Written by Cameron Gale, Edited by Sasha Macmillen
This week the British Touring Car Championship heads south to Brands Hatch in Kent. The track has played host to many BTCC races most notably the 1995 BTCC round, which had it all. Crashes, overtakes and the weather all played their part in serving up an entertaining race.
The first round of the BTCC championship had everything you’d want: close races, many crashes and some excellent overtakes. The most notable highlight from Donington Park was Excelr8 Motorsports’ 1-2 finish in the second race, only for Tom Chilton to be disqualified having not met the minimum ride height. As a result, his teammate and newcomer Ronan Pearson won for the first time in BTCC. Dan Cammish also enjoyed a very good performance with two race wins.
From the first round, we can tell that the One Motorsport Hondas have gone backwards in their development, whilst last year's champions Excelr8 Motorsport have improved considerably over the winter. Another team to Consider is NAPA racing, with their Ford Focus ST, but it’s still too early to say that they are the only two teams who could win the championship this year.
The Brands Hatch Indy circuit consists of six corners; four to the right and two to the left. The best overtaking opportunities are into Paddock Hill Bend and Druid’s. If the drivers have a run on the driver in front of them, they could also try a move through Surtees, McLaren and will hope to get the overtake done by Clearways.
Heading into the weekend, here are the top ten in the drivers standings:
1. Dan Cammish 48 points
2. Tom Ingram 40 points
3. Jake Hill 32 points
4. Tom Chilton 30 points
5. Adam Morgan 26 points
6. Colin Turkington 23 points
7. Daniel Rowbottom 23 points
8. Andrew Watson 17 points
9. Ash Sutton 16 points
10. Bobby Thompson 16 points