Owen Developments, Europe’s leading performance forced induction specialist and sole turbocharger supplier to the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, is delighted that the series is ready to roar back into action over the weekend of 31st March / 1st April 2012 at the famous Brands Hatch circuit.
For 2012 the entire grid of 24 cars for Britain’s premier racing series has switched to either S2000 based or Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) 2.0-litre turbocharged engines, which means that Owen Developments has been busier than ever supplying more teams and more engine builders an ever before.
TOCA, the Championship’s organiser, awarded Owen Developments the contract to supply the BTCC turbochargers in late 2010 prompted by the advent of the S2000 and NGTC rules aimed at slashing costs. In response to TOCA’s request for a responsive, reliable turbocharger to last all season without requiring rebuilds, Owen Developments produced an advanced external wastegate motorsport unit, packed with innovative but well proven technologies.
Features of the BTCC specification turbocharger include a motorsport specification ball bearing centre housing rotational assembly, a billet alloy wheel compressor wheel and aerodynamic lock nut to maximise both flow and transient boost response. Owen’s use of a TIAL Sport stainless steel turbine housing helps reduce the overall weight of the turbo, as well as improving thermal properties and crack resistance.
Owen’s success in meeting TOCA’s performance and reliability criteria can be measured by the fact that many of the Owen’s BTCC turbochargers used throughout the 2011 racing season have not required a winter rebuild.
The 2012 specification of the Owen Developments BTCC turbo is unaltered, but TOCA has moved to further ensure parity of engine performance between the turbocharged cars that compete in the series.
After three months of scientific research and data collation, the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship has introduced a system that will be used to automatically level out any significant performance differentials between relevant turbocharged S2000-based cars and their newer ‘Next Generation Touring Car’ rivals throughout 2012. A highly detailed ‘flow-test programme’, to establish the baseline boost pressure setting of all engines running Owen’s turbochargers in each type of car from the start of the season, is now complete.
“All of the staff at Owen Developments are delighted with the large number of BTCC cars using our motorsport turbochargers this year,” says Owen Developments MD Brian Owen. “The reliability and the performance of Owen’s turbos was proven in last year’s BTCC and for 2012 we’re proud that our turbochargers are being used to effectively improve and equalise engine performance, thereby allowing more manufacturers and teams onto the grid than ever before.”
