Ash Sutton moved to the summit of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship standings at Thruxton last time out and now the young charger is aiming to stay there as the series rolls into Silverstone this weekend.

“Heading to Thruxton we knew it wasn’t going to be our strongest track, so to come away with three top five finishes and the lead in the points was fantastic,” said the Laser Tools Racing star.

“We had a bit of luck with Colin [Turkington] having his issue in race one, but we maximised everything that we could to basically get a 26-point swing in the championship.

“Going to Silverstone with maximum success ballast won’t be ideal but we have the points in the bag and also I think the car will be a little better suited there.”

As mentioned, Sutton benefitted from a difficult weekend for reigning champion Turkington, as the Team BMW star failed to score for the first time this season following a mechanical issue in the opening race.

He charged back through the order in the other contests to claw back some points, but the Northern Irishman is now playing catch up with 12 of the 27 races remaining.

“When race day doesn't quite go to plan you find you're chomping at the bit to get back out there,” said Turkington. “Of course I didn't score the points I would have liked at Thruxton, but we made good progress back through the pack. 

“Finishing the weekend in a good place with a forwards mentality is a big positive.  We're here to win and a bump in the road only increases the motivation for me.”

Silverstone feels like the beginning of the business end of the season with the likes of Tom Ingram, Rory Butcher and Dan Cammish also harbouring intentions of winning the most coveted crown in British Motorsport. 

The 1.64-mile National circuit often proves to be one of the closest of the season. It is also synonymous with slipstreaming so it’s likely there will be action aplenty this weekend as we head towards an exciting climax of the 2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship.

“The nature of the national circuit allows for plenty of overtaking so I'm sure it will be BTCC business as usual!” concluded Turkington.

Qualifying commences at 1510 with all the action being streamed live via www.itv.com/btcc, with the entire race day being broadcast live on ITV2 from 1100 tomorrow.

New standings leader Ash Sutton has fired out an early warning to hit title rivals by topping the opening Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship Free Practice session at Silverstone.

Sutton hit the front for the first time this season with a trio of top five finishes at Thruxton last weekend, whilst reigning champ Colin Turkington suffered with an on-track issue, and now the Laser Tools Racing driver is looking to stay on top despite carrying maximum success ballast onboard his Infiniti Q50. 

"Last weekend was perfect obviously with Colin having an issue in race one it fell into our hands," said Sutton. "From then it was about maximising points but being safe, thinking about every situation and move that we were making. For me we played that the best we could do, in the safest manner.

"We’ve done a very good time this morning, I expect the pace to be a little quicker than that, and we’re trying to find where that pace is in the car. Obviously with carrying the weight in FP1, there’s going to be a switch and we’re going to drop down the order a fraction. We’re in a very good position. Looking at the car where it is and where it was – I’m very happy.

"We didn’t expect to be leading the standings at this point, obviously we know what we’re up against. They’re not easy people to beat and the position we’re in shows we’ve done a very good job up to now, but it's all ours to go wrong. So we’ve just got to maintain what we’ve got, make sure we’re finishing every race and keep the points up."

Tom Ingram – another man in form following his win double in Hampshire last time out – was just 0.090s behind Sutton in this FP1 session, as the Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters star has also fired himself into title contention.

Ingram is looking to make a late push for overall glory and he's in the right place to do it as the most successful BTCC driver at Silverstone in recent times. Five wins over the last five years is quite an impressive return, and one or two more this weekend will do his championship chances no harm at all.

Team BMW's Tom Oliphant and Excelr8 Motorsport's Senna Proctor teamed up for a Kwik Fit golf event on Friday and the duo clearly enjoyed eachothers company as they've also paired up on track... ending this session in third and fourth respectively.

Halfords Yuasa Racing enjoyed one of its best weekends of the season so far with a quadruple podium visit at Thruxton so it's little surprise to see Matt Neal and Dan Cammish continue their upturn in fortunes with fifth and sixth here at Silverstone.

Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools' Adam Morgan is fast-becoming one of the most consistent driver/car combinations on-track as the Lancastrian slipped into eighth during practice. The Mercedes man qualified fourth last weekend so will be hoping to be a contender again later this afternoon.

Aiden Moffat claimed the first ever podium for the Infiniti Q50 here last season and the Scotsman kicked off this year's event in solid fashion with ninth, whilst Motorbase Performance's Rory Butcher rounded out the top ten.

Qualifying at Silverstone often proves to be one of the hardest fought of the season and things are already heating up this time around with the top 25 being covered by less than a second in the opening session.

2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 1 – Silverstone

1        Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing 57.501s
2        Tom INGRAM (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters +0.090s
3        Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +0.157s
4        Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +0.199s
5        Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.248s
6        Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.260s
7        Adam MORGAN (GBR) Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools +0.272s
8        Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.308s
9        Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.355s
10      Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.397s
11      Chris SMILEY (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +0.413s
12      Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +0.470s
13      Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +0.511s
14      Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +0.512s
15      Tom ONSLOW-COLE (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +0.610s
16      Michael CREES (GBR) The Clever Baggers with BTC Racing +0.650s
17      Sam OSBORNE (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +0.709s
18      Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.720s
19      Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) HUB Financial Solutions with Team HARD +0.724s
20      Tom CHILTON (GBR) BTC Racing +0.752s
21      Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) GKR TradePriceCars.com +0.803s
22      James GORNALL (GBR) GKR TradePriceCars.com +0.807s
23      Jack GOFF (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +0.830s
24      Andy NEATE (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.962s
25      Jack BUTEL (GBR) Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools +0.981s
26      Jade EDWARDS (GBR) Power Maxed Car Care Racing +1.147s
27      Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with Team HARD +1.448s

GKR TradePriceCars.com will hope to build on the points scoring finish it secured at Thruxton last weekend with a strong performance at Silverstone as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship heads into the sixth race weekend of the 2020 campaign.

Essex racer Bobby Thompson enjoyed one of his strongest weekends of the season at Silverstone last year after recovering from a retirement in the opening race to bag a pair of points-scoring finishes – coming from 27th on the grid to 13th in race two before a solid run to tenth in race three.

The 24-year-old was forced to produce a similar fightback at Thruxton last time out after an unfortunate off in the second race of the weekend left him to battle his way through to the points in race three, which marked his seventh top 15 finish of the campaign.

Having made a number of improvements to the #19 car over the course of the Thruxton meeting, Thompson heads for Silverstone with the target of scoring points in all three races, and on closing the gap to current leader Michael Crees in the Jack Sears Trophy standings.

Thompson currently lies in second place in the Jack Sears Trophy standings and has one round win – at Oulton Park last month – to his name.

Team-mate James Gornall endured a frustrating weekend at Thruxton after suffering gearbox failure in race two, which would then prevent him from taking the start of the final race of the weekend.

The former British GT champion – a member of the prestigious British Racing Drivers’ Club – has shown his undoubted talent on a number of occasions so far in his maiden season of touring car competition; most notably at Brands Hatch where he secured the Jack Sears Trophy win on the back of three points finishes.

With luck having eluded the 36-year-old in recent events, Gornall heads into the weekend determined to fight for three solid finishes – with a hat-trick of points scores being the target.

"Silverstone has a lot of high speed corners and not many heavy braking points, so it will be quite similar to Thruxton in a way,” considered Thompson. “We need to see how we go when we get there, but the focus for me is to try and get back into the top 15 on a regular basis.

"We made quite a few changes to the car at Thruxton that improved our performance, so we need to see how those changes work at Silverstone. There are also a few other things to look at that will hopefully help us move forwards up the order.

"It’s going to be a busy Saturday in practice but the focus has to be on bringing home more points and closing the gap on the JST lead. I got two points scoring finishes last year, including a top ten, and a repeat this year would be great."

"The last few meetings have been tough and we’ve not been able to get the results that we are capable of – and that the team deserves – for various reasons,” reflected Gornall. “That is something that is massively frustrating for me as a driver, but only makes me more determined to have a solid weekend when we get to Silverstone.

"We’ll have to see where we stand when the track action kicks off but we need to work on trying to get as much pace as we can from the car on Saturday to get higher up the grid, because all season we’ve had a stronger car on race day than we have had in qualifying.

"We know that the Audi has had some decent results at Silverstone and we know we can be in the mix for points. Hopefully I can have a bit more luck on my side and we can push for three solid results, and get some more on the board."

This weekend’s racing action will once again air live on ITV2 on Sunday from 1100, with qualifying on itv.com/btcc from 1505 on Saturday.

As we head into the sixth event of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship’s 2020 campaign, Silverstone is set to host another weekend jam-packed with edge-of-the-seat BTCC action.

With a change at the top of the standings, Laser Tools Racing’s Ash Sutton now sits at the summit of the Drivers’ Championship, while reigning champion Colin Turkington is 16 points in arrears. In third place, a further 16 points behind, Toyota man Tom Ingram will be looking to replicate his 2019 Silverstone success to continue to climb the order.

This week, as it was last time out at Thruxton, the BTCC will be broadcast live on ITV2 as well as the ITV hub, with qualifying available at itv.com/btcc on Saturday.

Qualifying LIVE: Saturday 26 September
ITV.com/BTCC from 1505

Raceday LIVE: Sunday 27 September
ITV2 & ITV2 HD 1100-1825
ITV2+1 1200-1925
ITV.com/BTCC 1100-1825

Highlights: Saturday 3 October
ITV4 & ITV4 HD 0725-0855
ITV4 +1 0825-0955
ITV Hub Available anytime for the next 30 days

Highlights: Sunday 4 October
ITV4 & ITV4 HD 0825-0955
ITV4 +1 0925-1055

Highlights: Wednesday 7 October
ITV & STV 1140-0110
ITV+1 & STV+1 0040-0210

Team BMW had a mixed weekend at Thruxton, with Tom Oliphant celebrating a trio of top-eight finishes while reigning champion Colin Turkington lost the standings lead, as the squad concentrates on coming back stronger for this weekend’s rounds of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone (26/27 September).

After a busy start to the 2020 campaign and following the longest break of the season so far, the outfit headed to the fastest circuit in the UK with the aim of building on its impressive run of results to date.

Despite the high-speed Hampshire venue traditionally being better suited to front-wheel-drive cars, the pair of BMW 330i M Sports showed encouraging pace across Saturday’s two free practice sessions and headed into qualifying with a quiet confidence.

In what proved to be an ultra-competitive session, Oliphant extracted the pace from his rear-wheel-drive machine to set the 12th best time setting him up for a strong race day. Turkington’s best efforts would see him eighth on the grid for Sunday’s opening encounter, despite the 60kg of success ballast onboard the #1 machine.

Launching off the sixth row of the grid, Oliphant wasted no time in moving forward as he muscled his way into the top ten during the early stages of the first race and then settled into a groove. Moving up two more spots to eighth in the remaining laps, the 30-year-old bagged a handy haul of points to aid his lofty championship position. 

It was a significantly different start to the day for Turkington, as a misfire saw him forced to pit on lap six, resulting in a first non-classified finish of the year for the Northern Irishman.

Carrying less weight in race two, Oliphant was once again on the move as he kept his nose clean and progressed to sixth come the chequered flag. 

Team-mate Turkington spent the second race of the day moving his way through the pack. Having started in P24 with no ballast, he would cross the line in 13th, narrowly missing out on any benefit from the reverse grid draw for race three.

Starting third on the grid – virtue of the reverse grid draw – it was another sixth-place finish for Oliphant, capping off a solid day at the office.

As the lights went out, Oliphant found his path to split the front row cut off as the field streamed through Allard and, as he fought for track position around the opening sequence of corners, he was shuffled back to fourth. 

Dropping back to sixth a handful of laps later, Oliphant would hold station for the remainder of the race to continue his record of being one of only two drivers on the grid to finish in the points in every race so far this season.

The final encounter saw Turkington once again make his way through the order. Beginning race three from 13th on the grid, the 38-year-old would make up a further five places to take eighth at the chequered flag, bagging a much-needed points haul.

Team BMW heads into the second half of the 2020 campaign in a strong position, with both drivers in the top ten of the overall standings. Additionally, the squad also leads the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ tables heading into the next rounds at Silverstone this weekend (26/27 September).

“Considering that we qualified outside the top ten on Saturday we can't be too disappointed with three top eight finishes and a solid haul of points,” reflected Oliphant. “Especially as the characteristics of the circuit didn't suit our car as much as other tracks we visit.

"After qualifying I had it in my head that we needed to play the long game on Sunday. Moving forward in races one and two was important as it put me into the hat for the reverse grid draw, and that ultimately was kind as it placed me in third.

"I had a good launch but in the second phase I was swallowed up by the front-wheel-drive cars. Had that not happened I think we would have had the pace to challenge for a podium. Overall, we have made the best of the weekend and we'll focus on coming back stronger at Silverstone."

“It's always so important to finish race one; your entire day evolves from that result,” admitted Turkington. “When something happens then, it derails the weekend. Thruxton is a difficult circuit to overtake, and you have to force errors to make progress. It also tends to favour the FWD cars, so I was really up against it. You're hoping to move forwards and maybe luck into the reversed grid for the final race, but it just wasn't meant to be.

“It was critical for me to stop hemorrhaging points and I had to pull out all the stops. I'd have liked to make more progress to be honest, but when we took the weight out for race two, things didn't come together as well as we would have liked. But all in all we should be proud of having gone forwards because it was clear to see doing that wasn't easy to achieve. The team kept their spirit and kept on digging deep throughout the day. And on the tough days, that is never more important.

“You always expect a bump or two on the journey and this was one of them. These things happen and nobody is to blame. We just have to take it on the chin, dust ourselves down and go again. It's frustrating when you put so much work into an event and you come away with little reward, but that work never goes to waste. We'll move on, keep grafting and put it right next time out.”

MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square battled back from a difficult start to the day, securing another top-ten finish during the fifth event of the 2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship visited Thruxton last weekend, as the squad now heads to Silverstone with the aim to push for more points.

The team looked to build on podium finishes in the previous two events at Oulton Park and Knockhill as it headed to the Hampshire circuit, and a strong Saturday saw Jake Hill put his Honda Civic Type R in fifth place on the grid for the opening race of the weekend.

Team-mate Sam Osborne in the sister Honda meanwhile would line up 23rd on the grid, with his focus on fighting his way forwards and into the points on race day.

The opening race started well for the team as Hill was able to maintain his starting position, despite contact at turn one. Hill would hold his position through the early laps before damage from the earlier contact forced him into the pits and dropped him off the lead lap. Showing front-running pace on his return the circuit, he was left with a 22nd place finish.

Osborne stayed out of trouble in the early stages of the race before setting about trying to work his way forward into the top 20. The 27-year-old had climbed up to 19th spot before an unfortunate spin at Noble dropped him down the order. Forced to make a precautionary pit stop, Osborne rejoined three laps down, which meant he would be unclassified in the end results.

The pair would start together on the twelfth row of the grid for race two but Hill was soon making up places when the action got underway, breaking into the top 20 by the end of lap one.

Into the points by lap four having made up seven places, Hill would set the quickest lap amongst the Independent drivers as he charged through to eleventh place; missing out on the top ten by less than half a second. Osborne would lap consistently in the sister car before taking the chequered flag in 22nd spot.

Having missed out on the reverse grid draw for the final race, Hill’s focus was on trying to push forwards into the top ten, and he capped a challenging race day with a ninth-place finish, lapping as quick as the leading pack despite running in traffic throughout.

Osborne would again finish up in 22nd spot, with the team now heading for Silverstone this weekend for the sixth event of the season.

"We've shown that we have the pace to run with the front pack again this weekend but unfortunately things didn't fall our way on race day,” said Team Principal Shaun Hollamby. “The margins are so fine in the BTCC and on another day, the contact Jake had in race one wouldn't have had an impact and he'd have been able to finish near the front and collect three strong points finishes.

"It's been tough for Sam but we have to remember that he is only in his second season and is still learning every time he goes out on track, so I have no doubt he'll come back stronger at Silverstone next week."

"To come back through to take a top ten finish is a good end to race day for Jake and showed the pace that we have in the car,” added Sporting Director Mark Blundell. “It's just a shame that we weren't able to push for a podium finish as I think that was certainly achievable had race one gone to plan. It's been more of a challenge for Sam but he has shown elsewhere what he can do and I'm confident he'll soon be challenging for more points to add to his tally."

"We didn't get the results I think we deserved today, but it's still been my best Thruxton weekend in terms of how I've driven,” reflected Hill. “It's a shame with what happened in race one but, we did well in race two to make up a lot of places and had a clean run in race three. This has still been a solid showing for us and the car hasn't missed a beat.

"We've lost a little bit of success ballast as a result of this weekend which will be a bonus heading to Silverstone and I think we'll be quick there and can push for some strong results."

"It's been a tough weekend for me and I would have liked to do better,” admitted Osborne. “But I just have to pick myself up and look to come back stronger next weekend. I haven't done as many laps here as I have done elsewhere, and it's such a tricky track to master but motorsport is full of highs and lows, and this happened to be a low. There is only a week until Silverstone which means I won't dwell on this weekend for too long and will hope to push for points next time out."

Last weekend saw the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship head to the UK’s fastest track, Thruxton, as fan-favourite Rob Austin made a long-awaited return under the Power Maxed Car Care Racing banner for a one-off event.

Traffic in Saturday’s qualifying session meant Austin was unable to string a perfect lap together although, despite having just two sessions in the car and the full new driver ballast on board, he recorded the 16th fastest time, resulting in the Vauxhall Astra being well placed to make up ground on Sunday.

The opening encounter saw Austin make a great start, gaining three places during the first few laps to get up to 13th. He would hold this position for the majority of the 16-lap session, taking Smiley at the very end of the final lap to snatch 12th.

This meant the 39-year-old would start race two 12th on the grid, but with the advantage of carrying zero success ballast. Despite fighting hard and putting in some quick times, he was unable to make up any places, whilst not losing any ground either, crossing the line once again in P12.

With the #10 car making it into the now infamous BTCC Reverse Grid Draw, hopes for a pole position start for race three were cruelly dashed as it was revealed that Austin would begin the final race of the day yet again from 12th on the grid.

A battling race three drive would see Austin pushing championship contender Cammish in his factory-supported Honda until the very end, crossing the line just 0.7s behind to finish 11th.

“We’ve not had the best of luck this year,” said Team Principal Adam Weaver. “Despite the car being consistently one of the quickest on track, we had no results to show for it going into Thruxton.

“When we realised that Mike Bushell wasn’t going to be able to race, I was a bit nervous if I’m honest, but as soon as we agreed Rob getting into the car I knew we were onto a winner. I couldn’t be happier with our results from the weekend. Rob showed great pace throughout and slotted into the team perfectly.

“Despite being six races down on the rest of the grid, as well as bad luck preventing any points at the previous six, we’re not at the bottom of the points table, which shows that as much as we’re not going to be fighting for the title this season. We’re definitely not there just to make up the numbers.”

“I enjoyed my weekend more than I was expecting, to be honest,” reflected Austin. “PMR is a great team, and you don’t need me to tell you that they have built a great BTCC car in the Astra – it’s already well-proven.

“No matter how good the car is, coming back at Thruxton with zero testing, new driver ballast on board and in a new car was always going to be a challenge after two years out of the seat. But I feel I got up to speed as well as I could, thanks to the support of some great people in the team. Having said that, I think if I hear the word ‘solid’ again my head might explode!”

PMR continues its unique approach to the 2020 season this coming weekend, as Jade Edwards is set to become the first female in 13 years to contest the BTCC, on Silverstone’s National Circuit. Fans will be able to watch race day unfold this Sunday from 1100, on ITV2 & ITV2HD.

BTC Racing made a welcome return to winning ways at Thruxton Race Circuit, claiming a superb maiden one-two finish during an action-packed fifth meeting of the 2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship (August 19-20). 
 
After a turbulent start to his 2020 campaign, Josh Cook took a commanding lights-to-flag victory in the weekend finale, with team-mate Tom Chilton crossing the line in second to claim two podium finishes in as many race weekends.
 
A pair of top-ten finishes for Michael Crees helped to make the BTC Racing squad’s most successful event of the season so far, with the trio of racers notching up an incredible eight top-ten finishes from nine races at the UK’s fastest circuit.
 
The South-West speed bowl rewarded the team’s efforts with its strongest qualifying result to date, as well as Crees’ best-ever BTCC qualifying position, as Chilton, Crees and Cook lined up seventh, ninth and tenth on the grid for Sunday’s opening encounter.
 
The weekend opener delivered a strong haul of points for the BTC Racing outfit’s championship challenge. After trading places in the early laps, the trio settled into position to bring all three Hondas home inside the top ten for the first time. Chilton took seventh at the chequered flag, with Cook and Crees closely behind in ninth and tenth, while Crees also claimed the top spot from the Jack Sears Trophy contenders. 
 
Race two followed suit with the squad bagging another trio of top-ten finishes. Chilton was first to cross the line in the BTC Racing formation, finishing once again in seventh, although this time out the squad would take three consecutive spots in the top ten, as Cook and Crees crossed the line in eighth and ninth respectively, adding to the Brackley-based squad’s impressive point-scoring bounty at the Hampshire track. 
 
A well overdue change of fortunes placed Cook on pole for the final contest of the day, with team-mate Chilton lining up alongside for a BTC Racing front-row lockout. Just missing out on the reverse grid draw, Crees would begin the final race of the day from ninth, his third top-ten start of the weekend. 
 
With his sights firmly set on silverware, Cook delivered a flawless lights-to-flag drive in the #66 Type R and ran untroubled to claim victory with an impressive 3.475 second lead at the final flag. Chilton continued his strong weekend form to manage the gap ahead of the chasing pack and pilot the #3 car home in second. 
 
Crees’ impressive progression was evident for all in the final race as the Clever Baggers-backed racer held off four-time BTCC title-winner Turkington for over ten laps, whilst duelling with three-time champion Matt Neal for seventh place. Having held eighth for the majority of the race, a bold challenge on Neal on the final lap pitched the #777 onto the kerb, resulting in a puncture that regrettably dropped him back to P21. 
 
The Kent racer’s performance was repaid with silverware, however, securing Jack Sears Trophy honours for the weekend, and extending his lead at the top of the standings to a comfortable 44-point lead. 
 
BTC Racing has moved up to fifth in the overall Teams’ Standings, and also closed the gap in the Independent Standings. Chilton remains seventh overall and third in the Indy standings, with Cook moving up the ranks to 13th overall and 11th in the Independent points. 
 
The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is straight back into action again next weekend, for rounds 16, 17, 18 of the 2020 season which take place at BTC Racing’s home circuit, and the home of British Motorsport, Silverstone, on 26/27 September. 

“It’s such a sense of relief to get the results this weekend,” said Joint Team Principal Bert Taylor. “After the huge amount of stress that 32 people have been under for the last four weeks, to come here and for the three drivers to perform the way that they have, I couldn’t have asked for any more. 
 
“Josh has struggled all weekend with brake issues, so for him and Tom to turn that around to claim our first one-two is just phenomenal. 
 
“Michael’s drive in race three was surreal. Having a four-time BTCC champion behind him and three-time champion in front of him and perform the way he did lap after lap was unbelievable.
 
“Today was the perfect payback to the team for all of their hard work and efforts these past few weeks. It’s going to make the world of difference to us all heading into another back-to-back race weekend. We can go to our home circuit now with real confidence.”  

“It was an epic day for the team with all three of us on the podium,” added Chilton. “I’m really happy that we got such a great finish to the weekend. I always aim for 30 points a weekend to stay in the championship fight, so I’m clawing my way back from a slow start to the season. We’ve had two podiums on the hop now, which is great. 
 
“It’s been a fantastic day for BTC Racing. The team all did a great job, and I’m so happy for both of my team-mates getting podiums as well. I got my first-ever win at Thruxton this weekend – even if it was in the charity bike ride! But also, my highest-ever BTCC finish there with a P2. It was definitely a weekend to remember!”
 
“It was another trying weekend,” reflected Cook. “We struggled all day on Saturday with braking issues that we had to battle through. We then suffered a misfire in qualifying which knocked us out of a run so it was a messy session. We were still having issues in race one so the guys changed a lot of stuff on the car; literally everything that they could change, they did. The reverse grid for race three was mega. I got a good start off the line and then just focused on controlling the race from there. I’m so pleased for the guys. They’ve had a really tough few weeks and needed this win as much as I did. 
 
“We need to look at some stuff in more depth to find what’s causing the issue with the brake pedal, but we have to go into Silverstone with confidence. It’s a power track, and we’ve got no weight again, so we should be in a good place.”
 
“A great job by my team-mates today as well. Creesy has been outstanding this weekend.”
 
“When is it going to end?” said Crees. “I’m getting better and better every time I’m in the car and it’s just amazing. I was sitting there behind Matt Neal in race three and I had the pace on him. I had Turkington on my back so I thought I’d have him going into turn two. I got a bit greedy on the last lap at the chicane and took a bit too much kerb and it punctured immediately. It could have easily been a real hero moment though. Hands-down it was the best race I’ve ever driven. 
 
“For some reason, I’ve stepped up this weekend and I feel that I deserve to be here on merit now. No ifs, no buts, no tyres choices. I carried 12kg there when I was battling with the works BMW and Honda and kept with them. I feel like this is the next step forward for me. 
 
“Everyone at BTC Racing has put their heart and soul into this. I’m so happy for Josh, and the team. They’ve thrown everything at it this weekend so to get the one-two is brilliant. If we’d have drawn number nine out for the reversed grid draw, who knows, maybe it would have been a BTC Racing one-two-three. We needed this. I’m really happy for everyone.”

Jade Edwards is set to become the first female driver to race in the BTCC since 2007 when the young racer lines up for Power Maxed Racing at Silverstone this coming weekend (26/27 September)

Edwards has long been a part of the BTCC paddock – firstly through watching her father racing in the series when she was just a kid – before going on to compete in the likes of the Renault UK Clio Cup.

We caught up with Jade at Thruxton last weekend and you can listen to the interview below...

Dan Cammish and Matt Neal collected one of their strongest points hauls of the season so far as the series reached its halfway point at Thruxton last weekend (19/20 September), both drivers twice climbing the podium and, in the process, securing a pair of manufacturer prizes for Honda.

With the two Honda Civic Type R race cars wearing a one-off livery celebrating battery supplier Yuasa's tenth season with the team, Cammish made a statement of intent by topping the times in both practice sessions and then taking pole position. Matt Neal produced his best qualifying performance of the campaign to line up third, less than two tenths of a second off the fastest time.

Front-row rival Tom Ingram beat Cammish off the line in race one, Neal slotting in behind his team-mate. The top two quickly established a gap on the opposition, and in the closing laps Cammish closed in on Ingram but couldn't quite force his Honda past, finishing second. Neal meanwhile held off Adam Morgan to take third place, his first podium finish of 2020.

Cammish was again beaten away in the second bout, dropping to third behind Neal, but he retook the place from his team-mate at the end of the lap and set off after race leader Ingram.

Again, Cammish was able to pressure the leader without finding a way past, though on the final corner the Honda pulled alongside its rival before having to give way and again finish second. Neal withstood initial heavy pressure from championship leader Ashley Sutton to maintain his third spot and earn Honda its second manufacturer award of the day.

The reverse grid draw for the final race put Neal and Cammish in sixth and seventh spots respectively. More start issues dropped Cammish to ninth off the line, and then a side-by-side battle with leading title rival Colin Turkington saw the Honda lose momentum and fall to 12th.

Cammish fought back to claim tenth at the flag and some vital extra championship points. Neal slotted into seventh at the start and held it right through the race, the veteran driver climbing back into the championship top ten and in the process securing a Teams’ award for Halfords Yuasa Racing.     

A strong day helped Cammish trim the points deficit to the championship leaders, while Neal continued a remarkable success record at Thruxton, having climbed the podium at the Hampshire track 32 times in total and at least once every season since 2002.

Dan Cammish said: "I had a day of terrible starts, which was a shame. In the first two races I found I could catch Ingram but he had enough traction that I couldn’t make enough difference in the slow corners to take advantage in the quick ones. We both gave it everything – there was nothing left in the tank for either of us. Then in race three I got beat up a bit, I survived and earned points but I would have liked a few more.

“Pole and two seconds, along with Matt’s double-podium alongside me, is a great result from the day. Now we go onto Silverstone with the car and the engine working well and there’s no reason why we can’t have another successful weekend."

Matt Neal said: "You are hanging on here wherever you are in the pack, so we are over the moon to have both cars on the podium in two races, and I'm of course delighted to continue my record here.

“It was a strong weekend on Yuasa’s tenth anniversary, the win eluded us but I’m feeling pretty bullish for Silverstone and looking forward to it – the engine’s working well, as are the aerodynamics, we just need a bit of luck and speed."