BMW and WSR head to Snetterton this weekend as the race for the British Touring Car Championship titles continues to intensify.
A winning weekend at Knockhill last time out increased BMW’s lead at the top of the Manufacturers’ Championship as a record-extending seventh straight title remains achievable.
With new points leader Colin Turkington, Stephen Jelley and Jake Hill having all won this year in the BMW 330e M Sport, hopes are high for more success in Norfolk.
Four-time champion Colin reaches a milestone this weekend as Race Three is set to be his 500th in the BTCC.
The Northern Irishman took the lead of the Championship for the first time in 2022 at Knockhill and holds a five-point advantage over his nearest title rival.
Colin has an enviable record at Snetterton with victories in each of the past three seasons at the 2.969-mile track and eight wins in total, including an incredible 60-point haul in 2020.
Team-mate Stephen enjoyed an excellent event at Knockhill to equal his biggest points haul of the year and finish inside the top 10 in all three races – results that brought Team BMW to within five points of the Teams’ Championship lead.
The Leicester racer recorded another triple-top-10 result at Snetterton last year, having qualified on the second row of the grid on the ‘300’ circuit layout.
Sitting just one point behind his next rival in the points table, a strong weekend will enable him to move up further.
Jake Hill’s Knockhill weekend was one of domination as he took pole position, a race win, two seconds, two fastest laps and the biggest weekend points score of any driver in 2022 aboard his ROKiT MB Motorsport BMW.
The Kent ace lies just 14 points behind Colin in the battle for the title in fourth place with 67 points available this weekend.
He finished on the podium at Snetterton in 2020 and will seek to add to that statistic as he strengthens his challenge for a first BTCC crown.
WSR’s record at Snetterton is a strong one. Peter Kox won the first of the BTCC’s short-lived ‘night races’ there in 1999; the first of seven victories and 31 podiums at the track for the 15-time series champions.
TV NOTES
As at the previous event at Knockhill, Snetterton’s live Sunday coverage will be split between ITV and ITV4. Races One and Two will be screened on ITV with Race Three on the series traditional home channel, ITV4.
Colin Turkington (Team BMW) said: “Time tends to fly by at this point of the season and it’s important to take each session and each race one step at a time. It will be more important than ever to have the BMW exactly how I want for qualifying as I won’t have any hybrid power. This is the penalty for our Knockhill success, so we have to stay focused on delivering our best. Historically, we’ve had great pace and results around Snetterton, and I’ll obviously be doing all I can to continue that trend. The heat in the car is set to be a challenge again this weekend, and most likely more so than in Scotland. We’ll be working hard in those intense temperatures six times over the two days, so physical fitness and personal care will play a factor.”
Stephen Jelley (Team BMW) said: “We seem to be on an upward trajectory. When we got to Oulton Park we got the win, so it was great to get the monkey off the back and it kind of opened the floodgates. Most of our points have come in the last three events, and we’ve now moved into the top 10 in the championship. The Snetterton tyre test in July went well. We tried things that we wouldn’t normally be able to do on a race weekend as you’re very time-limited. It was a chance to experiment and we found some useful information. The summer break has done exactly what it’s supposed to; given me some time off, a chance to reset and get the bug back. As a team, we’ve got to the point where I’m confident we can go to any racetrack and can be challenging for the podium, which is a fantastic place to be, so I can’t wait to get going.”
Jake Hill (ROKiT MB Motorsport) said: “Knockhill was simply a fantastic weekend and the best I have ever had in the BTCC. Now the goal is to carry that momentum into Snetterton this weekend. We were strong at Snetterton during the tyre test and the BMW historically goes very well around there, so I see no reason why we won’t be battling at the front all weekend. The championship is super-tight, so we can’t take anything for granted or leave anything on the table.”
Dick Bennetts, Team Principal, said: “After the success of Knockhill – which was a fantastic weekend for the whole team – we come to Snetterton with all three drivers in much stronger positions in the championship than they were two weeks ago. That brings its own pressures as all have less hybrid available through qualifying and Race One, but this is something we’ve prepared and practiced for during testing so we know what affect it should have on the BMWs. We’ve won at Snetterton every year since we started racing the 3 Series in 2019 so the aim will certainly be to keep that run going and strengthen our position in the Drivers’, Teams’ and Manufacturers’ points tables this weekend.”
