WSR-run cars raced to four British Touring Car Championship podium finishes at Snetterton on Sunday as Team BMW collected the award for the top-scoring team of the weekend.
Both Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport’s Jake Hill and Team BMW’s Colin Turkington took their BMW 330e M Sports to a pair of podium finishes each while Stephen Jelley and Adam Morgan produced ultra-consistent scores across the day.
The results of the four BMW 330e M Sports also allowed BMW to close to within three points of the lead of the Manufacturers’ standings at the Norfolk circuit with three of 10 BTCC rounds complete.
“I’m very happy that all four cars finished all three races in the top 10, scored good points and suffered very little damage,” commented Team PRincipal Dick Bennetts. “That makes life easier for the mechanics in preparing them for Thruxton as there’s been a lot to do between Brands Hatch and here.
“Deciding on the tyre strategy was quite straightforward so we went the same way with all four BMWs and I believe it was the right way to go in terms of the results we achieved.
“We’ve had four podiums from three races, won the Teams’ Trophy with Team BMW and two Manufacturer wins so when you weigh all that up, we leave Snetterton very pleased and in a strong position as we prepare for the middle part of the championship.”
Colin and Jake started the opening race from the second row and staked their claims for rostrum results early on as they took full advantage of having chosen the soft Goodyear tyre (on a day when rules dictated that soft, medium and hard compounds were all used).
Jake passed his WSR stablemate at three-quarters distance and chased down the leader; eventually finishing just 0.270s away from victory, while Colin – a 10-time BTCC race winner at Snetterton, was third.
Opting for the medium tyre for Race Two, both drivers found the going tougher, but persevered to again finish second and third.
On both occasions BMW was the winning Manufacturer entrant; the performances of the day meaning the German marque is well and truly in the hunt for a record 10th BTCC Manufacturers’ title and an eighth in a row.
The BMW 330e M Sport has now finished on the podium eight times from the opening three weekends of 2023 with Team BMW moving into second place in the Teams’ standings as a result.
Race Three was the toughest of the day with both drivers on the hard tyre when overcast conditions favoured those on the soft and medium rubber far more than predicted. Colin finished seventh with Jake 10th.
Lancashire’s Adam Morgan moved up a spot from his sixth place on the Race One grid to come home fifth and then finished there again in Race Two.
He battled hard to finish ninth on the hard tyre in Race Three as Team BMW ended the weekend with the Teams’ trophy as the highest-scoring entrant at Snetterton.
Stephen Jelley was one of the undoubted stars of the opening race; the Leicester driver charging through from a season’s-best 10th on the grid to finish sixth with some impressive and clean out-braking moves.
He repeated that result in each of the remaining races to leave Snetterton with his best weekend points haul of 2023 and with seven-place gain in the Drivers’ Standings. He is now 12th overall.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 3/10
DRIVERS
1/ Ash Sutton – 135 points
2/ Tom Ingram – 128
3/ Colin Turkington – 109
4/ Dan Cammish – 98
5/ Jake Hill – 98
6/ Dan Rowbottom – 69
7/ Adam Morgan – 65
12/ Stephen Jelley – 44
MANUFATURERS
1/ Ford – 251 points
2/ BMW – 248
3/ Hyundai – 231
4/ Toyota – 157
TEAMS
1/ NAPA Racing UK – 236 points
2/ Bristol Street Motors with EXCELR8 – 135
3/ Team BMW – 191
4/ Toyota GAZOO Racing UK – 123
5/ Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils – 112
6/ One Motorsport with Starline Racing – 107
7/ Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport – 62
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