This is a RWD, 850kg junior touring car for aspiring teenage racing drivers

This is the Chevron B1417, and though it sounds like a premium range food blender, it’s actually the car that ambitious young drivers will use to compete in the freshly-forged TOCA Junior Championship next year.

Looks like a souped-up Peugeot 106 that’s been slightly stretched and had its wheel well gap evaporated, right? The whole thing weighs just 850kg and features a naturally aspirated 1.9-litre four-pot and rear-wheel-drive, though the power and torque figures haven’t yet been shared.

The chassis is heavily modified, featuring customised safety cages, removable subframes and energy-absorbing materials to make it as safe as possible for the 14 to 17-year-olds that’ll be using it. There’s even a bit of that funky active aero stuff going on with the adjustable rear wing, so it’s not completely primitive.

Other bits include a limited-slip differential, two-way suspension dampers and a set of Goodyear Direzza racing tyres, so it should make light work of all the twisty stuff. Probably.

The interior is… mostly just bits of scaffolding and carbon fibre. But somewhere within all that sits a Momo steering wheel, a five-speed manual transmission an actual gauge cluster that shows… many numbers. The single Corbeau ARS-6 seat also has a six-point harness attached, while an FIA-grade racing net sits beside it.

Speaking on the new championship, here’s what Alan Gow, the BTCC’s chief executive, said: “This is a fantastic stepping-stone for young drivers in the UK – a vital bridge between karting and moving into the professional ranks of motorsport.

“Junior categories in this country have produced Formula One race winners and many drivers have gone on to have successful careers in open-wheel, touring car and GT racing – we look forward to the TOCA Junior Championship helping to continue that great tradition.”