BMW and WSR continue their quest for the British Touring Car Championship as the series moves on to Hampshire and its fastest circuit, Thruxton, this weekend.
“It’s been an up-and-down start to 2022,” commented Dick Bennetts, Team Principal. “We’re the only team to have won at each of the first two events and the only team to have had two winning drivers so far, but if we hadn’t had the rain at Brands Hatch, I’m quite confident we could be leading the championship now. That’s a big credit to the team here, who have done a great job at evolving the BMW to incorporate the BTCC’s hybrid technology over the closed season.
“We’re very keen to put on a strong showing at BMW UK’s home circuit, but while the excellent balance and handling of the 3 Series is a real asset around the high-speed sweeps, the fact that we have to use the hardest tyre here is something that usually plays more towards the strengths of the front-wheel-drive cars and means we have to be quite creative with our set-up and strategy to try to fight our way to the front.”
With a pole position and a race win apiece, Team BMW and ROKiT MB Motorsport have proven the performance of the BMW 330e M Sport through the first two rounds of the 2022 season, but have been denied even more success by circumstance.
A rain-affected raceday at Brands Hatch played into the hands of the front-wheel-drive cars and prevented Colin Turkington and Jake Hill from showcasing the speed that had helped WSR-run BMWs to a lock-out of the top three positions in qualifying.
Despite this, four-time series champion Colin still won the final race of the weekend and arrives at Thruxton with the joint-fourth highest-points total in the Drivers’ Championship while BMW climbed to second in the Manufacturers’ Standings – just one point away from the lead.
Four victories at the track for the Northern Irishman – including an 11-second success in 2006 with WSR that ranks among the largest winning margins in the past 30 years of the BTCC – give a strong foundation for success this weekend.
However, with the large kerbs, high-speed sweeps and ultra-hard tyres benefitting the front-wheel-drive cars more than the rear-wheel-drive cars, he will have to fight extra-hard for every point on offer.
Stephen Jelley made his WSR comeback at last year’s BTCC season-opener following 12 years away from the team; a pre-cursor to a season that netted a pair of podium finishes.
The Leicester racer qualified third on the grid last time out at Brands Hatch – less than 0.2s away from pole position – and is aiming to turn his impressive early-season pace into solid points this weekend after experiencing some poor luck on the track.
New recruit Jake Hill has made an excellent start to his WSR career, scoring pole position and a win first-time out at Donington Park for ROKiT MB Motorsport.
Jake, from Tunbridge Wells, is fourth in the standings with the equal-best points total of any WSR driver and is subject to the same hybrid restrictions as Colin by virtue of this.
He finished on the podium in four of the six races held at Thruxton last year – including a treble on the BTCC’s weather-affected first visit of the season to Hampshire in May.
This weekend’s event is the third of 10 in the 2022 BTCC, which visits eight venues the length and breadth of the UK.
Comments