Jack Goff is looking to put a frustrating weekend at Oulton Park behind him as he and Team IHG Rewards Club head to the 2.13 mile Croft circuit for the fifth meeting of the British Touring Car Championship season.
Goff endured his most difficult weekend to date this season in Cheshire a fortnight ago, with a 9th place finish in the second contest as good as proceedings got for the former MG and BMR driver.
The one-time race winner heads into this weekends meeting in Yorkshire placed a solid 8th overall in the Drivers standings, some 43 points adrift of WSR team-mate and championship leader, Sam Tordoff. His other team-mate, Rob Collard, lies 3rd, 19 points clear of Goff.
The BMW 125i M-Sport has proved to be a formidable weapon at Croft in recent seasons, with WSR claiming all three race victories last season and a first ever 1-2-3 finish in BTCC history. Andy Priaulx piloted the IHG-branded BMW to a victory that day, something Goff will be looking to emulate this weekend.
Reflecting on former glories for the team at the BARC circuit, Goff also pointed to his relative lack of success ballast compared to his closest rivals as a possible advantage in this weekends triple header.
“Croft has traditionally been a circuit where the BMWs have performed well, and as I’m only carrying 21kg of ballast heading into the weekend, we could be in very good shape.”
He also took a pragmatic view on the frustrations suffered at Oulton Park, which have provided both driver and team with another opportunity to improve both on and off-circuit.
“Oulton Park wasn’t a great weekend for us and we’re now eighth in the championship, but we’ve taken stock of that, analysed the weekend and now know why things went the way they did.” he explained.
He also pointed to team-mate Tordoff’s meteoric rise to the top of the table after a near-perfect weekend at Oulton Park as an example of just how quickly things can change in the UK’s premier tin-top series.
“It’s just so tight at the top in the BTCC this season that if we have a weekend like Sam Tordoff did at Oulton, we could be right back in the fight.”
“I’ve never been on the podium at Croft, but it’s something I’m determined to put right this weekend so we can head into the summer break on a high.”
The three contests at Croft get underway on Sunday 19th June at 12:02, 14:32 and 17:09 respectively.