Vauxhall Astra Coupe BTCC BTC-T Vauxhall Motorsport #5 Jason Plato 2001

[JR98]

The Vauxhall Astra Coupe is a 2 door coupe from Vauxhall and was designed by Bertone, based on the standard Astra saloon. This BTCC car is BTC-Touring class car built by Triple 8 Race Engineering (Who ran Vauxhalls's works program) and was the first BTC-T car to be unveiled in 2000, and was first used in 2001, after the Super Touring era had ended, and the BTCC was overhauled for lower cost racing. 4 Astra's were entered in the 2001 season (2 for Vauxhall Motorsport and 2 for Egg Racing). In the end, it was far more advanced in its development than anything else in the field, allowing to win 25 out of 26 races in 2001 (although the only non-Vauxhall win was a non-points scoring victory by Anthony Reid in an MG, so they picked up maximum constructors points in every race). A 3-way battle for the championship lasted throughout the season, with Jason Plato emerging victorious by 18 points. In fact, so dominant were the cars that the lowest placed Astra driver, Phil Bennett, who finished 4th in the Driver's Championship, was 58 points clear of the next driver.

Technical specifications

• Body: 2 Door Coupe
• Length: 4267 mm
• Width: 1709 mm
• Height: 1390 mm
• Weight: 1150 KG
• Wheelbase: 2613 mm
• Engine: Vauxhall 2.0 Inline 4
• Aspiration: Naturally Aspirated
• Power: 280HP
• Torque: N/A
• Drive: Front Engine Front Wheel Drive
• Transmission/Gearbox: 6 Speed Manual Sequential