thank you Mr Peugeot

[pit rat]

Just announced that Peugeot is in for the 2001 BTCC - a big thank you to Peugeot for possibly saving the championship. In yesterday's Autosport Vauxhall threatened to pull out if no other manufacturers were there. Well now they are.

2 down a few more to go before we have a proper BTCC.

[White Van Man]

Brilliant!! Welcome back to Vic Lee - you've been missed! Now, if you can ust persuade Will Hoy and Steve Soper to make a comeback... Let's just hope that they stick with their current NSC line-up and don't see fit to hire a robot like Aiello.

Hopefully this move encourages Rover and Volvo to commit too.

[Bring Back The Cavaliers]

He's never gonna come back, especially in a lower spec tourer. Who would want him back anyway?

[RIKB]

Yes it is good to see another manufacturere committing to the series. Peugeot are going to run 2 factory run cars, with the possibility of a further 2 "Independents"

The announcement doesn't really come as any great surprise though, it has been widely predicted for quite a while now.

The real question now, isn't where are the others? so much as Who are they.

I get the impression that Vauxhall are looking for at least four works teams to keep them interested. Although I cant see why, as they coukldn't seem to cope with just two opponents this year!

[Eddie_harasym]

Yep, great news about the pug entries, carn't wait to see that 307, it looks pretty good in standard road going spec.

Well the first two are in place who's going to fill the remaining four places, place your bets now......

1. Rover
2. Seat
3. Honda
4. Nissan

????

[Danielsun]

Well done again to Peugeot for committing to the 2001 BTCC. Let's just hope that the car goes as good as it will reportedly look. Unlike the old 405s and 406s, which went winless in their BTCC careers (not counting Aiello's successes in Europe).

I'd guess that Rover will enter in the end; it's rumoured in Autosport and Lola are said to be the car's builders. Volvo could return after just one season out of the series, with Prodrive, but with exactly which car remains to be seen.

BMW could make a welcome return, if only in the hands of Matt Neal and Team Dynamics. SEAT would be a very welcome addition to the series, as they're pulling out of the WRC come this season's end. It would, after all, pit Ford against the VW group indirectly...

Nissan, however, is probably totally finished in the BTCC. There's no team to run them and the Primera has probably won as many races as it's needed to over the course of four years. Same for Honda, which may end up doing a Volvo and taking a 'sabbatical' for a while before returning with a new car.