Author: Chris Ashby

The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship marked its 60th Anniversary in fine style at Snetterton this past weekend (July 28/29) as Jack Goff, Ashley Sutton and Matt Neal all took race wins – the latter in the Diamond Double.

In-keeping with the series’ Diamond Jubilee, the second half of the season kicked off in Norfolk with two blockbuster races and a longer milestone encounter – all of which helped write the latest chapter in the illustrious history of the BTCC.

Saturday’s two qualifying sessions belonged to the WIX Racing with Eurotech Honda Civic Type R of Jack Goff. Having set the pace in the day’s earlier practice session, Goff came out of the blocks flying in the first battle for pole position, storming to the top of the times at the mid-point of qualifying and to a new lap record.

Following a short break, the BTCC contingent were back out on track for 15 minutes to decide the grid for the longer 60-mile race three encounter. As he had done previously, Goff produced a scintillating lap to break his own lap record and take the all-important pole position for the weekend’s marque event.

In contrast to the dry conditions of Saturday, drivers were greeted with heavy rain on Sunday morning as they lined up for the first race of the day – one that would ultimately go on to be an all-time classic.

Launching from pole position, Goff launched his Civic off the line and into an early lead. Further back, all eyes were on reigning champion as he jumped from ninth on the grid into second place by turn three.

As others struggled to master the treacherous conditions, Goff and Sutton got their heads down and began to build a gap to Dan Cammish in third. Further back, Tom Ingram joined the ever-growing list of retirements as he crawled to a stop having suffered an alternator failure on his Toyota Avensis.

With the laps ticking by, Sutton soon began eating into Goff’s lead – his Subaru Levorg working well in the pouring rain. Setting fastest lap after fastest lap, the 23-year-old soon began to fill the mirrors of Goff as they went onto the final tour.

Showing his nose at Agostini, Sutton made a bold and quite staggering move around the outside of the sweeping Coram corner, placing him on the inside for Murrays. Leading out of the final corner, the pair had a drag race to the line where Goff narrowly pipped Sutton to the chequered by just 0.152. Halfords Yuasa Racing’s Cammish rounded off the podium in third.

Riding high on the success of race one, Goff’s world came crashing down before the start of race two after missing the window to leave the pit lane and head to the grid. Forced to start from the back of the grid, Goff’s pole position spot was vacant and it gave Sutton clear road ahead.

With the track having predominantly dried out, all cars started on slick tyres and it was Sutton that made the best start. Resisting early pressure from Cammish, the Subaru driver began to stretch his legs out front whilst the chasing pack squabbled.

Whilst Sutton led, Speedworks Motorsport’s Ingram proved to be the star of the show as he scythed his way through the field from P27. Picking off drivers one-by-one, the Independents champion eventually finished on the podium, clawing third away from Cammish at the line.

Back at the front, a safety car period with just a handful of laps to go eroded Sutton’s gap and despite a strong restart he was to come under pressure from the charging Josh Cook, who ran him close as they took the chequered flag covered by less than a second.

Having started from the back of the grid, race one winner Goff struggled with the additional 75kgs of success ballast and crossed the line in P17.

As the dust settled on races one and two, all eyes were firmly focused on the Diamond Double; the 60-mile, 20 lap, double championship point extravaganza race to cap off the weekend.

Back on the front row of the grid, Goff made another lightening start and immediately began to build a gap over the Halfords Yuasa Racing Honda of Neal. Sutton’s chances of scoring big ended on the opening laps he was forced to serve a 30-second stop-go penalty for an infringement on the grid before the warm-up lap. Due to serving it incorrectly, he made a second visit to the pits a lap later to do the same thing.

At the front, the battle for the lead ignited after a brief safety car period. On lap nine, a sprinkling of rain hit the circuit, catching several drivers out. Heading into the Wilson hairpin, Neal showed his nose on Goff, who out-braked himself – thus giving the lead to the three-time champion.

From there Neal, Goff and Ingram were inseparable as they built up a substantial gap over Andrew Jordan and Tom Chilton in fourth and fifth. Despite Goff or Ingram being able to make a move on Neal, the three-way fight for the lead kept fans on the edge-of-their-seats until the final lap.

Further down the order was an almighty scrap for sixth, with Chris Smiley leading a train of more than 10 cars at one point. Fending off the likes of Colin Turkington, Cook and more, Smiley looked on course to maintain the position before damage late on put pay to those aspirations.

The chequered flag saw Neal write the latest chapter in what is becoming a storied career as he took victory in the winner Diamond Double, finishing ahead of Goff and Ingram.

At the end of the weekend it is now Ingram that sits at the top of the points standings, six markers ahead of Turkington whilst Neal is a further ten behind.

For the full classification of results and standings from all of the weekend’s sessions, click here.

The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship continues in under two weeks time for rounds 19, 20 & 21 at Rockingham on August 11/12.

The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship signed off its time at Rockingham with a memorable weekend (August 11/12) with Adam Morgan, Ashley Sutton and Chris Smiley shared the spoils.

Following the announcement earlier in the year that the Corby venue would not be part of the 2019 calendar, the series’ latest visit added yet another plot twist in what is turning out to be an intriguing title battle.

Qualifying on Saturday proved to be a frenetic affair as a host of drivers all held provisional pole position at some stage during the 30-minute session. As the clocked ticked to zero however it was the MAC Tool with Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes of Morgan who scored his maiden pole in the series, setting a blistering time of 1:22.835.

Joining Morgan on the front row was the series’ top qualifier Sam Tordoff, whilst Dan Cammish, Mike Bushell, Daniel Lloyd and Chris Smiley rounded out the top six as the chequered flag fell to mark the end of the session.

Morgan converted his pole position in a comfortable lights-to-flag victory in the Rockingham opener; meanwhile behind there were plenty of major moments. The first came on the run down to the Deene hairpin as Cammish spun Tordoff, causing a chain affect that involved Matt Neal, Andrew Jordan, Ollie Jackson, Daniel Lloyd, Chris Smiley, Tom Oliphant and Sam Smelt.

Tordoff’s race was ended on the spot but Cammish continued, however his mirrors were filled by reigning champion Sutton following a brief safety car period. With Tom Chilton having rocketed into second, Cammish conceded third shortly after racing resumed but stayed on the back of the Subaru Levorg.

Catching the Ford Focus RS of Chilton, Sutton produced his latest spectacular move at the Tarzan hairpin – sending the Motorbase driver a dummy before diving down the inside of him. From there the positions remained as they were with Morgan scoring his third win of the season and Sutton and Chilton bringing themselves further into title contention with podiums.

Tom Ingram and Colin Turkington, the top two in the standings heading into race one, had been locked in an almighty battle towards the back of the top ten. Holding an advantage over the Team BMW driver, Ingram looked on course to extend his points lead until a throttle issue struck on the final lap, causing him to slow and ultimately cross the line in P24.

A heavy rain shower in-between races one and two added further spice to the action with many drivers questioning what tyres to go for, all of them in the end opting for slicks.

Launching off the outside of the front row, Sutton took the lead as the lights went out and was never troubled from then on. Despite having to manage two safety car periods, the Adrian Flux-backed driver controlled the race to notch his fourth victory of the season and bring himself firmly into title contention.

Behind Sutton, race one winner Morgan enjoyed a quiet race as he managed 75kgs of success ballast to second place. It was to be the battle for third that would captivate everyone however as Ingram produced another scintillating performance to charge scythe through the field and collect more silverware.

Just as he did at Snetterton, the Speedworks Motorsport driver started P27 and over the course of the next 18 laps he picked his way through the field, ultimately deposing Senna Proctor of third to reclaim his championship lead toward the end. Proctor finished fourth whilst Turkington was the footer of the top five.

BTC Norlin Racing’s Smiley became the latest driver to enter the winners circle in the reverse grid encounter, producing a perfect drive to become the 12th different victor of the year. Starting fifth, the Northern Irishman survived an early scare in mixed conditions on the opening tour to jump into the lead. From there he was never headed and powered his way to a popular win, joining his team-mate Dan Lloyd who won at Croft.

Behind, Turkington used all of his experience to get the better of Matt Simpson on the final lap to steal second, the Honda driver settling for third having pipped a charging Tordoff and Ingram for it on the line.

In the wake of Rockingham’s three high-octane races, Turkington returns to the summit of the standings although just four points separate himself and Ingram. Sutton remains in contention albeit 32 points further back.

BMW and Team BMW continue to lead the BTCC Manufacturer/Constructors Championship and BTCC Teams Championship respectively whilst Ingram and Speedworks are doing the same in both Independent categories. Smiley’s breakthrough win draws him closer in the Jack Sears Trophy standings although he continues to trail Halfords Yuasa Racing’s Cammish.

Matt Neal has written his name into the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship history books at Snetterton after winning the Diamond Double.

As a way of marking 60 years of the BTCC, round 18 of the series was a 60-mile, 20-lap race instead of the customary reverse grid format. In addition, and more importantly, double points were on offer for it too.

Following on from storming to pole position in the first qualifying session on Saturday, WIX Racing with Eurotech’s Goff produced another stellar performance to make it two pole’s from two sessions – underlining his superiority at the Norfolk venue. The cherry on top for Goff was that he also smashed his own lap record that he had set just a few hours before.

Joining Goff on the front row of the grid was Halfords Yuasa Racing’s Matt Neal, whilst Tom Chilton and Tom Ingram filled the second row of the grid in their respective machines.

With mixed weather conditions battering the circuit throughout the day, all eyes were fixed on the skies to see if it would be a wet or dry race. With the rain holding off, all cars started on slicks and Goff launched from pole position into an early lead.

Behind, Tom Ingram hounded the back of Neal during the early running whilst Andrew Jordan vaulted himself into fourth. Towards the rear of the field, Aiden Moffat and Rory Butcher saw their races ended on the spot at the exit of Wilson.

Further back reigning champion Ashley Sutton found himself in strife as he was hit with not one but two 30-second stop-go penalties. The race two winner was issued the penalty on the opening lap but was adjudged to have not served it in the correct way the first time, forcing him to visit the pit lane for again a lap later.

As the laps ticked by Goff’s early lead was beginning to be whittled down as Neal and Ingram gave chase, especially after a brief safety car caused by Brett Smith and Tom Oilphant. Lap nine proved to be a decisive moment in the Diamond Double as light rain hit the circuit and Neal made his move. Running into the Wilson hairpin, Goff was unable to stop his Civic Type R and slithered wide, giving Neal the lead.

The splattering of rain ended soon after however Neal was unable to pull away from Goff. From lap nine onwards, Neal was chased by Goff and Ingram with no more than a second ever separating them.

Try as he might, Goff struggled to find a way past his Type R compatriot and he soon had his mirrors filled with the Toyota Avensis of Ingram. On lap 20, Ingram showed his nose at the Wilson hairpin but had the door shut. From there

Behind the top three, Andrew Jordan and Tom Chilton enjoyed a feisty battle with the BMW driver getting the edge over the Motorbase racer, taking fourth.

The scrap for sixth was where everyone had their attention drawn towards as Chris Smiley defended the position. With a bumper queue building up, Smiley came undone after the multiple laps of scrapping with Colin Turkington, Josh Cook, Senna Proctor and more.

Smiley became undone near the end of the race, joining the long list of retirements with damage. That departure gave Turkington sixth with Cook, Matt Simpson, Daniel Lloyd, and Proctor rounding out the top ten.

In the wake of the Diamond Double, Ingram now leads the BTCC Driver standings by six points over Turkington. Neal’s victory brings him closer in third whilst Goff and Cook round out the top five.

The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship returns in two weeks time with rounds 19, 20 & 21 taking place at Rockingham on August 11/12.

For the full classification of results and championship standings, click here.