Silverstone set for latest chapter of a dramatic story

Only a matter of days after the British Touring Car Championship hit the track at Croft, the series heads direct to Silverstone this weekend for round eight of the season around the short, high-speed National layout.

Ash Sutton continues to lead the way for Laser Tools Racing having battled his way to a seventh podium of the season in North Yorkshire, which allowed him to retain a handy lead at the top of the championship standings.

That 29 point buffer could prove to be important this weekend given that Silverstone is a circuit that isn’t the strongest for rear-wheel drive cars, whilst the Northamptonshire venue is also the only track on the calendar where the defending champion hasn’t taken a win since moving up to the BTCC back in 2016.

Sutton did cross the line first during his debut season in the MG6 before being excluded – along with then team-mate Josh Cook – for an infringement with the rear wing on the car, and only managed to get back onto the podium in the final race last year following a charge through the field from the back of the grid after a puncture in race two.

Although once again carrying maximum ballast, Sutton will hope that this season is the one where he can tick a Silverstone win off his list, although his focus will very much be on the points to ensure the retains his advantage.

“We head to Silverstone this coming weekend and I’ll go there with the same mindset as always, to maintain or extend my lead in the points,” he said.

“It’s a circuit I enjoy and carrying the weight won’t hurt us as bad as it does at other tracks, so I’m optimistic I can score big.”

Sutton’s closest challenge in recent events had been EXCELR8’s Tom Ingram, but Jake Hill has now taken up the chase having moved up to second in the standings at Croft, where he secured his first victory in MB Motorsport colours.

Hill has now surpassed his career best points score from last season with nine races still to come and is on a fine run of form thanks to three podiums in the last six races.

The Ford Focus was victorious last season at Silverstone in the hands of Ollie Jackson, with Hill confident of another strong showing this time around despite the additional ballast he will be carrying.

“I know we still have nine races and a lot of points to play for, so we will be doing everything to maximise our chances,” he said. “It will be challenging having 66kgs of success ballast but the car worked really well last week with that level of ballast, so I still feel we can be strong.”

Also a winner last year was the WSR-run BMW 330i M Sport, and the team heads into the weekend with Colin Turkington back up to third following his 13th Croft victory last weekend. The Northern Irishman for one is looking forward to the return of the two-part qualifying format for the second time this year and will hope that he can carry momentum from Croft into the weekend at a circuit that is expected to favour those drivers with front-wheel drive.

Just a point behind sits Josh Cook, who continued to show his pace at Croft – where he snared his sixth podium of the year and also set a seventh fastest lap of the campaign; more than double the tally scored by anyone else.

Cook will start his 200th BTCC start this weekend in the final race, so a fourth win of the season would be a great way to celebrate and to keep his title challenge on track.

The BTC Racing will driver will have one eye over his shoulder however, with Ingram just a point behind in fifth spot – a position which means he will now be carrying less ballast into a race meeting than he has done for some time.

The Hyundai driver therefore is planning to go on the attack to close back in on Sutton in the standings as one of his strongest circuits on the schedule.

“Although we dropped a few places in the standings at Croft, I think that is a bit of a blessing in disguise going into this weekend because of the fact we are now carrying less weight than we have done for most of the season,” he said.

“It’s so close in the points that we are only eight points away from the second place we held going into the last round, but we’re now 27kg lighter – and that could make a big difference in qualifying and race one.

“My plan for Silverstone is very much to go on the attack, and having enjoyed such a good record there in recent years, I’m fired up for another strong weekend to keep the pressure on in the standings.”

The leading five have have now broken away from the chasing pack, which is headed by Gordon Shedden after he ended the Croft weekend on the podium. Shedden remains winless so far on his return to the series but the Team Dynamics driver know what it takes to win around Silverstone and is in a car that scored both pole and a race victory last season.

The Scot is only two points ahead of countryman Aiden Moffat, who enjoyed his best weekend in the series at Croft to vault up the order, with a strong showing in North Yorkshire also aiding Laser Tools Racing in the Teams’ Championship.

Like Hill, Moffat has now set a new personal best score this season and will be looking to break into the top six this weekend, with Senna Proctor only a point behind in eighth – an impressive showing considering he missed the opening round, and didn’t score a point on his debut meeting at Snetterton.

Adam Morgan and Rory Butcher round out the top ten having endured troublesome weekends at Croft although the latter in particular will have been happy with the pace of his Toyota Corolla even though the results were far less than expected for reasons outside his control.

Butcher will be the last driver carrying success ballast into the weekend, with the likes of Dan Rowbottom, Jason Plato and Tom Oliphant all hoping to benefit from being free of extra weight to try and get into the top ten.

The only change to the grid this weekend sees Rick Parfitt return after missing Croft to rest a back injury, but there will be a new car on the grid as the TOCA Hybrid test car joins the fray.

Andrew Jordan will be at the wheel of the Speedworks-built Toyota which is being operated by Cosworth to work on the new hybrid systems that will be introduced into the series next year.

Jordan will take part in all track sessions but will not be shown in the results of qualifying or the races – where it will take the start from the pitlane. Jordan will also not engage in any on-track battles with the aim being to only ‘overtake cars under acceleration out of corners or on the straights’ using the additional power provided by the hybrid system.

Jordan will also be running with the new TOCA engine that has been developed by M-Sport, and which has been used for a large part of the recent testing programme.