Touring Cars: Britain's answer to spectacle of Le Mans

A NEW attempt to produce Britain's answer to Le Mans will take place this evening as rounds 15 and 16 of the top domestic series, the Auto Trader British Touring Car Championship, takes place at Snetterton in Norfolk.

The BTCC's regular format of a sprint race followed later by a longer feature race remains, but the sprint will start at dusk, with the feature set to run in darkness at 11pm. Funfairs, a Ferris wheel, fireworks and a laser show are part of the plan to generate a Le Mans-style holiday atmosphere.

To allow for the dark conditions, the BTCC cars will have fluorescent numbers and signs, and some will use spark-inducing titanium skid plates, while the half of the track where most spectators sit will be floodlit.

Most of the factory drivers have night-racing experience and feel that the darkness will make little difference to the way they drive, though Vauxhall's veteran double champion John Cleland fears skulduggery on the dark side of the track. Race officials have promised to be particularly vigilant.

Cleland's rivals will include Will Hoy, the 1991 champion, who is making his seasonal debut in an independently run Renault Laguna. Hoy was a BTCC regular from 1991 until the end of 1998 when he was dropped by Ford.