Photo: PSP Images

BTCC braced for annual visit to Knockhill

By

The British Touring Car Championship moves north of the border to Knockhill this coming weekend, with the Scottish venue kicking off the second half of what has so far been an action-packed season.

Renowned for being one of the most challenging circuits on the calendar, the undulating 1.27-mile track has seen its fair share of thrills and spills down the years; and more could well be on the way as the battle for title supremacy gets set to ramp up.

Ash Sutton heads into the sixth meeting of the year in a commanding position at the top of the standings, having extended his advantage at Thruxton to 59 points over reigning champion Tom Ingram.

The Alliance Racing driver tallied a win and two second place finishes last time out; and with momentum on his side, the Ford Focus Titanium driver will be eager to maintain his momentum this weekend.

Ingram scored a win of his own at Thruxton but bad luck once again played its parts in scuppering the EXCELR8 driver. With nothing to lose and everything to gain, the Hyundai i30 N driver is expected to be all guns blazing on race day.

Dan Cammish twice stood on the podium in Hampshire to ensure he remains within touching distance of Ingram, while Speedworks Motorsport’s Josh Cook elevated himself to fourth in the standings after snaring his first win of the season at Thruxton.

Ricky Collard’s short term future in the series is secure following confirmation that he will compete at the next three events. The Hyundai driver has been one of the series’ leading lights and he sits just ahead of WSR’s Charles Rainford, who should be in the mix in his rear-wheel-drive BMW 330i M Sport.

Power Maxed Racing’s Mikey Doble will look to continue his push in the Independents’ while Daryl De Leon, home hero Gordon Shedden and Dan Rowbottom – fresh off the back off scoring a maiden podium for Plato Racing – will also be ones to watch.

Following the introductions of Lewis Gilbert and Ryan Bensley at Thruxton, the BTCC grid is set to swell again this weekend as Nick Halstead makes his return to the series in a fourth Audi A3 Saloon run by Power Maxed Racing.

Track action at Knockhill begins with practice at 10:30 local time/11:30 CEST on Saturday morning before qualifying and the qualifying race commence at 14:00. Sunday sees three races staged; the first at 11:15, followed by race two at 14:15 and race three at 17:20.