‘ 2015, there were 32 cars on the grid of the BTCC, and, at one point, 21 of them with our engine’
‘ 2015, there were 32 cars on the grid of the BTCC, and, at one point, 21 of them with our engine’
So when Raphaël aquired Swindon Powertrain in 2010, it made sense to enter into BTCC somehow. Rather than easing into the championship with an engine for one team, Raphaël sought to revolutionise the series.‘ BTCC was not in a great place in 2010, because everybody had left. There were, I think, 17 cars on the grid. I was convinced that the number of entrants was low because developing your own engine for a team was too expensive and risky.
‘ I came up with a concept for Swindon to develop an engine. It will be unbranded, and it will sell it to whoever wants it to put in any car. I was faced with many people saying it will never work. In 2010, it was what most people thought. Fast forward to 2015, there were 32 cars on the grid of BTCC, and, at one point, 21 of them with our engine. We sort of invaded BTCC with our engines.’ That alone sounds like a win, but it’ s actual race victories Raphaël seeks.
‘ We won a lot of things, but when you have a race with 32 cars, and your engine is in 21 of them, only one of them will win on Sunday. You get back to the office on Monday, and you’ ve got 20 losers on the phone. I exaggerate, but the reality is that if you don’ t win in motor racing, it’ s a nightmare. So I had 20 nightmares on Monday morning. And that’ s far too many if you want to develop a business.’
‘ We still had 18 cars in 2021. And then we gave that project away to another company, who have since sunk it.’ Raphaël made sure Swindon was still involved with BTCC somehow.‘ We made a deal with the Hyundai team for a bespoke Hyundai engine, which we started racing in 2022. On the first race of the championship, we got it. Boom!’
Swindon Powertrian was already an established motorsport engine specialist before Raphaël took it on. It was best known for its expertise in Cosworth DFVs and maintained the
Raphaël Caillé, the CEO of Swindon Powertrain
46 The Engine Rebuilder Issue 05