Title run-in begins as BTCC rolls into Rockingham

The first meeting of a Northamptonshire BTCC double-header kicks off at the unique Rockingham Motor Speedway this weekend, as the title run-in begins with a vengeance ahead of the 2015 champion being crowned at Brands Hatch next month.

The part-oval road course combines one of the fastest corners on the calendar with a tricky, technical infield section, which last year was mastered by Colin Turkington, who put one hand on the coveted trophy with two wins from the first two races.

The title shake-up is looking a little different this year as the BTCC circus arrives in Corby, with Team BMR’s Jason Plato still leading the way by 11 points despite a relatively lean weekend at Knockhill.

Honda Yuasa Racing’s Gordon Shedden propelled himself back into contention with a win at home, erasing the memory of a disastrous Snetterton meeting, a further 11 points ahead of his team-mate Matt Neal.

Turkington dropped to fourth after an unfortunate DNF in race two in Scotland, while the stealthy Andrew Jordan continues to keep himself and Triple Eight Racing in the mix, despite still not having won a race this year.

The title is still wide open down to West Surrey Racing’s Sam Tordoff in seventh, 44 points off the lead, but one driver who is unlikely to have his name on the trophy is Tordoff’s team-mate Andy Priaulx, despite currently sitting sixth.

The Guernseyman will be replaced by long-term WSR stalwart Nick Foster this weekend as he competes for BMW in the European Le Mans Series at Paul Ricard, while also returning to the grid is guest entry Nicolas Hamilton in the AmD Tuning Audi S3.

The action gets underway with first practice at 09:25 BST on Saturday, with the first of Sunday’s 16 lap encounters starting at 11:37 BST.

BRITISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRY LIST – ROCKINGHAM

No – Driver – Team Name – Car – Engine Builder/Marque
1 – Colin Turkington – Team BMR – Volkswagen CC – Swindon/TOCA
99 – Jason Plato – Team BMR – Volkswagen CC – Swindon/TOCA
39 – Warren Scott – Team BMR – Volkswagen CC – Swindon/TOCA
40 – Árón Smith – Team BMR – Volkswagen CC – Swindon/TOCA
6 – Rob Collard – West Surrey Racing – BMW 125i M-Sport – Neil Brown/BMW
7 – Sam Tordoff – West Surrey Racing – BMW 125i M-Sport – Neil Brown/BMW
8 – Nick Foster – West Surrey Racing – BMW 125i M-Sport – Neil Brown/BMW
31 – Jack Goff – Triple Eight Racing – MG6 GT – Swindon/TOCA
77 – Andrew Jordan – Triple Eight Racing – MG6 GT – Swindon/TOCA
25 – Matt Neal – Honda Yuasa Racing – Honda Civic Type-R – Neil Brown/Honda
52 – Gordon Shedden – Honda Yuasa Racing – Honda Civic Type-R – Neil Brown/Honda
4 – Mat Jackson – Motorbase Performance – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford Ecoboost
44 – James Cole – Motorbase Performance – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford Ecoboost
30 – Martin Depper – Eurotech Racing – Honda Civic Hatchback – Swindon/TOCA
55 – Jeff Smith – Eurotech Racing – Honda Civic Hatchback – Swindon/TOCA
33 – Adam Morgan – Ciceley Racing – Mercedes-Benz A-Class – Swindon/TOCA
54 – Hunter Abbott – Rob Austin Racing – Audi A4 – Swindon/TOCA
101 – Rob Austin – Rob Austin Racing – Audi A4 – Swindon/TOCA
67 – Robb Holland – Speedworks Motorsport – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA
80 – Tom Ingram – Speedworks Motorsport – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA
21 – Mike Bushell – AmD Tuning – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford Duratec
28 – Nicolas Hamilton – AmD Tuning – Audi S3 – Swindon/TOCA
95 – Stewart Lines – JWT Performance – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA
16 – Aiden Moffat – Aiden Moffat Racing – Mercedes A-Class – Swindon/TOCA
17 – Dave Newsham – Power Maxed Racing – Chevrolet Cruze Saloon – Swindon/TOCA
66 – Josh Cook – Power Maxed Racing – Chevrolet Cruze Saloon – Swindon/TOCA
13 – Dan Welch – Welch Motorsport – Proton Gen-2 – Welch/Proton-M
22 – Derek Palmer Jr – Support Our Paras Racing – Infiniti Q50 – Swindon/TOCA
23 – Kieran Gallagher – Tony Gilham Racing – Toyota Avensis – Toyota/Xctechr

TIMETABLE (ALL TIMES BST)

Saturday 5th September
Free Practice 1: 09.25-10.05
Free Practice 2: 12:40-13:20
Qualifying: 15:40-16:10

Sunday 6th September
Race 1 (16 Laps) – 11.37
Race 2 (16 Laps) – 13.52
Race 3 (16 Laps) – 16:40