A review of the 2004 Green Flag British Touring Car Championship will be broadcast on Britain’s largest commercial terrestrial television channel, ITV1, on Sunday 31 October.

The review, 45 minutes in length, follows ITV1’s unprecedented coverage of the championship’s ten events, including five live broadcasts. The coverage, filmed and produced by Granada Sport, has equated to over 13 hours’ airtime – an increase of nearly 40 per cent over last year – and has been watched by close to 12 million viewers.

At Donington Park last month, the BTCC title race reached a dramatic conclusion as James Thompson beat Vauxhall team-mate Yvan Muller to the crown by just one point. ITV1’s live coverage of the title-deciding final round attracted the season’s biggest audience of 1,544,000 viewers.

It was one of the most dramatic finales in the BTCC’s 47-year history and the closest finish since the championship’s current two-litre formula began in 1991. There were also an unprecedented ten different winners during the season.

While the action on the circuit was full of drama, there was plenty of excitement off it too; for example, who will forget the heated row between Anthony Reid and rival Matt Neal at Silverstone, captured by ITV1’s cameras and which led to additional coverage on the channel’s new motor sport show Speed Sunday?

BTCC Series Director Alan Gow commented: “Quite how ITV1 and Granada Sport will fit everything into 45 minutes I have no idea. The 2004 BTCC has been amazing for everyone involved and has made for some captivating viewing. To have the title come down to the last lap of the year is always something special and that is exactly what we got.

“I cannot wait for ITV1’s review – considering how much there is to show, it will seem like a very quick 45 minutes.”