Thursday 13th January 2005

Vauxhall launches new BTCC Astra

Carmaker plans to show impressions at Autosport

---

Reigning BTCC champion Vauxhall will launch its assault on the 2005 British Touring Car Championship with a brand new three-door Astra this year – the new Astra Sport Hatch.

The new generation VX Racing car makes its competition debut in the opening rounds of the 2005 BTCC at Donington Park in April, in the same week its sister car, the three-door Astra Sport Hatch goes on sale across the UK. The out-going Astra Coupe was the most successful car ever in the BTCC.

An artist’s impression of the new Astra Sport Hatch BTCC car will be shown on Vauxhall’s stand at Autosport at the NEC, Birmingham this week.

Stuart Harris, VXR Brand Manager, said: "The new Astra Sport Hatch has a tough act to follow because the old Astra Coupe was so incredibly successful, winning the BTCC manufacturer’s, team and driver’s titles for four straight seasons. It always takes some time to develop a new racing car, but the newcomer does have some inherent design advantages over the outgoing car, and we’d like to think it won’t be long before the new Astra is winning races."

BTCC technical regulations require the racing cars to retain a strong similarity to their roadgoing counterparts, retaining essentially the same suspension layout, engine structure, engine position, and bodywork.

The new Astra Sport Hatch’s chassis is stiffer than its predecessors, which benefits roadholding; the front and rear tracks are a little wider, which will aid stability and increase the grip potential; and the front and rear suspensions, while remaining essentially the same as the road car’s in layout and geometry, have been re-tuned to increase installation stiffness and improve control. The new three-door Sport Hatch has a particularly low roofline, which gives a useful aerodynamic advantage.

Currently under construction, the new car is scheduled to have its first high-speed runs at Jarama circuit in Spain later this month.

[PetrolTed]

[LongQ]

Chavette anyone?

[v8thunder]

Nothing 'Chav' about it at all - all those bits do something, I don't see any neons, it goes like stink and will probably win the next BTCC. Lotus were involved in the development, and I can't see many getting plastic larded on them either.

[PetrolTed]

It's a good looking car. I hope it makes production in that form - quite aggressive looking.

[TeamD]

Hmmmm....I thought about getting one of the these and converting it to a rally car (my local dealership reckons the sport will start shipping around Easter).

That was until we bought the scooby!

[DanL]

PetrolTed said:

It's a good looking car. I hope it makes production in that form - quite aggressive looking.

Is that the Astra VXR? I believe they're planning one...

Dan