Honda boss calls for smaller BTCC grids and licence system

The 2016 season was a bumper year for entries in the tin-top championship, with a minimum of 31 cars entered at each race weekend.

But there were also a number of high profile incidents, particularly in the mid-part of the season, which saw the regulations hastily changed to introduce a more severe penalty of an instant race ban - although it was never used by the championship organisers.

Neal called upon series director Alan Gow to consider shrinking the grid down and tightening the criteria for eligibility, echoing a call made by Triple Eight's Ian Harrison earlier in the year.

“Alan has got to look at this and see it’s cumbersome with 32 cars,” said Neal, father of three-time BTCC champion and Team Dynamics stalwart Matt.

“We can cut it down to 24 cars or something like that, and we go for a proper TOCA BTCC licence, which you’ve got to achieve by performances in lower classes or other forms of motorsport.

“Some of the drivers shouldn’t be here. We need to make sure these guys can handle themselves properly.

"When you see photographs of drivers with their overalls down around their waist and on the floor, to me, it’s appalling."

The BTCC entry list is traditionally confirmed in March, and as has been the case for the past two years, 30 TOCA BTCC licences (TBLs) will be available for the teams, with an extra two reserved by TOCA to be loaned out at the championship’s discretion.

Neil Hudson / TouringCarTimes