WSR and BMW head to the fastest stop on the British Touring Car Championship calendar, Thruxton, this weekend, to continue the challenge for the Drivers’, Teams’ and Manufacturers’ titles.
Double wins for the BMW 330e M Sport race cars of Colin Turkington at Brands Hatch and Jake Hill at Snetterton have put both within earshot of the points lead while BMW – chasing a record 10th Manufacturers’ Crown – hold second place in the standings.
Now both drivers, plus Adam Morgan, prepare to do battle in Hampshire at what is Farnborough-based BMW UK’s local circuit in search of more silverware.
Kent ace Jake was the hero of Snetterton, winning in both wet and dry conditions for Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport and scoring 51 points – 17 more than any other driver.
He is now equal-third in the Drivers’ Championship, his score closing the gap to the series lead from 36 points to just 11. Jake aims to use the experience of six podium finishes at Thruxton to power him even further forwards.
Four-time champion Colin has won four times at Thruxton and taken 10 further podium finishes. The Team BMW driver is second in the Drivers’ table, just 10 points off the lead.
Colin’s task is marginally harder than Jake’s through qualifying and Race One as he will have less access to his 60bhp hybrid ‘boost’ than all but one driver in the pack
Fellow Team BMW driver Adam Morgan is one of the BTCC’s Kings of Thruxton with five wins to his name – including successes in WSR-built BMWs in 2021 and ’22.
The Lancashire racer has been one of the stars of Saturdays this year with top-three qualifying results in each of the last two events. He is aiming to add a first podium finish of 2024 this weekend.
Unfortunately, due to financial complexities outside of WSR’s and Bobby Thompson’s control, it will not be possible this weekend to run the #19 BMW that was driven to a superb podium finish at Snetterton.
WSR continue to work hard with the team’s commercial partners to put Bobby back in the BMW as soon as possible.
HOW TO WATCH
While all races will be broadcast in HD on ITV4 on Sunday from 1100, a world-first agreement means that viewers from around the world will be able to watch the races live on the ITV Sport TikTok channel without restrictions, opening up the series to a live global audience for the first time. Qualifying will, as in 2023, be broadcast on the ITV Sport YouTube channel.
‘NEED TO KNOW’
Drivers now have double the amount of ‘boost’, derived from the standard Hybrid Energy Management System, during qualifying and racing compared to 2023 in a move to improve overtaking opportunities, meaning up to a 60bhp increase against cars not using boost.
Because of their championship positions, Colin and Jake will be allowed to use hybrid boost for three and five seconds on each lap of qualifying respectively and for two and three laps of Race One. Boost will be available to both once they are doing 135kph.
Adam can access his boost from 115kph, will be able to use it for 15s per lap in qualifying and for eight laps in Race One. Boost allocations will be re-set based on the Race One finishing order.
The ‘Quick Six’ qualifying format debuted at the opening round and features the field split in half for a 10-minute Q1 session with the fastest six drivers from each group progressing to the next stage.
The remaining 12 cars take part in a 10-minute Q2 with the fastest six progressing to the ‘Quick Six’ Q3, in which the fastest driver will take pole position.
Due to Thruxton’s high-speed nature, only the hard compound of tyre – will be used across the whole weekend.
WHAT THEY SAID
Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, said: “Snetterton was amazing and we’re aiming to get the BMW as close to that level of performance as we can at Thruxton. Having third-place hybrid heading into the weekend is a little less than I had at Snetterton but with the advantage of being so much closer to the championship lead. Let the battle continue!”
Colin Turkington, Team BMW, said: “We come into Thruxton in a strong position in the championship. The gap to the leader is less than half what it was at this point last year, which shows the progress we’ve made with the BMW. We know it’s usually a track that favours front-wheel-drive cars, but we’ve had some podiums in the past and stacking the points here is again the aim before we get to tracks like Oulton Park and Croft, which should give us the best chance of maximising the qualities of the BMW.”
Adam Morgan, Team BMW, said: “Thruxton is one of my favourite tracks and one where I’ve had my best BTCC events, including a 53-point weekend a few years back. I love having the car on a knife-edge where there’s no room for error, which is how you need to be through the fast sweeps out the back. We’ve got the BMW into a good place for qualifying recently and seem to have the knack of nailing a fast lap just when the tyres are peaking, but we’ve had a few situations not go our way on Sundays. There’s no better place to put that right than Thruxton.”
Dick Bennetts, Team Principal, said: “Thruxton is always a very important event for us. It’s BMW UK’s local track and only an hour from WSR headquarters too so we usually have great support there. Traditionally it’s a circuit that favours front-wheel-drive cars, which can warm their tyres up faster and use the big kerbs far more aggressively than us in qualifying, but over a race distance the fantastic balance we have from the BMW chassis, as well as the traction out of the slow corners, should help us get back into the fight – especially if it’s a hot day.”
