Team BMW aim to swing the momentum back in their favour this weekend as the battle for the British Touring Car Championship intensifies at Snetterton.
Following a challenging weekend at Croft last time out, when strong pace went unrewarded, Colin Turkington and Tom Oliphant are third and sixth in the Drivers’ standings with just two events to go.
Despite this, the consistency shown by both means the WSR-run team still head the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ points tables.
“Traditionally we race at Snetterton in the summer,” commented Team Principal Dick Bennetts, “so track temperatures will be a lot colder than we’re used to and this will present a challenge; both in making sure we start the weekend with a good baseline set-up and in being able to adapt to changing conditions.
“Switching on the tyres in qualifying will be of critical importance as it’s easier for a front-wheel-drive car to do this, but we’re confident we have a package that can bank a lot of points and keep both Colin and Tom in the title hunt through to the final weekend at Brands Hatch.”
With 10 podium finishes so far in 2020, including three wins, Colin has a higher score after the opening seven events than he had at the same point last year.
He is just 12 points away from the series lead with 20 on offer for each remaining race victory; the Northern Irishman’s third position in the standings meaning he starts the weekend with 48kg success ballast aboard his BMW 330i M Sport.
Colin was victorious at Snetterton last year on the current 3 Series’ first appearance there; the most recent of five wins for the 38-year-old at the Norfolk circuit.
Leamington Spa-based Tom remains on-course for his best-ever championship finish in the BTCC thanks to four podiums so far in 2020, including a breakthrough win at Brands Hatch.
The 30-year-old lies sixth in the Drivers’ standings, so carries 30kg into the race weekend, but is only two points away from a top-five spot and could pull himself right back into title contention should he score well with his rivals having less-than-stellar events.
Snetterton will feature a revised format on Saturday with a departure from the regular 30-minute qualifying session.
Instead, the fastest 10 cars after 25 minutes have elapsed will move into a separate pole-position shoot-out for a further 10 minutes, while the remaining drivers will be frozen in their grid spots for Sunday’s opening race.
To accommodate this, there will be just a single free practice session on Saturday morning, which will be increased to 50 minutes.
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