The stage is set for a dramatic British Touring Car Championship title showdown at Brands Hatch this weekend with Jake Hill and Colin Turkington set to play starring roles as BMW and WSR target the Drivers’, Teams’ and Manufacturers’ crowns.
Hill and Turkington, who have won six races and scored 22 podium finishes between them in the 27 races staged so far this year aboard their BMW 330e M Sport race cars, arrive at the legendary Kent venue locked in an ultra-tight battle to win the UK’s biggest racing series.
“For the seventh year in a row we reach the final round of the BTCC with a chance of winning at least one of the major championship titles, and potentially all three of them,” commented Dick Bennetts, Team Principal. “That’s a very satisfying achievement and something everybody at WSR should be extremely proud of.
“The BMW has been a strong car at every circuit we’ve been to this year – as 24 podiums from 27 races so far has shown – but now comes the really hard bit; to get that final push to get ourselves over the line as title winners.
“It’s not the first time we’ve had two drivers in title contention at the final round, or the first time we’re having to come from behind. We’ll make use of all the experience we’ve gained to give Jake, Colin, Stephen, BMW and ourselves the best possible chance of becoming champions. May the best driver win.”
Local hero Jake Hill, 28, enjoyed one of his best events of 2022 at Silverstone last month, scoring a win and a second place finish to vault from fourth to second place in the Drivers’ Championship.
The ROKiT MB Motorsport driver is just five points away from the series lead with 67 available from the weekend and also leads the race for the Goodyear Wingfoot Award, which is given to the year’s best performer in qualifying.
Brands Hatch was the scene of his maiden BTCC podium in 2018 and of a three more top-three finishes, including second place on the shorter ‘Indy’ layout earlier this year.
WSR stablemate Colin Turkington, from Northern Ireland, has a tougher task at Brands Hatch as he lies fourth in the Drivers’ standings, 27 points off the lead.
The Team BMW driver has claimed each of his record-equalling four BTCC titles at Brands Hatch though and has produced some of his greatest career performances at the track including a sensational win from 15th on the grid in 2017.
The Northern Irishman knows that nothing less than a full-on attack will be necessary to wrest the title from the clutches of his rivals.
Vital to Team BMW’s hopes of winning the Teams’ Championship – in which they currently hold second spot – will be Stephen Jelley, who has climbed the points table rapidly during the second half of the season and sits 10th overall, just 17 points away from eighth spot.
The BTCC finale has been kind to the Leicester racer, who scored his first pole position in the series in his rookie campaign in 2008 aboard a WSR BMW 3 Series and who qualified the current model third on the Indy Circuit in May.
A set of strong results from all three drivers will also bolster BMW’s hopes of turning their Manufacturers’ Championship lead into a record-extending seventh consecutive title – each one having been won with WSR-run race cars.
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