Category: Touring Cars

Colin Turkington took a dominant win at Brands Hatch, the 53rd of his career as Tom Ingram and Ash Sutton round off the podium in a nightmare race for Honda drivers.

Of all the Honda drivers in the field, of which there are seven, only two finished, with five all retiring with various mechanical issues.

Cammish got a poor start and was leapfrogged by Turkington and Jackson, with Ingram passing the Honda driver too on the first lap. Ingram moved up into second as he passed Jackson into Sheene curve. After an encouraging weekend at Donington last weekend, Chris Smiley went off and lost a handful of places in his Hyundai.

Rory Butcher was keen to put his race one heartache behind him as he made 13 places in two laps to be 12th as the safety car came out following a collision between Bobby Thompson and Michael Crees.

On the restart after a six lap safety car period, Cammish and Ingram were chasing down Turkington. Tom Chilton passed Jackson for fourth, but his Honda broke down, with Matt Neal joining him in the pits with mechanical issues on lap ten.

Rory Butcher continued his rise up the grid as he passed Senna Proctor at Paddock, before Jake Hill became the latest Honda to retire with an engine issue coming onto the GP section.

On lap 16 Butcher passed his team mate Ollie Jackson for fifth, making it 20 places made in one race. Dan Cammish’s Honda then broke down, struggling to find any power. The Yorkshireman finally got it going again but finished way down the grid.

Turkington took the win and extended his lead in the championship over Ingram who finished second. Sutton finished third in his pacey Infiniti with Butcher inheriting fourth, and a 21 place gain off the grid. Jackson was fifth with Adam Morgan, Tom Oliphant, Senna Proctor, Stephen Jelley and James Gornall rounding off the top ten.

Dan Cammish benefited from some bad luck to Rory Butcher to win the first race at Brands Hatch. Butcher’s puncture three laps from the end saw Cammish inherit the win, with Colin Turkington second and Butcher’s team mate Ollie Jackson picking up a fantastic podium for Motorbase.

Turkington had a great start and flew up to third on the run to Paddock bend, with BUtcher holding off Cammish. Turkington’s team mate Tom Oliphant slid off later on in the lap but did well to recover and only lose a few places.

The best fight was for fifth place, which was occupied by Jake HIll in the MB Motorsport Honda Civic. Tom Ingram was first to challenge HIll, before Josh Cook slid off while fighting the pair for fifth. He returned to the pits to clear any debris out of his radiator before rejoining.

Out front Butcher and Cammish were fighting for the lead, the Honda looked more stable but Butcher’s Ford Focus ST held firm. Ingram had another go at passing Hill for fifth, and on lap 12 the Toyota driver finally passed Hill.

Meanwhile further down the grid Aiden Moffat and Matt Neal collided, Neal dove down the inside and tipped Moffat round, but the Infiniti tapped into Neal and spun his Team Dynamics Honda into the wall and out. Bringing out the Safety Car.

With a three lap dash to the flag, Cammish received a stroke of luck as Butcher picked up a puncture going out of Paddock bend and Cammish passed at Druids.

Cammish took the chequered flag and won the sixth race of his career. Turkington grabbed second and Ollie Jackson held off a speedy Ingram for the final podium slot.

Image Credit: BTCC Media

Ash Sutton rounded off a fantastic day by taking the win in the third and final race at Donington Park. Chris Smiley grabbed second in a great debut weekend for Excelr8’s new Hyundai, with Josh Cook finishing third in his Honda Civic.

Smiley’s Hyundai was drawn to start on pole thanks to the reverse grid draw. Ollie Jackson in the Motorbase Ford Focus was next to him on the grid.

Jackson made the better start and led on the run down to Redgate. Stephen Jelley made a fantastic start to be third out of the first corner. Debutants Jack Butel and Ollie Brown collided at the Craner Curves, with Butel spinning, bringing out a brief safety car period.

Jackson continued to lead on the restart, Sutton moved up to sixth as he passed race one winner Dan Cammish before taking fifth from Jelley. Jack Goff’s miserable weekend continued as he span off. He retired to the pits.

Lap six and there was a four way battle for the lead between Jackson, Smiley, Josh Cook and Adam Morgan. Jelley spun at the chicane to lose his fine progress and he finished 18th.

On lap seven and Smiley took the lead into the Auld Hairpin, meanwhile Sutton joined the battle for the lead. The 2017 champion was surging forward and was second going into lap ten.

He finally passed Smiley for the lead coming into the final chicane and pulled away.

Senna Proctor started last having had a full engine refit and missed race two. He made it all the way to 15th and the points, before going off with only a couple of laps to go.

Sutton took the chequered flag with Smiley picking up a brilliant podium in the debut weekend for the Hyundai i30N. Cook finished third with Morgan and Jackson rounding off the top five.

Tom Ingram had a solid weekend and finished sixth, with Cammish and Neal seventh and eighth in their Team Dynamics Honda Civics. The two BMW’s of Tom Oliphant and race two winner Colin Turkington finishing ninth and tenth respectively.

Sutton was undoubtedly the driver of the day with his electrifying pace and fantastic determination and daring overtakes. The action continues at Brands Hatch next weekend.

Image Credit: BTCC Media

Colin Turkington fought back from second in race one by winning race two in dominant fashion. He pulled out a massive lead before a safety car reeled him back in. The restart didn’t stop him as he took a fine win.

Rory Butcher finished second in another brilliant effort from the Motorbase team, with Tom Oliphant rounding off the podium.

James Gornall and Senna Proctor failed to make the start after their mechanical failures in race one. Jake Hill managed to fix his issues and get out for race two.

Turkington got the better start and took the lead on the run to Redgate. Stephen Jelley had a fantastic start and moved up to sixth by the end of the first lap.

While Turkington pulled away, Cammish came under pressure from third placed Butcher. and finally got past him on the straight towards the final chicane. Cammish struggling with the maximum ballast on his Honda Civic.

Next to pass the Honda were Tom Ingram and Tom Oliphant, who took third and fourth respectively from the Yorkshireman on lap five.

One man who was on fire was Ash Sutton, he was storming through the grid and set the fastest lap of the race before the safety car came out for the second time today. Nicolas Hamilton went wide at Coppice and once he put a tyre on the grass his VW CC spun and beached into the gravel. Turkington had a three second lead before the safety car.

On the restart Sutton battled Jelley for seventh, Tom Chilton joined the battle and the trio went three abreast going into the chicane. Sutton on the outside with the latest of late braking to pass both without incident.

His resurgence continued on lap 16 as he passed Matt Neal for sixth and then Cammish’s slide down the order continued as Sutton passed him on lap 17 for fifth.

Oliphant passed Ingram for third place making it two BMW’s on the podium as Sutton battled the Toyota of Ingram on the final lap.

Turkington took a dominant win, with Butcher and Oliphant rounding off the podium. Ingram and Sutton had a photo finish on the line but Ingram’s Toyota took it by a tenth.

A special mention to the MB Motorsport cars of Jake HIll and Sam Osborne. Hill fought from the back of the grid to be in the points before pulling into the pits a couple of laps from the end. Osborne was in the top ten and looked for another brilliant result. But he was in the pits four laps from the end with a mechanical issue.

Aiden Moffat finished 15th on the road but received a ten second penalty for a false start. Meaning Carl Boardley in the BMW 125i took the final point.

Dan Cammish struck first blood as he won the first round of the British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park.

The Team Dynamics driver won by just seven tenths from reigning champion Colin Turkington in his WSR BMW. Rory Butcher grabbed a fantastic third place finish to round off the podium.

Turkington led off the grid, with Sutton moving up into second passing Dan Cammish at Redgate. The first lap wasn’t without its drama however as Jake Hill and Josh Cook collided, with the BTC Racing Civic of Cook falling to the back.

Sutton was taking the fight to Turkington’s BMW, and crept up the inside at Coppice, but couldn’t quite make the move stick. A lap later on lap four Sutton took the lead, albeit briefly as an initial nudge by Turkington was met with a second tap which spun Sutton’s Infiniti round. Cammish profited most from the impact as he took the lead.

Cammish was controlling the race, holding off Turkington with a lead of just under a second. However on lap 11 a safety car was called as Senna Proctor suffered an unfortunate failure while battling for tenth. This was coupled with Nicolas Hamilton going off at the final chicane.

After a four lap safety car break the green flag waved and the fights up and down the field continued. Sutton had a fantastic recovery from his early spin as he moved back up to finish 14^th. Setting the fastest lap in the process.

Cammish took the chequered flag with Turkington close behind. A star drive from Rory Butcher who finished third. Tom Ingram took fourth in his Toyota before Matt Neal in the second Dynamics Honda Civic came fifth. Tom Oliphant was sixth in his WSR BMW, with Sam Osborne grabbing his best ever finish in his new MB Motorsport Honda Civic. Chris Smiley gave the new Excelr8 Hyundai i30N an eighth place finish on its debut, with Stephen Jelley and Tom Chilton rounding off the top ten.

A brilliant beginning to the 2020 British Touring Car Championship season.

Image Credit: BTCC Media

Colin Turkington’s British Touring Car Championship title defence began in the best way possible as he took pole position for the season opening round at Donington Park. The top three were separated by just a tenth of a second.

The West Surrey Racing driver broke the lap record with a 1:08:998. Team Dynamics’ Dan Cammish was just 0.087 seconds behind with Ash Sutton in his new Laser Tools Infiniti 0.097 seconds behind Turkington’s BMW.

The track was greasy which played into the hands of some drivers. Rory Butcher had a lucky escape into the Auld Hairpin as the rear of his Ford Focus stepped out. The scot recovered after an off track excursion. Nicholas Hamilton was next to catch the eye as the pins holding down his bonnet failed, resulting in the bonnet flying up and hanging off. The Team HARD driver failed to set a time in the session.

The Toyota of Tom Ingram set the early pace, with Butcher and Turkington close behind. With 12 minutes left in the session Turkington set his fastest time and he claimed pole position.

After a stoppage due to a red flag, the cars came out for ten more minutes of fighting for position for tomorrow’s opening race.

After dominating the two practice sessions, Turkington and his BMW were fastest in qualifying, with Cammish and Sutton close behind.

Ingram finished fourth two tenths behind Turkington, with the second BMW of Tom Oliphant fifth. Butcher recovered from his off to claim sixth on the grid, with Jake Hill in the MB Motorsport Honda Civic sitting seventh for tomorrow.

The top ten was rounded off by BTC’s Josh Cook, the second Team Dynamics car of Matt Neal, and Adam Morgan in his Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes A Class.

Image Credit: BTCC Media

The 2020 British Touring Car Championship puzzle is slowly coming together, after a flurry of announcements at the Autosport International show in Birmingham at the weekend.

No less than seven drivers were announced over the course of the weekend, with some big names catching the attention.

The big news of the weekend was Tom Chilton making the switch from Motorbase to BTC Racing for 2020. The veteran replaces Chris Smiley in the team and joins Josh Cook, forming a formidable partnership in the FK8 Honda Civics. BTC are also taking on a third Civic for this season, and racing in it will be new fans favourite Michael Crees, creating a strong team.

Excelr8 Motorsport announced their first driver for 2020 with Senna Proctor joining the team from BMR Racing. Proctor will be behind the wheel of the brand new Hyundai i30 with three years of BTCC experience behind him. His team mate is yet to be announced.

Elsewhere Ciceley Motorsport have decided to retain their lineup of Adam Morgan and Daniel Rowbottom, with both having had strong 2019 seasons, but knowing there is more to come from the Mercedes A Class.

Trade Price Racing announced former British GT champion James Gornall will be joining the team racing the Audi S3 Saloon, joining Bobby Thompson. While Sam Osborne was announced as the team mate for Jake Hill in the AMD team Honda Civic FK2’s.

Catch Jack Prentice’s interview with new Trade Price driver James Gornall here!

With only a few seats left to announce, including three from Motorbase, the 2020 Championship is shaping up to be one of the best yet.

2020 British Touring Car Championship Entries

The British Touring Car Championship gets underway next weekend at Brands Hatch, and with so many changes during the off-season, 2019 looks like being one of the best seasons yet.

There are new title sponsors in the form of Kwik Fit, who replace long standing sponsor Dunlop. While a change in title sponsor is usually big news, it has been overshadowed by a wide range of developments and changes.

Perhaps one of the biggest announcements over the winter is the return of Toyota in a manufacturer capacity. Having won two titles in the 1980’s with Chris Hodgetts at the wheel, the Japanese marque are no stranger to success, and with the new Corolla, the team will be looking to start on the right foot.

To do this, they have taken on 2018 runner up Tom Ingram and his formerly independent team, Speedworks Motorsport. Touted as a future champion of the BTCC, Ingram has high hopes for 2019. Speaking to Pit Crew reporter Warren Nel in January, Ingram said: “The plan is very much to hit the ground running at Brands Hatch Indy, kind of start where we left the 2018 season and be in a position to look to win the championship.”

Though he understands success may not be instant: “Realistically we’ve got to look more at the following season as our go to year, but of course whenever you enter a season, you enter to win, not finish second. Our goal is very much to win it, but we’ve got a bit of a mountain to climb to get there.”

Another big story is that reigning champions BMW have retired their 1 series in favour of the all-new 3 series. The model which had title success with Tim Harvey in 1992 and Jo WInkelhock in 1993 has been brought back in its current guise. With current champion Colin Turkington behind the wheel, the 3 series is bound to be successful from the start.

While some faces remain on the grid, there is fresh blood, and not all of it is fresh faced youngsters. Former Formula One and IndyCar driver Mark Blundell will be making his BTCC debut at the age of 52, showing that age doesn’t matter in the world of tin-tops. Racing for the brand new Trade Price Racing team in an Audi S3, all eyes will be on Blundell as he looks to back up his illustrious CV.

Another of the old guard making headlines was Jason Plato, who returns to Vauxhall, where he won his first title in 2001. Currently backing the Power Maxed Racing team, Plato is joined by former BMW man Rob Collard in the Astra.

There will still be 30 rounds of the championship, with three races at ten meetings throughout the year. Though there won’t be a return to Rockingham this season. The Corby based circuit has been sold, and as a result won’t see the BTCC return to the unique oval circuit. Instead there will be an extra round at the high speed Thruxton circuit in August.

While there are plenty of changes afoot in the BTCC, one thing we can all rely on never changing, is the level of excitement and door-to-door action that the championship always promises.

All images credit: Matthew Pigg.

New teams, new cars, new rules, it’s all change in the British Touring Car Championship, and it is shaping up to be one of the best seasons ever.

The 2018 campaign went right down to the wire, with BMW’s Colin Turkington prevailing over independent driver Tom Ingram to win his third title. In a season which saw 17 different race winners, 2019 has a tough act to follow.

With only one more driver to be announced, the grid is taking shape, and with a host of changes, including an ex-Formula One driver making their BTCC debut, the racing will be just as competitive.

Champions BMW are replacing the title winning 1 series with the all new 3 series, bringing back a very successful model from BTCC history. They have brought in Tom Oliphant from Ciceley Motorsport to replace Rob Collard, who moves to Power Maxed Racing. He will partner reigning champion Turkington. Andrew Jordan remains at BMW in his Pirtek sponsored car.

Team Dynamics retain their driver lineup of Matt Neal and Dan Cammish in their Honda Civic Type R’s. Both will be looking to build on an impressive debut year for the all new FK8 Civic.

The big news over the winter is that Toyota are returning to the sport in a full manufacturer capacity. Enjoying title success in the 80’s with Chris Hodgetts winning two titles, Toyota will be running the Speedworks Motorsport team with Tom Ingram behind the wheel of the all new Corolla, replacing his Avensis used in recent years.

Team BMR retain Subaru’s manufacturer backing, title sponsor Adrian Flux, and 2017 champion Ash Sutton. Though they welcome Senna Proctor to the team, who moves from Power Maxed Racing. In an effective straight swap, Jason Plato moves to PMR, who are backed by Vauxhall, reigniting a famous partnership which saw Plato win his first title in 2001. Plato is joined by former BMW man Rob Collard in the Vauxhall Astra’s.

Motorbase continue with their Shredded Wheat backed Ford Focus’, with Tom Chilton remaining with the team after finishing third in last season’s championship. Ollie Jackson replaces James Cole in the second Focus, moving from AMD Tuning. The third Motorbase car will be ran by Nic Hamilton, younger brother of F1 superstar Lewis.

New team Trade Price Racing raised eyebrows in the off-season by announcing former F1 and IndyCar driver Mark Blundell will be joining the grid in one of their new Audi S3’s. Jake Hill will be partnering him.

BTC Racing had a fine season last season, and welcome former Power Maxed driver Josh Cook to partner Chris Smiley. Cook showed his prowess last season picking up a handful of wins and going head to head with Ash Sutton in the final race of 2018 at Brands Hatch. They’ll be looking to build on another strong season in their Honda Civic FK7’s.

Ciceley Motorsport retain Adam Morgan and welcome former Clio Cup driver Dan Rowbottom to drive their Mercedes A Classes. Aidan Moffat remains in a Mercedes but has gone solo, having formerly ran under the Ciceley banner with his Laser Tools team.

AMD Tuning have ditched their Audi’s for the ex-Eurotech Honda Civics. They have recruited Rory Butcher and Sam Tordoff to drive their RCiB Insurance backed cars.

Another new team to the BTCC grid is Excelr8 Motorsport. They will be racing in the former AMD MG6’s that will be driven by Rob Smith. He has worked with Excelr8 for the last four seasons in the Mini Challenge and will be looking to hit the ground running in the BTCC. Their second driver is yet to be announced.

Team HARD continue with their four-car squad, running Volkswagen CC’s. Mike Bushell and Bobby Thompson remain with the team, with Carl Broadley and Michael Crees joining them.

Independent driver Matt Simpson continues with his Simpson Motorsport team while Stephen Jelley is expected to remain with Team Parker Racing despite no official word from the team or driver.

With the BTCC going through a period of transition, one constant remains, the racing promises to be as scintillating as ever.