Chris Hodgetts

Christopher Leonard Hodgetts (born 6 December 1950 in Tanworth-in-Arden, Warwickshire) is a British former racing driver. He began his racing career in 1979, driving in the Clubman Class A championship.

BTCC career

Hodgetts debuted in the British Touring Car Championship in 1980. His first overall podium place came in 1981 when he came second. He was consistent in the top five after that, mostly driving for the works Toyota team. He came fourth in 1983, fifth in 1984, second in 1985, before winning the series in 1986 and 1987 at the wheel of a Group A Toyota Corolla AE86. The 1988 season was not a success. The new Group A Toyota Supra needed a lot of development and only a handful of good results were gained. His last race in the BTCC was in 1990. That season, he drove for the works Vauxhall team, helping to develop the new Vauxhall Cavalier. Towards the end of the year he switched to a Ford Sierra, before calling time on his BTCC career. During the 1989 season, Hodgetts was driving for Brooklyn in an iconic red Ford Sierra RS500.

After the BTCC

Besides racing in touring cars, Hodgetts also found success in sports car racing. He shared the BRDC C2 Championship with Tim Harvey in 1989 before retiring and won the TVR Tuscan Challenge in 1990. The 1994 season saw Chris in the Rover Turbo Challenge. He also drove in the World Sportscar Championship on occasion and had seven starts in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, representing team such as Mazdaspeed, Courage Compétition and Spice Engineering. He had a best finish of seventh place overall in the classic 24 hour race. In 1995 he won the GT2 title in the British GT Championship, driving a Marcos LM600. He retired after 1998, when he drove a Lola in the ISRS.

Hodgetts now works for Racing Team & Drivers as a driver instructor. His son Stefan raced in the BTCC in 2004.

Racing record

Complete British Saloon / Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1980–1990 in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded ?–1989 in class)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 DC Pts Class 1980 Hughes of Beaconsfield Toyota Celica GT MALovr:3†cls:3† OULovr:1†cls:1† THRovr:14cls:4 SILovr:9cls:1 SILovr:7cls:1 BRHDSQ MAL Ret BRH THRRet SILovr:14cls:2 6th 45 1st 1981 Hughes of Beaconsfield Toyota Celica GT MALRet† SILRet OULovr:1†cls:1† THRovr:11cls:1 BRHovr:8†cls:4† SILovr:12cls:1 SILovr:11cls:1 DONovr:1†cls:1† BRHovr:8cls:1 THRovr:?cls:4 SILovr:7cls:2 2nd 74 1st 1982 Chris Hodgetts Toyota Corolla GT SIL MAL OUL THR THR SIL DONRet BRHRet DON BRH SIL NC 0 NC 1983 Brooklyn Motorsport Ford Escort RS1600i SILovr:13cls:7 OULovr:14cls:6 THRovr:13cls:5 BRHRet THRovr:12cls:4 SILovr:7cls:1 DONRet SILovr:13cls:3 DONovr:9cls:2 BRHovr:11cls:1 SILovr:10cls:1 3rd 43 2nd 1984 Brooklyn Motorsport Ford Escort RS1600i DONovr:10cls:1 SILovr:11cls:2 OULovr:11cls:2 THRRet THRRet SILovr:?cls:2 SNEovr:13cls:3 BRHovr:11cls:1 BRHRet DONovr:16cls:4 SILRet 5th 45 2nd 1985 Brooklyn Motorsport / ECS Ford Escort RS1600i SILovr:10cls:2 OULovr:9cls:2 THRovr:9cls:3 DONovr:10cls:1 THRovr:7cls:1 SILovr:13cls:3 DONovr:14cls:1 SILovr:13cls:1 SNEovr:10cls:1 BRHovr:8cls:1 BRHovr:10cls:1 SILDNS 2nd 77 1st 1986 Team Toyota GB/Duckhams Toyota Corolla GT SILovr:9cls:1 THRovr:4cls:1 SILovr:7cls:1 DONovr:4cls:1 BRHovr:12cls:1 SNEovr:7cls:1 BRHovr:5cls:2 DONovr:7cls:1 SILovr:8cls:1 1st 85 1st 1987 Chris Hodgetts Motor Sport Toyota Corolla SILovr:8cls:1 OULovr:8cls:1 THRovr:5cls:1 THRovr:11cls:2 SILovr:9cls:1 SILovr:12cls:1 BRHovr:7cls:1 SNEovr:7cls:1 DONovr:9cls:1 OULovr:3/5‡cls:1/2‡ DONovr:8cls:1 SIL 1st 84 1st 1988 MIL Motorsport Toyota Supra Turbo SILovr:8cls:4 OULRet THR DONRet THRovr:12cls:10 SILRet SIL BRH 33rd 7 13th Brooklyn Motorsport Ford Sierra RS500 BRHovr:7cls:7 BIRC DONovr:3cls:3 SILRet Demon Tweeks BMW M3 SNERet NC 0 NC 1989 Brooklyn Motorsport Ford Sierra RS500 OULovr:8cls:7 SILovr:6cls:6 THRRet DONDNQ THRRet SILovr:7cls:7 SILovr:8cls:8 BRH SNE BRH BIRovr:4cls:4 DONovr:11cls:11 40th 6 14th JQF Engineering SILovr:5cls:5 1990 Vauxhall Motorsport Vauxhall Cavalier OUL DONRet‡ THR SIL OULovr:15cls:7 SILovr:12cls:5 BRHRet SNEovr:11cls:6 BRH BIRovr:8cls:3 DON 16th 46 9th Hawaiian Tropic Ford Sierra Sapphire THRovr:7cls:3 SILovr:13cls:7 † Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.

‡ Endurance driver.