With the new low-cost BTC Touring rules encouraging private teams to build their own cars,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

-based ABG Motorsport decided to construct a Lexus IS200 for 2001. Converted from a roadcar into a racing machine, the car missed the first meeting at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

, but appeared at Thruxton for the second event of the season and made an instant impression with its all-black paintjob. Initially driven by

Kurt Luby Kurt Luby (born 6 March 1963 in Bolton, Lancashire) is a former British auto racing driver who now works as a motorcycle dealer in his hometown of Bolton. He first entered racing through karting in 1978, winning seven championships up to 1987. In 19 ...

, he stepped down after round 12, and was replaced by Brazilian

Thomas Erdos Thomas "Tommy" Erdos (born 30 October 1963) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He has raced for most of his career in Great Britain and Europe, where he currently resides in Buckinghamshire England with his partner Sheila. He has three childre ...

, originally contracted to drive a second IS200, but construction of a second chassis was never undertaken. The Lexus was a reasonably competitive machine, taking several top six finishes behind the works

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...

s, usually competing with the works Peugeot 406 Coupes. Autocar magazine journalist

Steve Sutcliffe Steve Sutcliffe (born in 1968) is a former British motor racing driver who now works as a motoring journalist. His first serious racing took place in 1993 in the Caterham K Series Championship, where he finished the season second in points. In 1 ...

drove in the final two rounds at Brands Hatch, but struggled in the wet conditions, finishing 9th in the sprint race. The sole chassis was withdrawn at the end of 2001 as ABG Motorsport withdrew from the BTCC, although

Super 2000 Super 2000 is an FIA powertrain specification used in the World Rally Championship, the British Touring Car Championship, the World Touring Car Championship, and other touring car championships. The engines were originally 2 L naturally aspirate ...

-specification IS200s did appear in 2005 and 2006.

Chassis History

Car 1 *2001 -

(Rounds 3-12)/

(Rounds 13-24)/

(Rounds 25 and 26)

References

British Touring Car Championship Touring cars Cars introduced in 2001 Rear-wheel-drive vehicles IS200 BTC-T {{touringcar-stub