BTCC 2017: The Knockhill Navigation
As the BTCC arrived in Scotland for another race weekend, who would ever have guessed the madness that would soon unfold?
Qualifying: Wait, What?
On a drying track, it was all or nothing to get a good qualifying position
As the grid took to the tarmac at the start of qualifying, typical Scottish weather had very much taken control. The cars left the grid to a damp but slowly drying track. To noone's surprise, the early pace setter was none other than Subaru's Ash Sutton, followed closely by Shedden. The Shredded Wheat Motorbase Fords were also performing well, with drivers like Mat Jackson and Davenport replacement Butcher setting strong top 10 results.
However, as the session went on, interrupted by a few red flags to retrieve broken signage from around the circuit, the dry line began to evolve into a near dry track. As qualifying entered its final 5 minutes, the timing screens could barely keep up, lap times were improving by the second.
Ultimately, the session belonged to Jason Plato, who achieved what was his 50th career pole, followed by his team mate Ash Sutton. After struggling down in 17th for most of the session, Turkington found his way to 3rd at the flag, with his team mate Collard just behind. Proof of the madness of the session came in the eventual position of Andrew Jordan. Having spent much of the session solidly in the top 3, the last minute craziness left him only 17th. The Honda team struggled, with Matt Neal in a lowly 21st & Shedden slipping to 9th, while MG finally saw some competitiveness with both drivers inside the top 15. Final credit must also be given to James Cole and Senna Proctor, qualifying 6th & 7th respectively.
Race One: The Return Of The King
Plato returned to winning ways in Race One
As race day dawned, the sun was shining over Knockhill, but sadly not over Mat Jackson, who took to the pits at the start of the formation lap with a problem, along with Stewart Lines. It was a formation start to the field, with no dramas into the first corner. As one of the few front runners not on the option tyre, would Plato hold the lead for long? Plato was the early pace setter, gapping both his team mate and the chasing BMWs.
Ingram & Cole were providing entertainment in their battle for 5th and 6th, while Shedden struggled to find a way passed Morgan in 9th, falling back into the clutches of the revitalised Josh Cook in the MG. Further down, Austin ended Brett Smith's race early, spinning him into the gravel trap.
Shedden on his r1 performance"We were so slow in a straight line with the weight. we just couldn't be competitive"
As the race entered its closing stages, it was clear Sutton had the edge on Plato, but remained behind. Further back, Shedden let through a speedy Neal to gain some success for Honda in race one. Behind Shedden now lay what was quite simply a pain train of MG, BMW and Eurotech Honda.
Plato took the flag to claim his 96th career BTCC victory ahead of Sutton. The BMWs of Turkington and Collard came home 3rd & 4th, with another strong result for Cole in 5th & Proctor in 7th.
One of the big questions going into race two was whether Shedden had a problem or simply lacked pace to keep up with the front runners. Or was it just the success ballast? But most of all, were Subaru & Team BMR going to dominate the weekend?
Race Two: Subaru Sensation
It was nothing short of a Subaru driving display yet again in the second race
As the teams made their final preparations for race two, the Scottish weather made her play, sprinkling some rain onto the tarmac. Should the teams risk setting out on brand new slicks on the slippery tarmac? Or should they sacrifice some speed for increased grip on intermediates?
The race start lasted only as long as the first corner when a multi-car collision brought out the red flag, ending the race for drivers such as Jelley & Proctor with considerable damage. The natural consequence of 32 cars, a tight undulating track will always be incidents. The only benefit to come from the delay was giving the track a chance to dry out ahead of the restart.
Off the restart, Plato pulled away from Sutton, Turkington and Collard. Behind, Cole despatched Ingram and set about taking on the BMWs in front. With no weight, Shedden found his form and was pressuring Ingram for 6th. From behind, Newsham pounced on the battle pack, taking Neal & Ingram around the outside. Josh Price in the final Subaru was on a sensational charge, battling for entry into the top 10 with none other than Matt Neal.
As the race reached the halfway stage, Sutton took Plato on the pit straight. Behind, Shedden was on the tail of Cole, in 5th. The battle for 7th between Newsham & Ingram intensified by the lap, bringing both Neal & Price into play. As the cars entered lap 15, Neal's race ended in the gravel after contact with the Subaru of Josh Price. This allowed the Ford of Rory Butcher to edge up behind the remaining pair.
In the final few lap, Sutton was unable to drop Plato, who launched an attack for the lead. But Sutton has proven throughout the year that his defensive driving is the stuff of legend. Josh Price found his way around Newsham in the Chevrolet, setting up what would be the best result for Team BMR / Subaru so far in 2017.
Sutton took the win from Plato, Turkington, Collard, Cole, Shedden & Price. The drive of the race had to go to none other than Price, who started the race in 18th, battling his way through to 7th at the flag. The race marked the best result for Team BMR so far in 2017, with all drivers finishing in the top 10.
The second race reduced Turkington's lead in the standings to only 2 points from Sutton. Shedden had some catching up to do to steal his lead back.
Race Three: Dominance for Tingram & Toyota
Ingram blew the competition out the water in the final race
Tim Burton made the reverse grid pole, drawing out the number 10. BTCC rookie Rory Butcher would therefore start the final race of the day on pole position. However, Josh Price was later excluded from race two after passing under yellow flags. This promoted Ant Whorton-Eales to 10th, gifting him the pole position.
A good start for Whorton-Eales retained the lead from a charging Tom Ingram behind. But after losing control on lap two, Whorton-Eales sustained race ruining damage on his rear tyre. Further back, it was the battle of the brother-in-laws between Shedden & Butcher in 3rd.
It wasn't long before Shedden found his way through passed Newsham in the BTC Norlin Chevrolet. But Collard was charging behind, taking Newsham and setting his sights on Shedden in 2nd. Before long, it was a battle of the title protagonists as Shedden, Collard & Turkington were running together on the road. Collard made his move, but on the defence contact between Shedden & Collard sent Rob off the road, losing time to Turkington.
It was a nightmare for Tom Ingram as Ollie Jackson stopped on the pit straight, bringing out the safety car. His 9 second lead evaporated in front of his eyes. Ingram floored it off the restart and scampered. The racing wouldn't last long, following a little trip into the barrier at the hairpin by Will Burns in the Team Hard Passat. The race restarted as a 2 lap dash for the flag.
Once again Ingram ran away, while Collard fell off of his own doing. Ingram was uncatchable in the final race, taking a dominant victory from Shedden & Turkington. It would be Sutton who took 4th from Cole, Plato, Mat Jackson and Neal. The final race result sees Turkington extend his series lead to a slender 4 points from Sutton. And for the first time in 2017, Jason Plato enters the top 10 in the standings.
Have Subaru found their Sweet Spot?
Sutton & Plato were in a class of their own during the first two races
The first few races of 2017 were admittedly, a bit of a struggle for the BMR Subaru team. However, fast forward to Knockhill and the team are a powerhouse of the grid. The opening two races saw Sutton & Plato race unchallenged up front, while both James Cole and Josh Price made significant headway through the field. A skeptic would put this down to the increase in boost gifted to the team, despite the fact it was turned down during the Snetterton meeting.
Remember, the team is made up of four highly competitive drivers, so there is no doubt that, given a strong car, the team will challenge at the top. The Knockhill rounds came as a blessed relief for Plato, who had struggled throughout the season with on-going problems that appeared to cripple the performance of the car.
Success in the BTCC has been a long time coming for James Cole, who had previously raced for Team Autosport in an Avensis, but never saw the success he deserved. The same can be said for Josh Price; despite this being his rookie year he has made significant gains to become a strong candidate for Jack Sears honors. His exclusion from race two was such a disappointment not only for him, but the whole team.
Their development from race to race is evident; they will only get stronger by the end of the year. There is a very strong chance that by the end of the season, we may have seen the first ever Subaru 1-2-3-4.
The Velvet Assassin: Why Turkington Is Still The One To Beat In 2017
Turkington achieved a triumvirate of success at Knockhill
At the very start of the year, I stated that Colin Turkington was the man most likely to take the title in 2017. Heading to Rockingham, I still hold that belief, despite a significant challenge from the Subaru wonder-child Sutton.
The key to Colin's success is consistency; the do or die attitude of the more inexperienced drivers often paves the way for Turkington to capitalise. At Knockhill, Turkington scored three podiums in three races. In the same way Andy Priaulx won his WTCC titles, he may not always challenge for the wins, but he scores in almost every race he starts. Over the last few meetings, the limelight has been on Sutton and Subaru, leaving Turkington to steal valuable points while no one is watching.
Even within his own team, both Collard & Jordan are often as quick if not quicker, but have both pushed too hard on occasion and fallen into a world of trouble. Knowing when to hold back is almost as important as knowing when to go on the offensive, especially in the cut-throat world of the BTCC.
Tom Ingram: A Return To Form?
After multiple disappointments, Ingram enjoyed a return to success at Knockhill
Ingram on his knockhill weekend"We’ve got a great team and a great car underneath us. I heard people saying it was a fluke at the start of the year and this shows it wasn’t"
It is fair to say that luck has really not been on Tom Ingram's side in the mid-part of 2017, often getting caught up in incidents or suffering reliability issues. However, Knockhill gave Tom 3 strong results to get his season back on track, topped off by what can only be described as an utterly dominant driver in the final race.
Whatever was thrown his way in the final race didn't phase him, whether it was incidents behind or multiple safety cars. Furthermore, he has proven himself as the fastest FWD starter in the field; it's a good job he isn't in a RWD car, he would be unstoppable off the start.
Many people wouldn't back Ingram, claiming his early success was no more than luck. However, if you look at his performances over the last few years, it's clear that he is a highly talented driver, who is able to score consistently when bad luck doesn't strike. He may have got his 2017 heading back in the right direction, but I think he may now be too far back to launch a genuine title challenge.
With further development and better luck (and who knows, having Toyota back as an official manufacturer in 2018), there is no doubt that Ingram will be a future champion of the BTCC.
Thrilling From Start To End: A Success at Knockhill
There was action-a-plenty up & down the field at Knockhill
The previous meetings at Croft & Snetterton had raised some real question marks over driving standards in the BTCC. With the exception of a few isolated events at Knockhill, I do think the racing was in general much cleaner and fairer. The action was still thrilling, but without the deliberate push-to-pass moves that have become sadly all too common in the championship.
As a circuit, Knockhill is probably one of the most demanding on the calendar. The short lap time means that lapped traffic becomes an issue, while the undulating turns are a physical strain on the drivers. As such, everyone is pushing that bit harder, and the margin for error gets that bit smaller. The consequence of all this is nothing but raw unrelenting racing at its most competitive. This will go down as one of the most memorable meetings of the year.
A Battle Royale: Points & Predictions For Rockingham
Drivers such as Andrew Jordan & Jack Goff will be looking to improve their seasons at Rockingham
Heading to Rockingham for the next three races, only 17 points separates the top 4 drivers, with Turkington edging Sutton by 4 points at the top. The unpredictability of the BTCC means that these numbers are almost meaningless; everything can change at the drop of a hat with one retirement. When we enter the final weekend at Brands Hatch, that's when the mathematicians will have a field day.
Further down, there are a few drivers who will be desperate to turn their seasons around, including Andrew Jordan & Jack Goff. Both drivers have shown field destroying pace throughout the year, but the planets never really aligned for either.
The last time Turkington raced at Rockingham in a BMW, to describe him as masterful is an understatement. However, much has changed since then, mainly the appearance of Ash Sutton, who has proven to have mind-blowing skills wherever he goes. It would be of no surprise to me that each race was won by one of the title contenders, challenged by some other threats such as Plato, Ingram, Jordan or Goff.
Only time will tell!
All Images Credited To BTCC.net
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