It’s shameful to admit, but I’m becoming increasingly jealous of the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship. The latest big name signing is Colin Turkington, who joins fellow former BTCC champions James Thompson and Rickard Rydell.

Even assuming that Jason Plato joins Matt Neal in the BTCC this year, it’s virtually guaranteed that the STCC will have more BTCC champions on the grid than the British Touring Car Championship itself. Which simply isn’t fair.

Any other BTCC champions?

With Yvan Muller, Alain Menu and Gabriele Tarquini firmly ensconced in the WTCC, realistically it would take the return of Fabrizio Giovanardi to bring the BTCC level with the STCC. Given that there wasn’t the money to keep Giovanardi at Triple Eight for more than one meeting last year, and Triple Eight have completed their driver line-up for 2011, it’s not looking very bloody likely. And Giovanardi seems quite happy working with N.Technology, anyway.

But let’s check: are there any other former BTCC champions who could be tempted back? Laurent Aiello (1999) is retired; Frank Biela (1996) continues to dabble in racing for Audi; John Cleland (1995) is retired; and Tim Harvey (1992) has switched to commentating on the BTCC. So no, there aren’t.

An embarrassment of Scandinavian driving riches

Back to Scandinavia, then. The STCC is new for 2011, the result of the Swedish and Danish championships merging. So as well as STEALING OUR CHAMPIONS, there’s no shortage of illustrious local names, like Jan Magnussen, twice Danish champion and Formula 1 points scorer; and multiple Swedish champion Richard Göransson.

In short, it’s a field of drivers to rival the World Touring Car Championship. Rydell himself goes further, and puts the STCC ahead of both the BTCC and WTCC. With varying degrees of works entries from BMW, Chevrolet, Volkswagen and Volvo in the STCC, he might have a point.

Not that there won’t be plenty of quality drivers, and a very healthy variety of cars, in the BTCC in 2011. But it slightly pales in comparison to the STCC, doesn’t it?

NGTC regulations

But even without fancy foreign drivers, the BTCC can boast about one thing: the new NGTC regulations, which the STCC will be adopting from 2012. It nearly didn’t happen, and the reception in Scandinavia hasn’t been entirely positive. But it has to be good news for the BTCC.

I’d say more about the STCC and NGTC, but Neil Hudson and Matt Salisbury have both beaten me to it. So just read their pieces instead, and pretend that I would have written anything remotely as informed.