BTCC Oulton Park 2014

[Rob]

PLATO HEADS UP FREE PRACTICE TWO

Latest News posted 7th June 2014

Jason Plato set the fastest time in a truncated second free practice at Oulton Park. He led the way from the two BMWs of Colin Turkington and Rob Collard in torrid conditions at the Cheshire venue as the session was cut short to allow the recovery of a stricken car from the gravel after thirty minutes of running.

For the first half of the session it looked like the leading duo from FP1 of Turkington and Collard would be the drivers to beat, with their team-mate Nick Foster also putting in a strong performance to make it an eBay Motors 1-2-3 with just over 20 minutes to go. By the end Foster slipped back to seventh, but with all three cars in the top ten the Oulton Park International circuit seems to suit the BMW 125i M Sport machines.

Turkington said: “I guess our pace is a bit unexpected in the wet. The grip is a lot better at Oulton, even in these conditions, so the car is working the tyre well. We’ve got all three BMWs up at the top so we’re really pleased.

“We’re at our strongest when it’s really wet. We’d also be happy if it was dry, but it’s probably the in-between stuff that might be difficult. The car is responding really well to my input and I knew we had a good car in the first lap of FP1. It gives you confidence and then you build up a good cycle of progress.”

As the circuit began to dry in the second half of the session the huge experience of former team-mates Plato and Alain Menu began to shine through. Menu had a consistently quick run, marching up the time sheets to go fastest for Chrome Edition Restart Racing. It wasn’t long, however, before the #99 MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save car toppled the Team BMR-run VW CC for top spot. Plato then went quicker still to secure the fastest overall time for the session – almost half a second quicker than the rest of the field – whilst Menu just slipped behind the eBay Motors duo to end up fourth.

The other Triple Eight-run MG machines of Sam Tordoff and Marc Hynes also had a strong session. Tordoff, who took his second BTCC victory at Donington Park earlier in the year, ended the session fifth but was over 1.5s slower than Plato, with Hynes just a tenth off Tordoff in sixth. Team Principal for the MG drivers Ian Harrison commented: “I think all our guys seem like they’re on the pace, which is good, and backs up the progress we believe we’ve been making in the wet. It seems we are hooked up reasonably well in these conditions although the weather doesn’t look as though it will be quite as bad tomorrow, but you just never, so we’ve got some good running in these conditions.

“A rear-wheel drive car is good to have when the weather is like this as BMW has shown, and Rob Austin was up there in FP1 too in his Audi. I think that’s only if it’s really wet though, so they might not have it all their own way if It starts to dry a bit.”

Championship leader Andrew Jordan ended the session in eighth, with Aron Smith and Gordon Shedden rounding out the top ten.

With ten minutes to go the red flag was thrown as the Crabbie’s Racing Ford Focus of Jack Clarke became beached in an unsafe position having run straight on at Lodge corner. With the time it would take to the recover the car the session was declared a result, and now the teams are making their final preparations ahead of qualifying at 15:20.

[Rob]

TURKINGTON TOPS QUALIFYING AFTER TEN MINUTE SHOWDOWN

Latest News posted 7th June 2014

Colin Turkington will start round ten of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Championship from pole position after coming out on top of a late qualifying showdown at Oulton Park.

Jason Plato will start alongside the BMW having led the times for much of the session, whilst Honda Yuasa Racing’s Gordon Shedden took third after his own flying lap in the closing stages.

A number of drivers seemed set to improve on their final tour but any last gasp drama was scuppered when Jack Clarke’s Crabbie’s Racing Ford Focus hit the barrier at Druids, bringing an end to the session with a red flag in the final minute. The fight for pole in drying conditions had already been squeezed into the final ten minutes after Adam Morgan’s Mercedes caused the first red flag of the session when he went off at the same corner. The circuit improved slightly during the time taken to retrieve his stricken car, and the delay meant the times recorded in the first 20 minutes were almost redundant.

Plato improved on his own benchmark several times during the session with his MG6 proving to be perfectly balanced in the mixed conditions. He may have been one of the drivers who could have improved again prior to the premature end to the running, but it wasn’t to be as Turkington clocked his time shortly before Clarke’s accident.

Shedden rescued what seemed to be a frustrating day for the Honda drivers with third, while both reigning champion Andrew Jordan and manufacturer driver Matt Neal were left languishing down the order in 13th and 14th respectively. Jordan’s result is the first time the 25-year-old has qualified outside the top ten since Silverstone in 2012, whilst Neal’s best lap time was removed for a track limits infringement leaving him further back than he would otherwise have been.

Rob Collard completed a good day for the eBay Motors squad and for him personally by setting the fourth fastest time ahead of MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save driver Sam Tordoff, cementing the pace-setting form for both BMW and MG so far.

Exocet Racing’s Rob Austin scored his best qualifying result of the season with sixth, backing up the promise he had earlier shown in free practice, whilst Mat Jackson was the top Ford performer in seventh. His Airwaves Racing team-mate Fabrizio Giovanardi had run as high as fifth in the mid-stages of the session but he eventually faded to finish 12th.

Quantel Bifold Racing’s Marc Hynes had shown good speed throughout the day around the 2.77 mile Oulton Park International Circuit. He turned that speed into his highest ever BTCC qualifying position with eighth on a layout which hasn’t been used by the series since 1996. Incredibly Hynes also raced at that event 18 years ago as a young and upcoming single-seater racer in the supporting Formula Vauxhall Junior category.

Tom Ingram continued his impressive qualifying form in his maiden BTCC season with ninth in the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis, pipping the final eBay Motors BMW of Nick Foster. Aron Smith’s VW was next on the timesheets ahead of a quartet of former champions – Giovanardi, Jordan, Neal and Alain Menu, the latter of which was one of the drivers to have had his final effort thwarted by the red flag. The only consolation for the Swiss driver is that his 20 year old qualifying lap record stands as the drivers were unable to dip below his time due to the conditions.

With the grid perfectly poised and championship leader Jordan down in a disappointing 13th, tomorrow’s triple header in front of an expected huge crowd looks set to be a pivotal day in the fight for the 2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.

Colin Turkington said: “As soon we went out for the last stint the rain started to fall and I didn’t think we’d be able to do it. Luckily it was only a few drops and the tyre performance came in really quickly. I just got the lap in – the guys in the team have done a fantastic job so I’m delighted.

“We’ve got a really good car, having unlocked some further potential at Thruxton, so I knew we’d be competitive. The car is really on the money. Our performance so far this season has been pretty good but I’ve taken race three wins, so I’ve kind of rescued the weekends. Now we need to be quick in qualifying and be winning the first two races – that’ll be when we know we’ve really arrived.”

Jason Plato said: “It’d be unfair on Colin Turkington to say that I’m disappointed not to get pole because he hooked up a brilliant lap. I think we’d have had a shot at beating it, I was up on my last lap and could feel that the tyres were just coming in but we’ll never know. The car is working really well – I don’t mind if it’s wet or dry tomorrow as we’re confident in both.”

Gordon Shedden said: “That’s a cracking result particularly with success ballast on board, so to be third in an unexpected boost. I hoped for the top six but we struggled in the changing conditions early on. It was a difficult session as it was dry in some places and wet in others so you really had to feel your way around. There was a dry line until Clay Hill and you could attack 100%, after that it was tricky, and then it started to dry again before the end of the lap. It has been a challenging day to be honest so I’m really glad to have pulled that out of the bag as it was extremely easy to make a mistake.”

2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Oulton Park – Qualifying

1. Colin TURKINGTON (eBay Motors): 1:42.310s
2. Jason PLATO (MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save): +0.649s
3. Gordon SHEDDEN (Honda Yuasa Racing): +0.830s
4. Rob COLLARD (eBay Motors): +1.149s
5. Sam TORDOFF (MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save): +1.183s
6. Rob AUSTIN (Exocet Racing): +1.322s
7. Mat JACKSON (Airwaves Racing): +1.380s
8. Marc HYNES (Quantel Bifold Racing): +1.538s
9. Tom INGRAM (Speedworks Motorsport): +1.543s
10. Nick FOSTER (eBay Motors): +1.553s

[Rob]

ANDREW JORDAN ENJOYS HIS FIRST EVER SUPER TOURING EXPERIENCE

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Reigning Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champion Andrew Jordan made a trip down memory lane at Oulton Park today (4 June), taking to the wheel of two classic Super Touring cars from the 1990s as well as his current Pirtek Racing Honda Civic.

Andrew was invited by historic racer Mark Jones to drive a 1994 Vauxhall Cavalier and 1999 Renault Laguna, the latter of which was formerly raced by double BTCC champ Jason Plato – a driver and rival that Jordan knows only too well!

So why did the current champion jump into some classic cars from the past? Well for the first time since their original heyday the Super Touring cars will be back on the BTCC bill this weekend, and what better way to celebrate than by giving Jordan his first run in two of the much-loved machines from an iconic era.

Jordan will of course be gunning for glory in the headlining Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park, and now with the addition of the Super Touring contest, fans will be treated to seeing some 60 legendary tin top machines and a total of five touring car races!

The talented driver didn’t take long to get up to speed during his Super Touring baptism, with the Cavalier making a huge impression on him.

“The Vauxhall’s great, I loved it,” said the 25-year-old. “It was nice and friendly to drive. It’s pretty much all the same stuff that my car’s got within reason – despite being 20 years old it felt like a touring car should. The tyres are smaller than I’m used to now, still whilst it was damp and we were on wets, it still felt as if we had a good amount of grip. The car felt nice and responsive and I didn’t want to come back into the pit lane!”

Andrew certainly felt that the Cavalier was the easier car to get to grips with: “It was very friendly, and it gave me confidence, whereas the Laguna felt much more on a knife edge. It was very different to drive; it darts around, certainly a lot more on cold tyres. I felt like I was on my back foot with it, because it’s hard work even to stay on the straight. I’m sure as you get more used to it and the tyres come up to temperature it gets better, just it was a bit of a shock going from the Vauxhall to that and how different it actually felt.”

The handling of the Laguna was not the only difference that Andrew noticed. The Williams-built car certainly benefitted from the team’s F1 experience and is some five years younger than the Vauxhall.

“I could see quite a difference between the cars,” he revealed. “You just have to look at how low and far back the engine is, the technology put into them. Big thanks for letting me have a go in one because I always wanted to drive my favourite Super Touring car. The fact it’s Jason Plato’s old car is pretty funny!”

Andrew’s main focus this weekend will be to maintain his lead in the BTCC standings but he admitted to looking forward to watching the Super Touring Car Championship races too, which will also feature BTCC legends John Cleland and Patrick Watts.

“On Friday they’re testing, so the guys and I have said that we want to go down, look round and have a watch,” concluded Jordan. “Those sort of cars are what I grew up watching and playing on the computer games, so to have them racing on the same package is really cool.”