Britain’s premier motorsport series meets Britain’s fastest race circuit this weekend (May 18/19) as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship descends on Thruxton for Rounds 7, 8 & 9 of the 2019 season.

Providing a unique challenge like nothing else on the calendar, exhilarating high-speed thrills are set to take place at the home of the British Automobile Racing Club in front of a bumper crowd as it stages the first of two BTCC meetings in Hampshire – having gained a second event in August.

In what has already been another unpredictable and ultra-competitive start to the year, the opening six races of the new season has served up five different race winners.

Josh Cook, Andrew Jordan, Rory Butcher and Tom Ingram have all tallied one win whilst reigning champion Colin Turkington is the only man to score two victories following his Donington Park double last time out.

Despite the aforementioned winners it is 2017 champion Ashley Sutton who finds himself at the top of standings. Three podium finishes paired with a further three points scoring finishes leave the Adrian Flux Subaru Racing leading the way into the third event of the year.

Traditionally making a slow start, Sutton has come out the blocks fast this year but with his Subaru Levorg ladened with success ballast, the 25-year-old will likely look to play the long game in his bid of extending his advantage.

Whilst Sutton is the early leader, the battle for supremacy at the top of the standings however is fraught with the top five separated by just six points.

Cook, who is local to the circuit, leads the chase for Sutton with Turkington, Tom Chilton and Butcher all hot on his heels. Toyota GB-back Ingram rounds out the top six after his victory in the Corolla at Donington Park.

Down the years Thruxton has been a happy hunting ground for the Honda Civic Type R and whilst Cook will be one to watch in his BTC Racing machine, several others will be keen to come to the fore too.

Cook’s team-mate Chris Smiley was one to watch at the TOCA test last month whilst the Halfords Yuasa Racing pairing of Matt Neal and Dan Cammish can’t be discounted either. Throw into the mix the AMD Tuning duo of Butcher and Sam Tordoff and the Type R could well add to its impressive record this weekend.

Both the Mercedes Benz A-Class and Vauxhall Astra have enjoyed varying success down the years at Thruxton too so Adam Morgan, Aiden Moffat, Jason Plato and local man Rob Collard will be all worth keeping an eye on over the course of the weekend too.

Brands Hatch race winner Jordan found himself in the wars last time out and the 2013 champion will be battling hard to fight his way back into early contention around a circuit that he has always excelled at.

Throw into the hat a raft of other front-running contenders such as Jake Hill, Jack Goff, Stephen Jelley and more, and you begin to see why this weekend is set to be such a blockbuster event.

Tickets to Thruxton’s first BTCC race meeting of the season will be available to purchase on the gate. For more information on pricing head to http://thruxtonracing.co.uk/racing/btcc.

To find out more information on the event such as the full timetable as well as links to live timing, click here.