One of the new BTC Touring specification cars entered in the 2001 BTCC season was the JS Motorsport-built Alfa Romeo 147. It was the first of the independently built BTC-T cars to race, being ready in time for the first round of the season. Despite originally intending to run 4 BTC-T spec and 2 Production spec cars,[1] only 2 BTC-T cars were ever entered in one event,[2] and no Production spec car was ever built.[3] The team had 4 different drivers across the season: the experienced David Pinkney (rounds 1-4) and Tim Harvey (rounds 3-4 and 9-13) sharing drives with the younger Mark Blair (rounds 10-11) and Tom Ferrier (rounds 2, 7-9 and 12-13). Darren Malkin had been announced, before the season started, as one of the drivers; however, he never made an appearance.[4]
The 147 proved to be unreliable, racking up 16 DNFs across the season, failing to start seven other races, and a multitude of other reliability gremlins. Despite this, the car was reasonably competitive - Harvey taking a surprise podium at the feature race at Oulton Park, albeit in a race marred by attrition,[5] and Ferrier was running in a fine second place at Donington Park until engine failure ended his race.[6] Harvey was the most successful driver, finishing 8th in the Driver's championship, whilst JS Motorsport's 4th place in the Team's championship was more a reflection of the small grid than anything else.[7] The team did not reappear for 2002, and the 147s were not raced again.
