Thirty races. Twelve different models of car represented, at ten of the most challenging circuits in the UK. A capacity field of thirty-two drivers, including five manufacturer entries. After six months of testing, build-up and speculation, this weekend sees Brands Hatch’s 1.21 mile Indy configuration play host to the opening round of this years British Touring Car Championship.
When the curtain fell on 2016, Gordon Shedden claimed a third championship crown from the jaws of defeat after unseating Sam Tordoff from the top of the table at the very last hurdle. Last season proved a record breaker, with an impressive eight drivers arriving at the finale with a mathematical, if not realistic, chance of claiming the honours. But seldom does anything stay still in motorsport, and the off-season has been no exception.
The Main Stories:
De-activated your social media accounts for the winter, and neglected to buy either Motorsport News or Autosport? Don’t panic, we’ve got all the main talking points from another off-season covered:
- Ashley Sutton will contest his second season with Team BMR’s works Subaru programme alongside the returning Jason Plato, James Cole and new acquisition Josh Price. Team Principal Warren Scott steps sideways into the British Rallycross Championship.
- Colin Turkington has left BMR to re-join championship-winning counterparts West Surrey Racing, and will spearhead their new manufacturer-backed Team BMW programme alongside Rob Collard, with 2013 champion Andrew Jordan joining under the BMW Pirtek Racing banner.
- Jordan’s former team, Motorbase Performance, have signed a three-year sponsorship deal with cereal heavyweights Shredded Wheat. Mat Jackson returns, with Martin Depper and Luke Davenport joining the team from Eurotech and British GT respectively.
- Jack Goff may have left his IHG-backed WSR seat, but has found a berth in Depper’s former Type R at Eurotech Racing alongside Jeff Smith.
- Meanwhile Jordan’s other former employers, MG, have confirmed Daniel Lloyd will contest his first full campaign in the series with them, with Aron Taylor-Smith also joining after Team BKR left the series after a single successful campaign.
- Vauxhall are back! They’ve brought the returning Tom Chilton with them, whilst Clio Cup protegee Senna Proctor makes his series bow.
- Team.HARD have upgraded their fleet of Toyota Avensis’ to Volkswagen CC machines, and promote another series rookie Will Burns from the Ginetta GT4 Supercup.
- Adam Morgan has unveiled a striking new livery after securing title sponsorship from MAC Tools UK.
- Matt Simpson will join the works Honda garage this year with his Type R, though he continues to run independently under the Simpson Racing banner.
- Ant Whorton-Eales has finally gotten a break as the Clio Cup UK champion joins AmD, whilst Dave Newsham and Chris Smiley elect to run with newcomers BTC Norlin Racing.
Timetable
The British Touring Car Championship will have two practice sessions on the Saturday followed by a frenetic half-hour qualifying session, before three action-packed races on the Sunday. Times below:
| Day | Time | Session |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday | 10:00 – 10:40 | Free Practice 1 |
| Saturday | 12:45 – 13:25 | Free Practice 2 |
| Saturday | 15:40 – 16:10 | Qualifying |
| Sunday | 11:32 | Round 1 |
| Sunday | 14:27 | Round 2 |
| Sunday | 17:12 | Round 3 |
Circuit Records:
Qualifying Lap Record: 47.990 seconds (Tom Ingram, 2016)
Race Lap Record: 48.498 seconds (Matt Neal, 2011)
“View From The Paddock” – Damian Meaden
It would be silly to entertain the idea that the usual suspects won’t pick up from where they left off at the end of last season. Honda, Subaru, BMW are likely to be the main contenders, with Mat Jackson, the MG duo of Aron Taylor-Smith and Daniel Lloyd, Tom Ingram and Adam Morgan set to push them hard for their victories.
It’ll be interesting to see who has tested the new Dunlop tyres best over the winter, particularly in the case of those who travelled to Spain and Portugal to simulate this weekends temperature range. With several teams also making the compulsory upgrade to the latest RML control components a year late, reliability may also prove a factor. Factor in the ever-unpredictable Kent weather in early Spring and we’re set for an interesting curtain-raiser.
I’m particularly interested to see how Subaru fare, given their running at this meeting last year was largely consigned to shakedown running and testing. Turkington ran well on the GP loop last October, so there’s certainly potential there.
Also fascinating this weekend will be whether the new B48 supplied to Team BMW can help deliver the extra engine power WSR crave after reaching the end of their development cycle with their last engine model during last season. The team didn’t have the unit available from Neil Brown Engineering in time for their first tests out in Spain, so that is one area rivals could look to exploit. Their strength in the driving seat is likely to minimize that threat, though.
“I remember this time last year….”
- Tom Ingram claimed a maiden pole position during qualifying on Saturday, before fending off both works Honda drivers to take his first victory in the championship.
- A clash with Rob Collard during the middle contest allowed eventual champion Gordon Shedden to open his tally of victories for the season, with Aron Smith securing an impressive maiden podium for fledgling outfit Team BKR in third.
- Adam Morgan narrowly edged out the BMW pairing of Sam Tordoff and Jack Goff by less than half a second to get his campaign underway in fine fashion.
- Jason Plato scored the first-ever points for Subaru in the BTCC with 13th in race two.
- Ashley Sutton impressed on his debut for MG with three top-ten finishes including fourth on his debut in the category.
Weather:
Saturday: Sunny intervals with possibility of occasional rain showers.
Sunday: Bright with sunny intervals.