Motorsport News – July 17, 2019

MOTORBASE

PERFORMANCE

Car:FordFocus

Teamschampionship:

TeamShreddedWheat

withGallagher8th;ROKiT

RacingwithMotorbase

N/A

TOMCHILTON

Championship

position:8th

Points: 119 Wins: 1

Podiums: 4

OLLIEJACKSON

Championship

position:19th

Points: 22 Wins: 0

Podiums: 0

NICHAMILTON

Championship

iti

Motorbase erformance

hasdoneavery

Motorbase-likejobso

farin2019.Thecaris

competitive,runsatthe

frontandisdrivenwith

ahugeamountof

enthusiasmbyformer

IndependentsTrophy

winnerTomChilton.

Howmuchisleftfrom

theageingchassisis

amootpoint,butthe

hatchbackcertainlyhas

legsinastraightlineto

matchtheothermachines

onthegrid.OllieJackson

hasgottogripswiththe

carandhasfoundhimself

onthefringesofthetop

10,whileNicHamilton

hasperformedsolidly

intheROKiTcar.

Pickinguptheoddwin

h dth reisprobably

atChiltoncan

erthesecond

foftheyear,

hehasa

ackof

onsistency

whichwillkeep

imatthe

pointyendof

hetitlerace.

TEAM

DYNAMICS

Car:HondaCivicTypeR FK8

Teamschampionship:2nd

DANCAMMISH

Championshipposition:6th

Points: 130 Wins: 0

Podiums: 5

MATTNEAL

Championshipposition:7th

Points: 125 Wins: 0

Podiums: 1

Thiswassupposedtobe

andnowwasthetimetorea

rewards.Butwhiletheteam

anddrivershaveabiggersk

setatdealingwiththeknife

edgeset-up,ithasyettore

thebigrewards.Perhapsth

isduetothedominance

ofBMW.

Cammishhasshownhis

pacewithfivepodiums–an

fourofthemwouldhavebe

winswithouttheBMWs.As

putsit,hefeelslikeheisina

battleforClassB(orClass

forHonda,ashelikestonam

it).Nealtooissanguineabo

thegaptotherivalWSRca

andknowsitistheebband

BMRRACING

Car:SubaruLevorg

Teamschampionship:

5th

ASHSUTTON

Championship

position:5th

Points: 147 Wins: 0

Podiums: 4

SENNAPROCTOR

Championship

position:20th

Points: 19 Wins: 0

Podiums: 0

Thishasbeenavery

differenttypeofyearfor

BMRRaci ng.Aftertwo

meetingsoftheyear

AshS

ofthe

unfam

The

gener

strong

middl

secon

halfof

seaso

capitalisingontherear-

wheel-drivecircuitsat

CroftandOultonbefore

keepingthemomentum

going.Thisyearithas

beenreversedwith

Suttontakingthree

podiumsoverthefirstsix

races–butthewheels

havecomeoffsincethen.

BMWhasscoopedthe

bigpointsonSubaru’s

big-scoringvenues.

Havingsaidthat,ifBMW

wasremovedfromthe

titlechase,Suttonwould

betheleaderdespitea

lackofstraight-linepace.

Proctorhasfoundlife

verytough,butthingsare

startingtoclickforhimin

rear-wheeldriveandhe

POWERMAXED

RACING

Car:VauxhallAstra

Teams

championship:6th

JASONPLATO

Championship

sition:10th

oints: 107 Wins: 0

odiums: 1

BCOLLARD

hampionship

sition:16th

oints: 51 Wins: 0

odiums: 1

eVauxhallisoneofthe

gmasoftheseason.The

achinewasathree-time

winnerin2018inJosh

CookandSennaProctor’s

hands,butitappearsto

haveslippedbackdown

thepeckingorder.

Themachineitselfis,

generally,tenthsofasecond

fasterthanitwasthistime

lastyear,buttheothershave

madesimilarstrides.New

recruitJasonPlatosaysheis

chippingaway tfi di th

ultimatesweet

hatchbackand

morecompetit

Collard,withb

reacquainting

tofront-wheel

Reachingthev

mightbealong

theduooverth

15rounds.

BTCRACING
Car:HondaCiv icTypeR
FK8
Teamschampionship:4th

JOSHCOOK
Championship
position:3rd
Points: 148 Wins: 2
Podiums: 4

CHRISSMILEY
Championship
position:17th
Points: 48 Wins: 0
Podiums: 1

BTCwasanotherteamwith
lofty ambitionswithanew
FK8-specHondaanda
datasharingagreement
withthefactorysquadTeam

Dynamics.Therewas

still alottolearnon the

engineeringside,but

theteamhasadapted

remarkablywell.

JoshCook’spragmatic

approachtoraceweekends

hasmeantheha sbeen

oneofthemostconsistent

pointsscorers,witharace

threewinatThruxto ntoadd

tohiswinintheopener.

Cookhasahabitofgetting

moreandmoreou tofhiscar

asth eweekendsprogress,

showingthedept hofhis

engineeringskills.

ChrisSmileyhasha da

torridyear.Therehavebeen

on-trackincidentswhich

haveheldhimbackandhe

nee dstoironthemout.

Photos:JakobEbrey

20 JULY1720 19 motorsport-news.co.uk

BTCC HALFTERM REPORT

IS THE BMW BTCC STEAMROLLER

Matt Jamesis your guide to the half-term form in the BritishTouring Car Championship

WSR

Car:BMW330i M

Sport

Teams

championship:

TeamBMW1st;

BMWPirtek

Racing7th

COLIN

TURKINGTON

Championship

position:1st

Points: 195

Wins: 4

Podiums: 6

ANDREWJORDAN

Championship

position:2nd

Points: 162

Wins: 5

Podiums: 7

TOMOLIPHANT

Championship

position: 11

Points: 91

Wins: 0

Podiums: 2

WSRwasupagainstittobuildits

new330iMSportsintimeforthe

openerat BrandsHatchatthestart

ofApril.Butitdid,andthecarwas

awinnerfirsttimeout.

Whilethedriverssaidthatthe

saloonmachinewasvirtuallyatits

optimumset-upfromtheget-go,

itdi dtaketh er acersalittlew hile

togetontopofit(nothelpedby

AndrewJordan’smeeting-ending

shuntintheopeningraceat

DoningtonPark).

Thenitclicked,andt hecarflew.

Itswingswereclippedwithaturbo

boostreductionjustbeforeCroft,

butitwasminuscule.Giventhecar’s

ninewinssofa r, furtherrestraints

couldbeonthewayduringthe

secondroundofassessmentafter

Snetterton.Willthatbetoolate

forth er esttocat chup?

I

t is the halfway

stageof the

30-raceBritish

Touring Car

Championship

and aclear

picture is

emerging:get a BMW

orget lost.

The WSR-built BMW 330i

M Sports, which were new

for the start of the season,

have taken nine wins in the

hands ofreigningchampion

Colin Turkington and team-

mate Andrew Jordan.

Even the older-specTeam

Parker Racing125iM Sport,

driven by StephenJelley,

has tasted glory.

The rest, sofar, have been

picking up the crumbs from

the top table and the race

behind therear-wheel-drive

German machines is

extremely tight. Here, we

lookat the threats that can

derail the WSR domination.

andnowwasthetimetoreap

rewards.Butwhiletheteam

anddrivershaveabiggerskill

setatdealingwiththeknife-

edgeset-up,ithasyettoreap

rhapsthat

pacewithfivepodiums–and

putsit,hefeelslikeheisina

battleforClassB(orClassH

forHonda,ashelikestoname

nguineabout

Rcars

andknowsitistheebbandflow