Team BMW aim to continue their excellent early-season form as the British Touring Car Championship heads north to Oulton Park this weekend.
Colin Turkington and Tom Oliphant are first and third in the Drivers’ Championship with two of nine events completed while Team BMW head the Teams’ points and BMW lead the Manufacturers’ standings.
“The start of the season has gone very well for us,” commented Kiwi Dick Bennetts, Team Principal. “We’ve worked extremely hard to maintain the reliability record of the BMW 3 Series and improve the performance.
“The results speak for themselves as we’ve picked up extra points while some others haven’t finished races. Oulton Park has been a good circuit for WSR and BMW in the past as we can maximise the benefits of rear-wheel-drive where there’s a slow corner followed by an uphill exit.
“We’ve been strong in the hot conditions at Donington and Brands Hatch, but if it rains, it can blow the weekend wide open. The best we can do is prepare for every eventuality and be prepared to think on our feet if the need arises during the weekend.”
Four-time champion Colin made his BTCC debut at Oulton Park in 2002 and was a double-winner at the spectacular Cheshire parkland circuit last year; the Northern Irishman citing his pole-position lap as the greatest qualifying performance of his career.
Two wins and two further podiums in his WSR-run BMW 330i M Sport in 2020 have taken the 38-year-old to the top of the points table yet again, though this means he carries the maximum 60kg success ballast into the weekend, making his car the heaviest on the grid.
Team-mate Tom’s first BTCC victory last time out at Brands Hatch was also WSR’s 300th podium finish in the series.
That landmark result means the 29-year-old, who grew up just four miles away from Oulton Park, arrives at his local circuit higher than he’s ever been in the points table.
His 70 points is more than twice the amount he had at this stage last season and his third place in the standings means he carries 48kg success ballast into the weekend.
The Leamington Spa-based racer scored 40 points at Oulton Park last year – still his highest career weekend total – and secured what was, at the time, his best career finish with second place in Race Three.
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