Rear-wheel drive runners already prepared for tough Silverstone

Team BMR driver Jason Plato and WSR boss Dick Bennetts have both suggested that their cars could struggle for straight line speed when the battle for the BTCC title heads to Silverstone in a couple of weeks for the ninth round of the year.

BMR took another podium finish with the Subaru Levorg at Rockingham thanks to Colin Turkington, with Plato missing out on what he felt was a potential win in race two after early contact, whilst WSR bounced back from a difficult qualifying session to win on race day thanks to Sam Tordoff; who maintained his championship lead in the process.

It means that the two teams share half of the top ten championship positions going into the final two meetings of the year, although Plato admitted that he expected the first of those on Silverstone’s National Circuit to be far from easy.

“We have a car that has great balance and good corner speed, and being rear-wheel drive it obviously has fantastic traction,” he said. “However, whilst we are able to do a lap in clean air, our problem comes from the fact that can’t overtake. Look at race three [at Rockingham] and I didn’t actually overtake anyone; they either fell off the road or made a mistake.

“It isn’t just me having a moan, but we aren’t quick enough in a straight line. The BMW seems to manage it for example, but we don’t have that speed and it means Silverstone will be hard as we can’t overtake.

“Because of the areas where our car excels, we’ll be good through Luffield with the balance and grid we have, but even if we get underneath someone onto the straight, the long run to Copse means that we’ll struggle to make the move stick. Copse will be good but the same thing will happen going to Becketts, and then again on the run from Becketts to Brooklands.

“Our chance to pass will come with a dive into Luffield but people know they can hug the inside to defend and you won’t be able to make a move stick. It is frustrating when you are behind the wheel, but that’s what we’ve got, and we have to get on with it.”

Whilst Plato pointed to the performance of the BMW however, WSR chief Bennetts played down any straight-line advantage his own car may have and predicted that Silverstone could also be tough for his team.

“It will be tough at Silverstone, particularly for Sam with the success ballast and the fact that there are three long straights,” he said. “We’ll need to try and make the chassis work as well as we can because we know we don’t have the speed in a straight line. Look at race three at Snetterton for example where Rob [Collard] led most of the way but was 5mph down on top speed on the back straight.

“People say they are looking at data and that our car is too quick but if that was the case, we’d be putting it on pole and we aren’t. Even when we moved into the lead of the championship at Oulton Park, we haven’t been qualifying at the front of the grid.

“It’s a delicate area and one that is tough for TOCA to deal with as there will always be complaints from front-wheel drive about rear-wheel drive and vice versa, and from those who think certain cars are too quick at certain circuits but you need to look at the bigger picture. When tyres are people on? What weight are they carrying? Are they getting the tow?

“This is a competitive and close championship, and whilst it does need some tweaks, TOCA has a difficult job to do. We just have to keep our heads down and work to make sure the car is reliable and that we have a set-up that will work when we have to carry the weight and when we don’t.”