The BTCC battle resumes at picturesque Oulton Park

The British Touring Car Championship returns to action at Oulton Park this weekend after a four week break, with the drivers and teams facing one of their biggest challenges of the year in front of what is likely to be a huge crowd.

The picturesque Cheshire venue is a favourite among drivers and fans alike, and offers a stern test to both man and machine with its mixture of sweeping turns, heavy braking points and a relative dearth of overtaking opportunities.

With so many acceleration and deceleration zones, it is a track at which ballast usually plays a key role in the weekend. This will be at the forefront of the minds of joint series leaders Matt Neal and Rob Collard, who will both carry 66kg of extra weight, avoiding the maximum 75kg by dint of being tied on 101 points at the top.

Team Dynamics’ Neal and West Surrey Racing’s Collard are just three points ahead of local lad Adam Morgan, one of the standout performers of the season to date in his Ciceley Racing Mercedes A-Class. Morgan secured his maiden BTCC podium at Oulton in 2013 and his relentless consistency should stand him in good stead despite carrying third placed ballast.

The tight battle at the top is replicated throughout the top 10 with just under a third of the season completed, with Motorbase Performance’s Mat Jackson firmly in the title fight in fourth ahead of champion Gordon Shedden, and Collard’s team-mates Jack Goff and Sam Tordoff.

Andrew Jordan is next in eighth ahead of the rapid Triple Eight Racing MG pair of Ash Sutton and Josh Cook, with any of the top 10 clearly with the speed to challenge for wins and podiums on any given weekend.

Outside the top 10, Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram is undoubtedly one to watch in a light Toyota Avensis, following two pole positions from the opening three rounds. Ingram will be looking to add consistency to his searing speed in Cheshire, on a track where he shone in 2015.

Elsewhere, a decent bet for a good reverse grid result is Dan Welch in his Welch Motorsport Proton Persona. The Hampshire driver scored a career-best fourth at Oulton in 2012 and scored his only point of a trying season there last year. He had looked good for a podium at Thruxton before mechanical woes intervened.

Oulton will also see the return of the Subaru quartet of Team BMR, following the team’s withdrawal from the Thruxton races on safety grounds. This means the grid should return back to the magic number of 32 cars following its temporary drop to 28 in Hampshire, with Colin Turkington and Jason Plato both hoping to show improved pace in the Levorg on a circuit where they both excel.

BRITISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRY LIST – OULTON PARK

No – Driver – Team – Car – Engine
52 – Gordon Shedden – Team Dynamics – Honda Civic Type-R – Neil Brown/Honda
25 – Matt Neal – Team Dynamics – Honda Civic Type-R – Neil Brown/Honda
99 – Jason Plato – Team BMR – Subaru Levorg – Mountune/Subaru
4 – Colin Turkington – Team BMR – Subaru Levorg – Mountune/Subaru
39 – Warren Scott – Team BMR – Subaru Levorg – Mountune/Subaru
20 – James Cole – Team BMR – Subaru Levorg – Mountune/Subaru
66 – Josh Cook – Triple Eight Racing – MG MG6 GT – Swindon/TOCA
116 – Ashley Sutton – Triple Eight Racing – MG MG6 GT – Swindon/TOCA
100 – Rob Collard – West Surrey Racing – BMW 125i M-Sport – Neil Brown/BMW
31 – Jack Goff – West Surrey Racing – BMW 125i M-Sport – Neil Brown/BMW
600 – Sam Tordoff – West Surrey Racing – BMW 125i M-Sport – Neil Brown/BMW
33 – Adam Morgan – Ciceley Racing – Mercedes A-Class – Swindon/TOCA
16 – Aiden Moffat – Aiden Moffat Racing – Mercedes A-Class – Swindon/TOCA
7 – Mat Jackson – Motorbase Performance – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford EcoBoost
77 – Andrew Jordan – Motorbase Performance – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford EcoBoost
54 – Hunter Abbott – Power Maxed Racing – Chevrolet Cruze – Swindon/TOCA
84 – Kelvin Fletcher – Power Maxed Racing – Chevrolet Cruze – Swindon/TOCA
80 – Tom Ingram – Speedworks Motorsport – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA
303 – Matt Simpson – Speedworks Motorsport – Honda Civic Type-R – Swindon/TOCA
30 – Martin Depper – Eurotech Racing – Honda Civic Type-R – Swindon/TOCA
55 – Jeff Smith – Eurotech Racing – Honda Civic Type-R – Swindon/TOCA
23 – Daniel Lloyd – Eurotech Racing – Honda Civic Type-R – Swindon/TOCA
12 – Michael Epps – Team HARD – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA
48 – Ollie Jackson – AmD Tuning – Audi S3 – Swindon/TOCA
14 – Alex Martin – Dextra Racing – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford EcoBoost
11 – Rob Austin – Handy Motorsport – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA
22 – Chris Smiley – Team HARD – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA
24 – Jake Hill – Team HARD – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA
17 – Dan Welch – Welch Motorsport – Proton Gen-2 – Swindon/TOCA
95 – Stewart Lines – Maximum Motorsport – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford EcoBoost
40 – Aron Smith – Team BKR – Volkswagen CC – Swindon/TOCA
38 – Mark Howard – Team BKR – Volkswagen CC – Swindon/TOCA