BTCC sets course for Oulton Park

The British Touring Car Championship moves to Oulton Park this weekend for the final event before the series’ annual summer break; and all eyes are on four-time champion Ash Sutton as he continues his pursuit of a record-breaking fifth title.

Sutton heads to the Cheshire circuit with a healthy a 57-point advantage at the top of the standings, owing to the fact that he already has four race victories to his name and has only been off the podium once so far.

Maintaining that streak is expected to be difficult though this weekend as the Alliance Racing driver will have to contend with Oulton Park’s undulating, flowing layout with little to no TOCA Turbo Boost for at least qualifying and race one.

Having endured his fair share of back luck this campaign, reigning champion Tom Ingram – who sits second in the standings – will therefore hope to close the gap to Sutton in his EXCLER8 Motorsport Hyundai.

In recent years, Oulton Park has been a happy hunting ground for Ingram and the double title winner boasts more victories at the circuit than any other current competitor, having tallied an impressive four in the last five years.

WSR’s BMW 330i M Sport has always gone well around the 2.26-mile circuit too and following his first win of the season at Snetterton, third place man Charles Rainford will have his tail in the air when it comes to chasing after more trophies.

Dan Cammish has endured a relatively low-key start to his season but will look to ignite his title charge with three strong results. He goes into the weekend narrowly ahead of Ricky Collard, who has been a podium finisher on four occasions already.

The second WSR BMW of Daryl De Leon was on the podium twice at Snetterton and he’ll be eager to continue progressing up the standings, especially as he has three-time champion and Snetterton winner Gordon Shedden breathing down his neck.

Elsewhere, Independent front-runner Mikey Doble will be looking to bounce back from a challenging visit to Snetterton where the searing temperatures hampered his Audi A3 Saloon. The Power Maxed Racing driver will celebrate his 100th BTCC start in race three.

Other drivers looking for a strong trio of races include the Plato Racing duo of Adam Morgan and Dan Rowbottom, EXCLER8 Motorsport’s Tom Chilton, Speedworks Motorsport’s Josh Cook and Jack Sears Trophy pace-setter James Dorlin.

Track action at Oulton Park begins with practice at 10:30 on Saturday morning before qualifying and the qualifying race commence at 14:00. Sunday sees three races staged; the first at 12:25, followed by race two at 14:55 and race three at 17:20.