The traditional lengthy BTCC summer break is an ideal time to have a look at where the points have gone so far.

Regulations

All the chatter so far this season has been around regulations, and the attempts to equalise the normally aspirated S2000 engines to the new turbo NGTC engines.

There are four combinations of regulations on the grid: NGTC; S2000 car, NGTC engine; S2000; BTC. How do they compare?

It’s not a secret that the pure NGTC cars have struggled so far, and failed to score a point. The only ageing BTC car has been Lea Wood at two meetings, and having scored any points at all is impressive.

More than half of the grid has been made up of the S2000/NGTC hybrid, and with nearly three-quarters of all the points scored, they have comfortably outperformed the other combinations. Which leaves the pure S2000 cars, whose share of the points isn’t far away from their share of the grid.

So has the NGTC engine been the deciding factor so far this season? No. Let’s look at the teams.

Teams

Most of the established teams have gone with the S2000/NGTC hybrid, so it’s no surprise that they have scored more than their fair share of the points.

It’s generally lower budget teams that have gone with the other regulations – with the notable exception of Silverline Chevrolet, responsible for an awful lot of the S2000 points.

So let’s compare the manufacturer, constructor and independent teams.

Manufacturer teams have scored twice their fair share of the points. I think that demonstrates the real answer.

Jason Plato can moan about the turbo engines as much as he likes – and with some justification. But at the end of the day, it’s not regulations that have created the greatest inequality – it’s money.