In 2001 the regulations changed to the new Touring Cars. Vauxhall debuted its BTC-T Vauxhall Astra Coupe for both the Vauxhall Motorsport team and Egg Sport both run by Triple Eight Race Engineering. The Astra was the car to beat against its competitors. Muller and teammate Plato fought for the championship the whole season. Muller finished 2nd in the championship after his car caught fire in the final race leaving Plato as the champion. 2002 BTCC would be much of the same. The Astra was the best car against Honda, Peugeot, MG and Proton despite some reliability problems throughout the season. James Thompson moved up to Vauxhall Motorsport after 2001 champion Jason Plato left to drive in NASCAR. Yvan finished 2nd in the championship again behind teammate James Thompson after more bad luck during the season and last few races caused him to again miss out on the title. He would again drive in 2003 for Vauxhall. The team now called VX Racing continued racing the Astra Coupe and also streached to a three car works Vauxhall/VXR team after Egg Sport was dropped. The Astra Coupe was again the car to beat and Yvan Muller and James Thompson again fought for the championship. Muller won his first title from teammate Thompson after a very strong season.
