	BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer	Nigel Smith
10	R15	Oulton Park (International), Cheshire	14 August	Alain Menu	Joachim Winkelhock	Joachim Winkelhock	BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer	Nigel Albon
11	R16	Brands Hatch (Indy), Kent	29 August	Joachim Winkelhock	Joachim Winkelhock	Joachim Winkelhock	BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer	James Kaye
	R17				Gabriele Tarquini	Joachim Winkelhock	BMW Motorsport Team Schnitzer	Nigel Smith
12	R18	Silverstone Circuit (Grand Prix), Northamptonshire	11 September	Tim Harvey	Steve Soper	Tim Harvey	Renault Dealer Racing	Nigel Smith
	R19				Gabriele Tarquini	Gabriele Tarquini	Alfa Corse	James Kaye
13	R20	Donington Park (Grand Prix), Leicestershire	18 September	Joachim Winkelhock	Paul Radisich	Paul Radisich	Team Mondeo	Chris Goodwin
	R21				Paul Radisich	Giampiero Simoni	Alfa Corse	James Kaye

• Full championship results