Just six races to go as BTCC rolls into Silverstone

Eleven drivers still hold a mathematical chance of taking BTCC title glory in 2015 – but realistically, a battle for honours between Honda and Volkswagen is on the cards as the championship reaches Silverstone.

The fast, simplistic nature of the National layout should favour the more aerodynamic Swindon-powered Team BMR machines of Jason Plato and Colin Turkington as the series enters its final six races.

But the Honda Yuasa Racing duo of series leader Gordon Shedden and team-mate Matt Neal have not been lacking anywhere in their Civic Type-Rs, and are unlikely to face the same straight-line speed woes which have dogged them at Silverstone in recent years.

Remarkably, every driver down to Aron Smith in 11th still has a chance of winning the title. Below the top four, Triple Eight’s Andrew Jordan; West Surrey Racing’s Sam Tordoff, Andy Priaulx and Rob Collard; Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan and Jordan’s team-mate Jack Goff all remain in contention.

Ahead of the weekend, series leader Shedden was cautious about his hopes.

He said: “Silverstone hasn’t traditionally been our happiest hunting-ground, but with the regulations this year we have a bit more power from the engine than before so hopefully we can have a more competitive weekend. The aim has to be to leave still at the top of the drivers’ standings – hopefully having extended our advantage.”

For his part, second placed man Plato is excited at the prospect of racing at a track where he has enjoyed plenty of success in his touring car career.

“Silverstone is the home of British motor sport. It’s where every British racing driver wants to win. It always produces fantastic racing and there’s a few twists and turns to come in this championship yet,” he said.

The grid sees a pair of returnees, with Priaulx returning in place of Nick Foster after missing Rockingham due to his European Le Mans Series committments. Simon Belcher also returns in the Handy Motorsport Toyota Avensis, after Robb Holland took his place for the previous three rounds at Snetterton, Knockhill and Rockingham.

BRITISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRY LIST – SILVERSTONE

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
111 – Andy Priaulx – 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
11 – Simon Belcher – 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 – Swindon/TOCA

TIMETABLE (ALL TIMES BST)

Saturday 26th September
Free Practice 1: 09.30-10.10
Free Practice 2: 12:35-13:15
Qualifying: 15:45-16:15

Sunday 27th September
Race 1 (22 Laps) – 11.57
Race 2 (22 Laps) – 14.32
Race 3 (22 Laps) – 17:17