Thruxton – All about tyres and turbos for rounds 7-9

The BTCC rolls into Thruxton this weekend, where last year Triple Eight left with the championship lead. This year, the team go in with the championship lead for James Nash, who’s still chasing his first win at a circuit where he’s never raced.

James Nash enjoys a four point lead in the championship over the Honda Racing Team driver Matt Neal, after the Milton Keynes driver has recorded a consistent run, finishing no lower than sixth in the first six rounds of the championship at Brands Hatch and Donington Park.

“I’ve not been to Thruxton in a saloon car before,” said Nash.

“Mind you, Triple Eight have always gone well with the Vauxhall and I’m driving with some confidence so yes, I’m really looking forward to it.”

“It’s great too to be leading the Championship but, it’s still early days and I’m not getting
carried away with it all just yet. There’s a long way to go and some very good drivers to
try and beat.”

The Triple Eight driver also has a four point lead in the independents’ championship, though Motorbase Performance driver Mat Jackson is hot on the 25-year-old’s heels going to Thruxton.

“Thruxton will come down to tyre wear as it always does,” said Jackson.

“But we know we have a good chassis that’s kinder on the tyres and a great Mountune engine so we’ll be looking for a strong result to push our Championship challenge further.”

Honda hold the lead in the teams’ championship from Triple Eight, and are hoping for a strong result at a circuit which has often been hard on the Civic, despite the lower boost performance that all NGTC-engined cars will be running this weekend.

Gordon Shedden, who after a unlucky weekend at Donington Park goes to Thruxton seventh in the championship, but as a consequence will run with no weight penalty in qualifying and race one, is looking forward to racing at the track where he took his first BTCC pole position back in 2006:
“I love Thruxton because it’s a very fast circuit and you have to be brave but you also have to be clever in the way that you use the tyres and how you preserve the rubber. It means there is a lot to think about as a driver and it’s a challenge. We are going to be fighting an uphill battle now that the rules have been altered but there certainly will not be a lack of effort from the Honda Racing Team.”

The two Chevrolet teams will be hoping to be a little closer to the front this weekend thanks to the changes to the boost limit for their competitors.

“The turbo cars have been turned down a bit and Thruxton is a circuit that should suit our car,” said Tech-Speed driver John George.

“Donington was a difficult weekend for us, but I’ve always gone well at Thruxton and it’s the closest thing I have to a home circuit, so I’m looking forward to it.”

“The circuit may be high speed, but it’s not a high torque track like Donington, which is where the turbo cars had a big advantage. We need to see what impact the turbo change has, but I’m confident we’ll be stronger this weekend.”

Tech-Speed Team Principal Marvin Humphries added:
“We need to see what impact the change in boost has on the turbo cars but Thruxton is a circuit that should suit the Chevrolet. However, we have to wait and see what happens when we hit the track for first practice.”

All cars fitted with a turbo engine will be forced to run at a maximum boost setting 0.1 atmospheric bars lower than they recorded during the qualifying session at Donington Park two weeks ago, a measure introduced by TOCA in order to accomplish parity with the teams that are running to full Super 2000 regulations with normally aspirated engines.

The change for the turbo cars is just one of the critical differences at Thruxton, the other is the nature of the circuit itself, a notorious tyre beater.

The teams running with turbochargers have maintained the additional load on the tyres is a key problem that comes with the new engine, though besides a few punctures caused by debris, there has been little trouble for them yet in the first two meetings of 2011.

The nature of Thruxton means the BTCC’s tyre supplier Dunlop brings a special construction tyre to the circuit. Dunlop will also be bringing a new 18″ tyre for the full-NGTC teams Dynojet Racing and Rob Austin Racing for use in their Toyota Avensis & Audi A4.

“With this special tyre, it is critically important to run specific vehicle camber settings and tyre pressures to optimise its performance,” said Dunlop BTCC Manager Michael Butler.

“Last year, the winning teams followed these settings and had strong tyre performance throughout the weekend. We will share this advice and guidance from last year’s success with all the teams.”

“Our analysis of tyre temperatures and pressures from qualifying and practice will allow us to guide the teams on what pressures they should run in the race. When tyre pressures are low at the start of the race we also advise avoiding the kerbs until the tyres are up to full operating pressure and temperature.”

2011 BTCC newcomers Dave Newsham and Tony Hughes will be missing the race this weekend. Hughes’ has been suffering with a number of technical issues during the first two races, and Speedworks have opted to miss this round and concentrate on getting the car ready for the next round at Oulton Park in June.

Thruxton is also the circuit where Tony Hughes experienced a heavy crash in pre-season testing whilst familiarising himself with front-wheel drive, writing off Dave Newsham’s Renault Clio Cup car in the process.

Newsham had gone the other way, switching to rear-wheel drive with Geoff Steel Racing’s BMW 320si, but the 43-year-old has confirmed he will leaving the team to join Special Tuning Racing from the next round of the championship at Oulton Park.

Last year, Thruxton hosted the first round of the season, and Triple Eight surprised everyone, missing all pre-season testing and turning up at the last minute with Fabrizio Giovanardi, whom went on to win the first two races of the weekend and leave with the Championship lead, though he’d not return to race for the remainder of the season.

Motorbase Performance’s Steven Kane took his first BTCC win in race three leading a Motorbase 1-2 after Honda’s Matt Neal and WSR’s Rob Collard had contact at Club and both retired at the front.

The Civic has always struggled at Thruxton, and is yet to take a win at the Hampshire circuit, though Team Dynamics faired better with the previous Integra, with five wins from six starts in their two years with the imported coupe, including a hat-trick of victories in 2005 for Dan Eaves.

With wins in the first two rounds of the 2011 Championship, will the Civic be able to finally break its duck at Thruxton? Will championship leader James Nash be able to take his first race win at a track which many deem is a Vauxhall circuit? Or will Chevrolet be close enough with the latest tinkering to be able to challenge for victory again as they did at Brands Hatch?

It’s all down to tyres and turbos at Thruxton.