1996 British Touring Car Championship

1996 BTCC season
Previous: 1995	Next: 1997
Support series:
1996 Yugo Challenge

The 1996 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship season was the sixth British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season which commenced on 21 April and ended on 8 September. The championship consisted of ten meetings, each held in the United Kingdom.

Changes for 1996

Team changes

Various manufacturers joined and left the BTCC between 1995 and 1996:

• Audi entered the series as a manufacturer for the first time, with the Richard Lloyd-operated Audi Sport UK team fielding the ubiquitous Audi A4 Quattro.
• Alfa Romeo decided to leave the series after 1995, having failed to replicate the successes of 1994.
• Toyota withdrew their works support for 1996, though a single 1995-spec Carina e would continue to be campaigned by TOM's Team Brookes in the Independents' Championship.
• After finding himself out of a job running Ford's operations, Andy Rouse would help to broker Nissan's return to the BTCC, setting up Rouse Sport to run a pair of semi-works Nissan Primeras.

Teams and drivers

The following 18 drivers and 12 teams took part in the 1996 British Touring Car Championship (BTCC).

Team	Car	No.	Drivers	Rounds
Manufacturer
Vauxhall Sport	Vauxhall Vectra
Valvoline Team Mondeo with Reynard	Ford Mondeo
Williams Renault Dealer Team	Renault Laguna
Volvo 850 Racing	Volvo 850 20v
BMW Team Schnitzer	BMW 320i
Audi Sport UK	Audi A4 quattro
Total Team Peugeot	Peugeot 406
Honda Team MSD	Honda Accord
Semi-Works
Rouse Sport	Nissan Primera eGT
Independent
Team Dynamics	Ford Mondeo Si

Race calendar

Round		Circuit	Date
1	R1	Donington Park (Grand Prix Circuit, Leicestershire)	21 April
	R2
	R3
2	R4	Brands Hatch (Indy Circuit, Kent)	6 May
	R5
	R6
3	R7	Thruxton (Hampshire)	19 May
	R8
	R9
4	R10	Silverstone (International Circuit, Northamptonshire)	27 May
	R11
	R12
5	R13	Oulton Park (International Circuit, Cheshire)	16 June
	R14
	R15
6	R16	Snetterton (Norfolk)	14 July
	R17
	R18
7	R19	Brands Hatch (Grand Prix Circuit, Kent)	28 July
	R20
	R21
8	R22	Knockhill (Fife)	11 August
	R23
	R24
9	R25	Thruxton (Hampshire)	26 August
	R26
	R27
10	R28	Oulton Park (Fosters Circuit, Cheshire)	8 September
	R29
	R30

Calendar changes

• The second Silverstone round was replaced by a second Thruxton round for 1996.

Results

Round		Circuit	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Winning independent	Report
1	R1	Donington Park
	R2
	R3
2	R4	Brands Hatch
	R5
	R6
3	R7	Thruxton
	R8
	R9
4	R10	Silverstone
	R11
	R12
5	R13	Oulton Park
	R14
	R15
6	R16	Snetterton
	R17
	R18
7	R19	Brands Hatch
	R20
	R21
8	R22	Knockhill
	R23
	R24
9	R25	Thruxton
	R26
	R27
10	R28	Oulton Park
	R29
	R30

Championship standings

Points system

Points system
1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	Pole Position
18	16	14	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	1

Independent points are awarded to the top fifteen drivers in each race as follows:

Points system
1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th
18	16	14	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

Driver's Championship

Pos	Team	Driver	DON			BRH			THR			SIL			OUL			SNE			BRH			KNO			THR			OUL			Pts
1

Manufacturer Driver's Championship

Pos	Team	Driver	DON			BRH			THR			SIL			OUL			SNE			BRH			KNO			THR			OUL			Pts
1

Independent Driver's Championship

Pos	Team	Driver	DON			BRH			THR			SIL			OUL			SNE			BRH			KNO			THR			OUL			Pts
1

Team's Championship

Pos	Manufacturer/Team	Driver	DON			BRH			THR			SIL			OUL			SNE			BRH			KNO			THR			OUL			Pts
1