Team BMW kicked off their 2021 British Touring Car Championship campaign with a solid points score on a tough day at Thruxton in which changeable weather and forceful driving created plenty of incidents.
Drivers Colin Turkington, Tom Oliphant and Stephen Jelley collected eight points finishes from a total of nine starts to leave BMW second in the Manufacturers’ standings as they bid for a record-breaking sixth-straight crown.
“We’ve scored points eight times from nine starts today with our three BMWs and the drivers have each brought them home in one piece, which many others didn’t today,” commented Dick Bennetts, Team Principal. “There’s been lots of little things today that could have turned out totally differently, and that went against us.
“If it hadn’t rained a second time in Race Three, for example, Tom would have almost certainly finished second after a very good drive. If Stephen had finished Race One, he was on for a good points score. We’ll be working very hard to make sure we’re in podium shape again at Snetterton.”
Four-time champion Colin bagged the best finish of the weekend with sixth in Race Three in his WSR-run BMW 330i M Sport; the Northern Irishman having opted for wet tyres on the grid as rain began to fall at the start.
Following a back issue on Saturday, he had earlier finished 10th and seventh and sits seventh in the points as a result.
Tom was hugely unfortunate to be forced into a spin on the first lap of the opening race and fell from fifth to 27th; inspiring a fightback to 15th spot, which he added to with 10th in Race Two.
Drawn second on Race Three’s reversed grid, he chose to stay on slick tyres and it nearly paid off; the Leamington Spa racer falling to 19th, but then climbing back to second before late rain caused a drop to seventh.
Stephen, who climbed from 18th to eighth early in Race One, was unfortunate to retire with a transmission issue that put him 27th on the grid for the next race. A majestic recovery to 11th became pole position for the finale courtesy of the reversed-grid draw.
Like Colin, the Leicester racer chose wet tyres and ran inside the top three until the track dried and played into the hands of his slick-shod rivals. An overheating rear tyre meant that he was unable to take advantage of the late rain and finished 10th.
He leaves Thruxton 14th in the points with Tom ninth and Team BMW sixth in the Teams’ standings.
Points Tables
DRIVERS
1/ Jake Hill – 46 points
2/ Josh Cook – 45
3/ Jason Plato – 38
4/ Ash Sutton – 36
5/ Dan Cammish – 30
6/ Tom Ingram – 27
7/ Colin Turkington – 25
9/ Tom Oliphant – 16
14/ Stephen Jelley – 12
TEAMS
1/ BTC Racing – 70 points
2/ MB Motorsport Accelerated by Blue Square – 57
3/ Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing – 54
4/ Laser Tools Racing – 50
5/ Halford Racing with Cataclean – 35
6/ Team BMW – 33
MANUFACTURERS
1/ Ford – 101
2/ BMW – 84
3/ Toyota – 53
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