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

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

-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 hosts ...

, 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 Gerrard Luby (born 6 March 1963 in Bolton, Lancashire) is a British former 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. ...

, 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. A two-time Le Mans Series champion and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner in LMP2, he has raced for most of his career in Great Britain and Europe, where he currently reside ...

, 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 an area of South London, within the London Borough of Lambeth. Named after a medieval manor called Fox Hall, it became well known for the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. From the Victorian period until the mid-20th century, Va ...

s, usually competing with the works Peugeot 406 Coupes. Autocar magazine journalist Steve Sutcliffe 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 The sole chassis was withdrawn at the end of 2001 as ABG Motorsport withdrew from the BTCC, although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 Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA powertrain specification used in the World Rally Championship, the British Touring Car Championship, the World Touring Car Championship, and other touring car racing, touring car ...

-specification IS200s did appear in 2005 and 2006.

Chassis History

Car 1 *2001 -

(Rounds 3-12)/

(Rounds 13-24)/ Steve Sutcliffe (Rounds 25 and 26)

References

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