The BTCC grid for 2017 is filling up fast and today we saw another seat filled as Jack Goff was confirmed as the driver of the second Eurotech Honda Civic alongside Jeff Smith.
Goff, who last season drove the IHG hotels car for West Surrey Racing, has now had a new car to learn for every season of his BTCC career. He will also be returning to front wheel drive after the rear wheel drive BMW of 2016.
Jeff Smith is pleased to have done a deal after a winter of discussions with various drivers;
“We are delighted to have been able to put together a deal with Jack. We have been in talks with many drivers over the winter which has been a long process, but we wanted to get it right. Our aim was always to put a talented young gun in to the second seat which we have undoubtedly managed to achieve with Jack.
We have been impressed with the performance and professionalism he has shown over the past few seasons in the BTCC and are confident that Jack’s race craft combined with our Type R will be a force to be reckoned with. We know our cars are capable of winning the Championship and with Jack’s proven ability we are confident this is an achievable goal. We have a comprehensive pre-season testing programme in place and will hit the ground running, from the first round at Brands Hatch – we intend to be on the podium.”
Goff is also excited to finally have a deal sorted. It seems Eurotech impessed him with their new base;
“This is a really exciting opportunity for both myself and all of my loyal sponsors. I have been fortunate to have raced with many successful teams during my short time in the BTCC and having met the Eurotech Racing team and visited it’s very impressive facilities, it is already very clear they have all the personnel and resources to give me a great chance to be fighting for championship honours in 2017.”
He’s also happy to be driving the Honda Civic;
“The car is a proven winner, with Gordon having won the past two championships and with the Swindon engine I think we have a very competitive package for the 2017 season. I am under no illusions that the championship is going to be as competitive as ever this season and there is going to be a large number of drivers fighting for the trophy, come Brands Hatch in October, we just need to make sure we are mathematically in contention.
I must say a huge thank you to all of my loyal sponsors and Eurotech Racing for giving me this opportunity.”
So with Jack Goff taking the second Eurotech seat we thought now was a good time for a recap of who is where for next year and which seats are yet to be confirmed. For the purposes of this table we have only included drivers who have been officially announced or drivers who have mentioned in a public interview what they’ll be driving;
Driver – Team – Car – Engine
Ant Whorton-Eales – AMD Tuning – Audi S3 – Swindon (TOCA)
Ollie Jackson – AMD Tuning – Audi S3 – Swindon (TOCA)
Jason Plato – BMR Racing – Subaru Levorg – Mountune Subaru (Not announced but were freely talking about racing the Subaru when they were at Autosport.)
James Cole – BMR Racing – Subaru Levorg – Mountune Subaru (As above)
TBA – BMR Racing – Subaru Levorg – Mountune Subaru
TBA – BMR Racing – Subaru Levorg – Mountune Subaru
Chris Smiley – BTC Norlin Racing – Chevrolet Cruze – Swindon (TOCA)
Dave Newsham – BTC Norlin Racing – Chevrolet Cruze – Swindon (TOCA)
Adam Morgan – Ciceley Motorsport – Mercedes Benz A-Class – Swindon (TOCA)
Jeff Smith – Eurotech Racing – Honda Civic – Swindon (TOCA)
Jack Goff – Eurotech Racing – Honda Civic – Swindon (TOCA)
Rob Austin – Handy Motorsport – Toyota Avensis – Swindon (TOCA)
Aiden Moffat – Laser Tools Racing – Mercedes Benz A-Class – Swindon (TOCA)
Stewart Lines (Unless his injury fails to heal) – Maximum Motorsport – Ford Focus – Mountune Ford
Luke Davenport – Motorbase Performance – Ford Focus – Mountune Ford
Mat Jackson – Motorbase Performance – Ford Focus – Mountune Ford
Martin Depper – Motorbase Performance – Ford Focus – Mountune Ford
Senna Proctor – Power Maxed Racing – Vauxhall Astra – Swindon (TOCA)
Tom Chilton – Power Maxed Racing – Vauxhall Astra – Swindon (TOCA)
Matt Simpson – Simpson Racing (With Team Dynamics) – Honda Civic – Neil Brown Honda
Tom Ingram – Speedworks Motorsport – Toyota Avensis – Swindon (TOCA)
Gordon Shedden – Team Dynamics/Honda – Honda Civic – Neil Brown Honda
Matt Neal – Team Dynamics/Honda- Honda Civic – Neil Brown Honda
Mike Epps -Team HARD – Volkswagen CC – Swindon (TOCA)
Will Burns – Team HARD – Volkswagen CC – Swindon (TOCA)
TBA -Team HARD – Volkswagen CC – Swindon (TOCA)
TBA – Team Parker Racing – Ford Focus – Mountune Ford
TBA – MG Triple Eight Racing – MG6 – Swindon (TOCA) (Likely as nothing else MG is eligible)
TBA – MG Triple Eight Racing – MG6 – Swindon (TOCA) (Likely as nothing else MG is eligible)
Andrew Jordan – West Surrey Racing (aka Pirtek Racing) – BMW 1 Series – Neil Brown BMW
TBA – West Surrey Racing – BMW 1 Series – Neil Brown BMW
TBA – West Surrey Racing – BMW 1 Series – Neil Brown BMW
Some teams will probably announce their remaining seats in the next few weeks with the rest waiting until media day in March. We’ll continue to bring you all the news as we get it.
By Marc Waller
