BTCC back on track after summer break at Snetterton

The British Touring Car Championship returns at Snetterton this weekend after its lengthy summer sabbatical, with a familiar returning outfit looking to be the fly in the ointment for the season-long title contenders.

David Bartrum’s Motorbase Performance squad are rejoining the series after sitting out the first half of the season due to budget issues, with lead driver Mat Jackson setting his stall out ahead of the weekend by topping the recent Dunlop tyre test at the Norfolk circuit.

Jackson, who will be joined by former United Autosports racer James Cole in the team’s two Ford Focus STs, will be up against six drivers who have established themselves in the title race.

Honda Racing Team’s Gordon Shedden has executed a perfect blend of speed and consistency in his new Civic Type-R to sit 10 points clear of Team BMR’s Jason Plato, with the Scot’s team-mate Matt Neal third.

West Surrey Racing’s Sam Tordoff has shown himself the most likely to upset the established contenders, sitting fourth after breakthrough weekends at Oulton Park and Croft, and sits ahead of Colin Turkington and Andrew Jordan, who make it five BTCC champions in the current top six.

Further down the field, a pair of withdrawals mean the oft-heralded 32-car field will not be reached in Norfolk. Welch Motorsport announced on Tuesday that Dan Welch would sit out the weekend due to a parts shortage, less than a week after Andy Wilmot announced he was leaving the team.

A familiar face also returns in the Handy Motorsport garage, with Robb Holland sitting in for Simon Belcher for the next three race meetings. The American driver returns to the site of his BTCC debut, and his first points-scoring outing in the Rotek Racing Audi S3 in 2014.

With the races taking place on the extended Snetterton 300 layout, rounds 16, 17 and 18 will each take place over 12 laps, the fewest on the BTCC calendar. The weekend’s action gets underway with first practice at 09.30 BST on Saturday, with the first of the three races just after midday on Sunday.

BRITISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRY LIST – SNETTERTON

No – Driver – Team Name – Car – Engine Builder/Marque

25 – Matt Neal – Honda Racing Team – Honda Civic Type-R – Neil Brown/Honda
52 – Gordon Shedden – Honda Racing Team – Honda Civic Type-R – Neil Brown/Honda
31 – Jack Goff – Triple Eight Racing – MG6 GT – Swindon/TOCA
77 – Andrew Jordan – Triple Eight Racing – MG6 GT – Swindon/TOCA
22 – Derek Palmer Jr – Support Our Paras Racing – Infiniti Q50 – Swindon/TOCA
71 – Max Coates – Support Our Paras Racing – Infiniti Q50 – Swindon/TOCA
4 – Mat Jackson – Motorbase Performance – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford Ecoboost
44 – James Cole – Motorbase Performance – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford Ecoboost
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
111 – Andy Priaulx – West Surrey Racing – BMW 125i M-Sport – Neil Brown/BMW
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
11 – Simon Belcher – Speedworks Motorsport – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA
80 – Tom Ingram – Speedworks Motorsport – 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
21 – Mike Bushell – AmD Tuning – Ford Focus ST – Mountune/Ford Duratec
28 – Nicolas Hamilton – AmD Tuning – Audi S3 – Swindon/TOCA
23 – Kieran Gallagher – Tony Gilham Racing – Toyota Avensis – Toyota/Xctechr
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
95 – Stewart Lines – JWT Performance – Toyota Avensis – Swindon/TOCA

TIMETABLE (ALL TIMES BST)

Saturday:
Free Practice 1: 09.30-10.10
Free Practice 2: 12:10-12:50
Qualifying: 15:45-16:15

Sunday:
Race One (12 Laps) – 12.02
Race Two (12 Laps) – 14.35
Race Three (12 Laps) – 16:57