BTCC - The SuperTouring Years : SuperTouring America

SuperTouring North America

North America has to be one of the most unlikely contries in which to see SuperTouring racing. The USA have never been keen to adopt European motorsport of any kind, favouring their own breed of racing, but the North America Touring Car Championship (NATCC) did become a reality in 1996, but unfortunately suffered from a continual lack of full manufacturer support.

The series was the initiative of Gerald Forsythe, a long time CART team owner and a major shareholder in the CART championship. Forsythe wanted to tap into the massive car market in America, and saw the incredible success of SuperTouring around the world as an opportunity to achieve his goal.

Organising the series for Forsythe was Roger Elliot, vice president of Forsythe Racing, with assistance from TOCA president Alan Gow. They spent most of 1995 pushing the idea of a championship to the various car manufacturers and team owners both in America and the rest of the world, but initial interest in the idea was dissapointing.

Many suggested that it would be difficult for the series to compete against the other already well established 'sedan' championships, such as NASCAR or Trans-Am, and that there would be little interest in a series for European 2 litre racers. Many manufacturers also questioned whether they would be able to reach their target audience through this form of racing in America, making the championship less cost effective for them.

Despite the lack of interested and continual rumours predicting the that the series would never get off the ground, Elliot gathered sufficient backing for the inagural season to go ahead in 1996 as planned.

At a meeting in Detroit, the car captial of America, Elliot announced that the season would consist of 7 events with two races at each, and a prize fund of $52,000 per event. The series would be sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and aligned to CART, with selected races expected to be run alongside the existing Indy Car and Indy Lights championships.

The actual number of entrants were still to be confirmed, but two manufacturer teams and upto 10 privateer entries had expressed interest, which could mean upto 20 cars per event. A title sponsor was still to be found, but Elliot confirmed that this was not stop the championship from going ahead.

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