The touring car version of Toyota's Avensis sedan has moved a step closer to its competition debut following extensive wind tunnel testing at MIRA's aerodynamic analysis facility. The Avensis NGTC (Next Generation Touring Car) is being constructed by GPR Motorsport and is scheduled to hit the tarmac for the first time in the opening rounds of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) at Brands Hatch on 3 April.
As you can see in the photo below, the NGTC specification Avensis was joined in the MIRA wind tunnel by a road-going model equipped with a rear wing as the TOCA technical staff wanted to establish a baseline for the car’s aerodynamics.
“We needed to fix a position for the rear wing, based on the aerodynamics of the road car, which gave the levels of downforce we were looking for,” said the championship’s technical director, Peter Riches. “I am pleased to say that this was quickly achieved, and it means that we now have a base line for all cars built to the NGTC regulations and have saved a lot of development time and potential expense for the teams.”
The Japanese firm is not competing in the series with a works team, but does supply the donor cars and body shells to GPR Motorsport. Up until now, two private teams - Dynojet and Speedworks - have taken up the challenge to run in the Avensis, but the company said it hoped that their example will be followed by others "looking to take advantage of the reduced costs of development associated with the new car".
