WSR and BMW continue their push for the British Touring Car Championship at one of the UK’s most demanding circuits, Oulton Park, this weekend.
With 20 wins at the Cheshire track, WSR are the most successful team in BTCC history at Oulton Park.
Coming off the back of six wins from the past nine races for the BMW 330e M Sport, the intention is to maintain the momentum and continue BMW’s push for a record 10th Manufacturers’ crown.
Jake Hill is the BTCC’s in-form driver, winning four of the last six races and top-scoring at both Snetterton and Thruxton in a range of weather conditions aboard his Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport BMW 330e M Sport.
The Kent ace, who is targeting a 50th career podium finish this weekend, has won more races than anyone else this year and lies second in the Drivers’ standings – just five points away from the championship lead.
Jake was a double-winner at Oulton Park last year on a day when WSR BMWs scored a triple win and locked out the podium positions in Race Three.
It was Team BMW’s Colin Turkington who won that final race in 2023 to cap off an incredible race-day performance that began with a back-of-the grid start in Race One and showcased the speed of the WSR-designed, built and run BMW.
The Northern Irishman is an 11-time winner at the track and was triumphant there in each of his record four title-winning seasons in the BTCC.
Oulton Park is team-mate Adam Morgan’s local circuit and was the scene of the Lancashire racer’s maiden BTCC podium finish in 2013.
A winner at the track in 2020, Adam finished on the podium there last year and has done so four times in total in the series.
How to watch
While all races will be broadcast in HD on ITV4 on Sunday from 1145, 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.
What they said…
Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, said: “I couldn’t have asked for much more over the past couple of rounds. The Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport BMW has been such a strong package and we’ve found a set-up that’s allowed me to push to the limit and win races. Oulton Park was where our 2023 season really kicked into life, but we’ve started much better this time so I’m optimistic that – even though I have less hybrid for qualifying and Race One than at any other time this year – we can be in the mix and push for the championship lead.”
Colin Turkington, Team BMW, said: “Oulton Park’s always one of my favourite places to race. There’s usually a good number of fans from Northern Ireland and I do enjoy the atmosphere that creates. It’s also been a very successful circuit for me with a lot of wins and podiums and last year we went from zero to hero on race day after starting at the back and then winning Race Three. The past two rounds haven’t delivered what we wanted points-wise, but we’ve examined everything and want to start the weekend on the front foot with the BMW.”
Adam Morgan, Team BMW, said: “Thruxton was the first weekend when we had a consistent balance throughout race day and now that we’ve had that, I think we can take another step forwards with the BMW and turn what have been some really good qualifying performances into solid race results. I’ve won at Oulton before and was on the podium last year so we should have a pretty strong base to start from. It’s my local track and we always get fantastic support from the fans here so I’m planning to give them something to celebrate come Sunday evening.”
Dick Bennetts, Team Principal, said: “Oulton Park is traditionally a circuit that’s suited our rear-wheel-drive BMWs very well because the types of corners here mean that the excellent slow-speed traction is more advantageous than at other tracks. Last year’s event was one of the best in our 40-plus-year history with three wins and a podium lockout in Race Three. While it feels like we’ve taken a step forward with the BMW since then, the fight for the championship is very close between the top drivers so repeating what happened in 2023 will be extremely tough and will take a lot of hard work from everybody in the whole team.”
NEED TO KNOW
To aid overtaking, drivers can access the series’ standard Hybrid Energy Management System, during qualifying and racing, meaning up to a 60bhp increase against cars not using boost.
Because of their championship positions, Jake and Colin will be allowed to use hybrid boost for three and seven seconds on each lap of qualifying respectively and for two and four laps of Race One. Boost will be available to Jake once he is doing 135kph and to Colin at 130kph.
Adam can access his boost from 125kph, will be able to use it for 13s per lap in qualifying and for seven 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.
At Oulton Park the soft-compound Goodyear will be the standard tyre while the option hard tyre must be used once on race day.
