I may be jumping the gun a little, but I think 2007 could prove to be the best BTCC season for almost a decade.
Why? Well, there are probably about nine drivers who are definite potential race-winners (I'm thinking of Plato, Turner, Neal, Shedden, Giovanardi, Chilton, Turkington, Onslow-Cole and Jackson), and others (Jordan, Jones and Howell, to name but three) could do it in the right circumstances. While there may be relatively few 'big names' like there were in the '90s, the young talent that's come through is quite exceptional — I think we saw that yesterday — and far better than the various ex-F1 drivers who came into the BTCC for want of anything better to do. The grid is a good size, which makes the championship look good, and there's a real mix of makes and models, not to mention types of driver.
The only downsides I can think of are the loss of Silverstone, which is after all the best-known circuit in the country, and the rather patchy TV coverage. Other than that, it's all good.
What do you think?