Pole Position man Jack Goff won the opening round of the 2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship after fending off Team BMW's Colin Turkington in a near race-long duel at Brands Hatch.

Front-row starter Sam Tordoff suffered huge wheelspin off the line in the Team GardX with Motorbase Ford Focus RS as Goff's WIX Racing with Eurotech Honda pulled clear. Turkington nipped into second whilst Halfords Yuasa Racing debutant Dan Cammish sliced down the inside of Andrew Jordan's BMW for third at Druids.

Drama struck as Tordoff continued to tumble down the order, creating a concertina effect in the lower half of the top ten. A slight touch between Tordoff and Matt Simpson's Civic Type R through Surtees caused further unfortunate contact with Matt Neal's manufacturer-backed Honda behind. Tordoff and Simpson were immediately fired out of the race, whilst Neal suffered damaged steering and went straight on at Clearways. With the three cars left stranded off-track the first Safety Car of the season was deployed.

Rob Austin's Alfa Romeo was next to fall foul of contact shortly after the restart as a nudge between him and Tom Oliphant's Mercedes left the Italian car with broken rear suspension.

As the race wore on in wet conditions it was Cammish's Honda and the two Team Shredded Wheat with Gallagher Ford's of Tom Chilton and James Cole that seemed to be struggling for ultimate pace.

Jordan had already regained third as Cammish fell further behind the charging Tom Ingram and Chilton, with the latter hanging on well in fifth. 

Turkington's biggest chance to claim the win came on lap 14 of 27 as he pulled almost side-by-side with Goff through Clearways. The Eurotech driver hung on and was able to fend off Turkington's advances for the remainder of the contest.

"That was the perfect start to the season for WIX Racing with Eurotech and all our amazing sponsors – we’ve all been working flat-out behind-the-scenes over the winter, and if we can end the season in the same position I’ll be well happy!" said Goff. "It was extremely greasy out there – the last corner in particular was like an ice-skating rink! Colin had better traction out of Clearways being rear-wheel drive and we had a little rub on one occasion, but he’s a very fair driver and we came out fighting. It’s such a competitive field out there, so to emerge on top of the pile when everyone is on zero ballast means a lot to us."

"It’s an excellent start to the season compared to this time last year where I got 50 yards off the line!" responded Turkington. "I had the wise words of Dick Bennetts (WSR Team Principal) ringing in my ear, saying just get it home and get the points on the board – it’s a long championship.

"It’s a great start for West Surrey Racing and for Team BMW. There were a couple of chances to get Jack (Goff). I could get my nose up the inside into Clearways but it was very slippery there. I was pushing to the end and I was just conscious of not taking too many risks. Jack’s pace was just better in the last three laps when it dried a bit."

Jordan took a lonely third ahead of Ingram and Chilton, whilst Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport's Adam Morgan impressed with sixth.

"It was a good race but a hard one in these conditions," noted podium man Jordan. "I made a bit of a mistake at Druids on lap one which allowed Dan (Cammish) past and that meant I lost touch with the two leaders. The car was really good, I had good pace after I got past him. I’m really happy to start with a podium for BMW Pirtek Racing. It’s my 300^th race next. It’d be great to go and win it. I’ve been here 11 years and I’m still only 28. I’m privileged and proud to be here."

Arguably the most eye-catching display came from reigning champion Ash Sutton as the Subaru star stormed from 18th on the grid to snatch seventh at the finish, his final pass coming by the now-struggling Cammish.

BTC Norlin's Chris Smiley took ninth ahead of Cole, with the former producing one of his best performances in his short BTCC career so far, though this was slightly knocked back following a post-race penalty for that move – the 0.6s reverting Smiley to 10th position and promoting Cole to ninth.

2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 1 – Brands Hatch Indy

1 Jack GOFF (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech 25 laps
2 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.547s
3 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +2.481s
4 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +3.577s
5 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +11.290s
6 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport +12.263s
7 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +14.578s
8 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +15.087s
9 James COLE (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +15.612s
10 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +15.715s
11 Brett SMITH (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech +16.352s
12 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +24.724s
13 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +25.244s
14 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +27.530s
15 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +28.106s
16 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +28.689s
17 James NASH (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +29.739s
18 Tom BOARDMAN (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +30.860s
19 Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +31.281s
20 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +32.190s
21 Michael CAINE (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +36.255s
22 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +36.635s
23 Josh PRICE (GBR) Autoglym Academy Racing +40.825s
24 Sam SMELT (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +52.214s
25 Jake HILL (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +1 lap
26 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team GardX Racing with Motorbase +2 laps
27 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +2 laps
NC Josh COOK (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +9 laps
DNF Rob AUSTIN (GBR) DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing +21 laps
DNF Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing 
DNF Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing 
DNF Mike BUSHELL (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing

WIX Racing with Eurotech's Jack Goff claimed the opening pole position of the 2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship after a dramatic qualifying session at Brands Hatch.

Goff set the pace early on in his Honda Civic Type R but he was soon pipped by a new qualifying lap record from Halfords Yuasa Racing debutant Dan Cammish.

The Yorkshireman's 47.946s lap time was hugely impressive and seemed almost certain for pole position – delight for his new employers at Honda.

Disaster struck as the session edged towards its final ten minutes, however, when Cammish drove through a red light in the pit-lane. As per the regulations, it meant Cammish would have all of his previously set lap times removed due to the indiscretion, although he would be able to return to the action to put things right.

With Cammish now dropped to the bottom of the order it was left to Team GardX Racing with Motorbase's Sam Tordoff to sneak into second spot on his return to the series, whilst Team BMW's Colin Turkington moved his 1 Series into third.

It was all eyes on a fired up Cammish as the 28-year-old blasted his all-new Honda Civic Type R around the 1.2-mile circuit in the closing stages. He immediately launched his Japanese machine back up to sixth and then improved again to grab fourth. He had one final attempt before the chequered flag fell, but it wasn't to be and the impressive new boy had to settle for a place on the second row of the grid.

Andrew Jordan and Matt Neal ensured that both BMW and Honda would be further represented in the top six, whilst Tom Chilton completed his eye-catching day with seventh for Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher.

Matt Simpson spent the entire day inside the top ten and backed that up with his best-ever qualifying performance. Simpson took eighth ahead of a slightly frustrated Tom Ingram, who had taken a berth on the front row for the last two seasons around the Indy circuit.

Brett Smith made sure that both WIX Racing with Eurotech cars would score top ten positions as he also enjoyed arguably the most impressive display of his BTCC career so far.

Reigning champion Ash Sutton endured an indifferent day as the Adrian Flux Subaru Racing star could only manage 18th on the grid, whilst his experienced team-mate Jason Plato was 29th.

The competitiveness of Britain’s best championship was there for all to see with the top 30 cars separated by less than a second.

When the dust settled, it was Goff celebrating his third pole position in-a-row, having taken top spot at Silverstone and Brands Hatch at the tail-end of 2017. Such has been Goff's recent progress that some have tipped him for an outright title tilt this season, and this will surely have served to further fuel those predictions.

Rounds 1, 2 and 3 of the 2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship will take place at Brands Hatch tomorrow (8 April) with ten of thousands of fans expected to descend on the Kent circuit, with many more watching the action live on ITV4. Coverage gets underway on ITV4 at 10:30, with full pre-race build-up, before live and exclusive action of every race on the bill.

Jack Goff said: "We were second before Dan (Cammish) lost his times, but we’ll take it anyway. We ended last year on a high, and it’s pretty special to get the first pole of 2018 for WIX Racing with Eurotech. I’ll need to keep my wits about me tomorrow and make sure I don’t make any mistakes as happened at the GP circuit last season. Hats off to all the Eurotech boys and girls, who have done an absolutely fantastic job – and to achieve this with a different engine in the car compared to last year proves some of the doubters wrong. The pace seems good over a long run, and the drop-off doesn’t look to be too bad at all, so hopefully we can put it on the top step of the podium tomorrow."

Sam Tordoff said: "I was a bit worried, because we hadn’t shown that kind of pace in practice but we knew it was there so it was just a case of unlocking it. The Focus RS is a completely different beast to the ST. I said to David (Bartrum – Team Principal) that I’m only coming back and driving for you if we have a car that can win. It just clicked. All credit to the Motorbase guys. They’ve done a lot of work on the car over the winter and I think that’s proven where we’re at. You’ve got to remain patient out there; stay out and wait for the opportunity to present itself. You can’t lose your cool. The car’s good and we’ll see where we can get to tomorrow. Wet or dry, we’re at the right end of the grid and that’s the important thing."

Colin Turkington said: "I’m really pleased with third. I didn’t think we’d get that far up the grid after practice. We’ve had a difficult car handling wise but I guess so has everybody else. The track just feels different. There isn’t as much grip as normal or it’s certainly not the same as it was when we tested here a few weeks ago. It’s just about trying to get the car in a place where it’s nice to drive. If you ask a tiny bit too much of it, it tells you no. You have to pull the reins on a little bit and understand that you can’t drive the car like you did two weeks ago and you’ve to drive to its limit. I reacted to the conditions as best I could. If you get yourself up on the first couple of rows you’ve done a good job in this field."

Dan Cammish said: "I’m heartbroken – absolutely through the floor. It was probably the best lap I’ve ever driven, and to come in and deliver that kind of performance with a new team and a front-wheel drive car that demands a totally different way of driving, I think was pretty special. To then be stripped of that is obviously disappointing. I think I deserved it and the team deserved it, but I’ve got to keep my head up – and if you’d offered me fourth place at the start of the weekend, I’d have bitten your hand off. If I wasn’t motivated before, you can rest assured I certainly am now!"

Andrew Jordan said: "I’m happy actually because all of us have struggled this morning. You look at how close it is, it’s cigarette paper close. I’m happy with that. Through the winter I felt a lot more comfortable in the car and myself and Colin (Turkington) are separated by one hundredth. It’s nice having that comfort and confidence in the car – not trying to gain too much in places you’re not going to get much from. We were just struggling with balance. We just tweaked it in areas and the little changes got it to a good place."

2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Qualifying – Brands Hatch Indy

1 Jack GOFF (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech 48.038s (90.52mph)
2 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team GardX Racing with Motorbase +0.093s
3 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.105s
4 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.107s
5 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +0.114s
6 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.126s
7 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +0.191s
8 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +0.208s
9 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.219s
10 Brett SMITH (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech +0.230s
11 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing +0.251s
12 Josh COOK (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +0.272s
13 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport +0.290s
14 James COLE (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +0.341s
15 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +0.358s
16 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +0.364s
17 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.381s
18 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.399s
19 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +0.418s
20 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +0.435s
21 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +0.440s
22 Mike BUSHELL (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +0.612s
23 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +0.614s
24 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +0.677s
25 Jake HILL (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +0.691s
26 James NASH (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +0.733s
27 Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +0.806s
28 Tom BOARDMAN (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +0.815s
29 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.881s
30 Michael CAINE (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +0.921s
31 Josh PRICE (GBR) Autoglym Academy Racing +1.136s
32 Sam SMELT (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +1.181s

This season, all media present at the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championshipwill be invited to attend a Dunlop Media Briefing in the Media Centre an hour after the conclusion of BTCC qualifying, where tyre choices will be made public.

Mickey Butler, Manager, UK and One Brand Motorsport Events will conduct the briefing and will announce in which race the teams have nominated to use the option compound tyre on Sunday.

The media briefing aims to offer insight into how the option tyre is expected to perform taking into considerations things such as a driver’s qualifying position, expected weather conditions and temperatures, track characteristics and success ballast, allowing the media the opportunity to think about the likely outcomes/challenges ahead of Sunday’s races.

Teams may only use the option tyre in each of the three races three times during the course of the season – meaning they can only use it in race three at a maximum of three events, race two at three events etc. If the team chooses to use the option tyre in a race that turns out to be wet, they have to attempt to use the option tyre in the day’s next race. The option tyre allocation does not carry over across race meetings

Tyre Allocation at a glance

WIX Racing with Eurotech took the top two positions in the final BTCC free practice session at Brands Hatch as Jack Goff topped team-mate Brett Smith.

Honda machinery occupied the first six positions at one stage during the 40-minute session, before Tom Ingram's Toyota got amongst the Civics.

When the dust finally settled it was Goff ahead of Smith by 0.075s, whilst the manufacturer-backed Type Rs of Dan Cammish and Matt Neal sandwiched Ingram's Speedworks car on the timesheets.

"It was just about finding the balance in the car and I’m less than a tenth off Jack (Goff), so I’ve got to be happy with that," commented second-placed Smith. "It’d be great if I could put it back on pole. Dad did it last year and it’d be brilliant if I could do it this year. I’m going to give it a good go but you don’t know what others are doing. We didn’t go full chat and we think there’s more in the tank. It’d be nice to get into the 47’s for sure."

Chris Smiley and Matt Simpson produced stellar results in the independently run Norlin and Simpson Hondas respectively. Smiley and Norlin seem to have immediately benefitted from the switch to Honda for 2018, whilst Simpson is also reaping the rewards from having Eurotech running his identical car.

James Cole continued Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher's steady morning with eighth, although team-mate Tom Chilton suffered with suspension problems during the session.

The Vauxhall boys of Josh Cook and Senna Proctor completed the top ten places as the striking Power Maxed TAG Astras showed their prowess around the 1.2-mile circuit.

Surprisingly, there were no BMWs or Subarus in the top ten - last year's top two manufacturers. 2017 runner-up Colin Turkington did have an overheating problem during FP2, which restricted his running, whilst the trio of Levorgs could only manage 25th, 28th and 32nd in the final classification.

The competitiveness of Britain's best championship was there for all to see with the top 30 cars separated by less than a second.

The opening qualifying session of the 2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship will take place at 15:15 today, with all the action being streamed live and exclusively via www.itv.com/btcc.

2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 2 – Brands Hatch Indy

1 Jack GOFF (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech 48.295s
2 Brett SMITH (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech +0.075s
3 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.098s
4 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.165s
5 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.226s
6 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +0.336s
7 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +0.404s
8 James COLE (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +0.435s
9 Josh COOK (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +0.437s
10 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +0.440s
11 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.468s
12 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +0.469s
13 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +0.472s
14 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport +0.477s
15 Mike BUSHELL (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +0.483s
16 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +0.520s
17 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team GardX Racing with Motorbase +0.536s
18 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing +0.582s
19 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +0.636s
20 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +0.656s
21 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +0.699s
22 James NASH (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +0.701s
23 Michael CAINE (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +0.708s
24 Tom BOARDMAN (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +0.763s
25 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.771s
26 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.792s
27 Jake HILL (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +0.816s
28 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.827s
29 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +0.878s
30 Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +0.916s
31 Sam SMELT (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +1.073s
32 Josh PRICE (GBR) Autoglym Academy Racing +1.154s

Speedworks Motorsport's Tom Ingram has topped the times in the opening Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship Free Practice session of the new season at Brands Hatch.

The Toyota hotshot won the opening rounds of the previous two seasons around the 1.2-mile circuit and it's clear both Ingram and the Avensis are well suited to the Kent circuit.

"It always just seems to go really well for us here," said Ingram. "We’ve been right on it for three or four years in a row now. We weren’t really looking for qualifying performance. We just wanted to see where the car was at.

"It feels really good and we know we’ve got more to come yet. People don’t realise being down the sharp end of the pit-lane gets you an extra lap in qualifying – it makes a big difference."

It was little surprise to see the WIX Racing with Eurotech Honda of Jack Goff following behind in second, as he has also shown good form here in previous years. Goff has enjoyed an extremely solid pre-season too, and he is now considered by many to be a genuine title contender in the BTCC.

Tom Chilton and Matt Simpson starred in third and fourth respectively, as the Motorbase-run Ford and Simpson Racing Honda also showed their calibre around the tight and twisty track.

Sam Tordoff slipped back into BTCC action with consummate ease as the Yorkshireman claimed a top five finish in FP1, whilst Halfords Yuasa Racing's debutant, Dan Cammish, completed the top six order.

Rory Butcher's MG was one of the pace-setters early on but the AmD man eventually had to settle for seventh, ahead of Josh Cook in the Power Maxed TAG Racing Vauxhall.

Surprisingly the first BMW home was Colin Turkington down in ninth, with Ciceley Motorsport's Adam Morgan rounding out the top ten.

2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 1 – Brands Hatch Indy

1 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport 48.384s
2 Jack GOFF (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech +0.056s
3 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +0.057s
4 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +0.136s
5 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team GardX Racing with Motorbase +0.148s
6 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.150s
7 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +0.177s
8 Josh COOK (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +0.224s
9 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.264s
10 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport +0.273s
11 Mike BUSHELL (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +0.276s
12 James COLE (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +0.279s
13 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.284s
14 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.285s
15 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +0.373s
16 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.385s
17 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +0.415s
18 Brett SMITH (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech +0.421s
19 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +0.468s
20 Jake HILL (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +0.471s
21 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing +0.486s
22 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +0.508s
23 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +0.632s
24 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +0.704s
25 Tom BOARDMAN (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +0.843s
26 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.845s
27 Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +0.869s
28 James NASH (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +0.912s
29 Michael CAINE (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +0.934s
30 Josh PRICE (GBR) Autoglym Academy Racing +0.939s
31 Sam SMELT (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +1.477s
32 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing NO TIME

Following a successful 2017 season, Shredded Wheat and Motorbase Performance have partnered up once again for the 60^thAnniversary year of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.

This year, Shredded Wheat is back bigger than ever and is bringing an exciting, all-new, double-decker fan-zone to the BTCC. The company is dedicated to helping people live every moment to the full and the brand new trailer is packed full of activities to ensure BTCC fans get to experience exactly that.

The Shredded Wheat team will be providing free, tasty breakfasts throughout the day for members of the public with 100% British wholegrain Shredded Wheat and a variety of toppings. The brand new bright yellow trailer will provide fans with a hub to meet the Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher drivers, test out the day’s circuit on the two player simulator game, compete against other fans on the time attack game and view the BTCC races from the covered second story view platform.

Toby Baker, Marketing Director UK & Australia said: “We are delighted to be back for another season of BTCC racing with Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher.

“We are excited to see how both Tom and James get on with the new car and we look forward to celebrating some podiums throughout the season.”

The new fan-zone will be unveiled and open to fans for the first time at Brands Hatch on Sunday, 8 April from 0800. Tom Chilton and James Cole will also be on-board from 0945-1015 to meet fans and join in the fun.

Head over to the Motorbase Performance Facebook events page for full listings and timings for each BTCC event this season.

Last on our run-through of 2017’s record 13 different Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race winners is Rob Austin, following his final-round victory at Brands Hatch in what was the sendoff for his Toyota Avensis.

The win was Handy Motorsport's first in the BTCC and, with the introduction of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, Duo Motorsport with HMS Racing, as the team is now known, will be hoping to pick up right where it left off last year.

It was a faultless drive from Austin, in what were difficult conditions, all things considered – with rain and tricky conditions on the Tarmac making things hard work. It was a poignant victory, too, with Austin dedicating the win to his late Grandmother, who very sadly passed away in the month prior.

“I made some silly mistakes in race one and two, I wasn’t having any of that in the last one!” said Austin after the race. “I lost my Gran when we were at Silverstone, she was my biggest fan, and in race three there a win was on the cards. It got taken away from us, so this is for her.”

“I knew I needed to pass Epps before we got onto the back straight as his car is quick, so I tried something at Graham Hill Bend and it worked well

“It’s easy when you’ve got the car under you, the team did a fantastic job and gave me a great race car.

“The job everyone has done this year deserved more silverware than we’ve had, but that’s been down to circumstances and just bad luck.

“Without that we would have hit our target of a top 10 championship finish. What’s that saying, though… you’re only as good as your last race!”

The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship blasts back into action this weekend (7/8 April) as the 2018 season gets underway at Brands Hatch.

As ever, the ITV Sports Network will screen every race live and exclusively, as well as running a number of highlights programmes throughout the season. ITV4, ITV1 and the ITV Hub will all carry BTCC action in 2018... 

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialBTCC/videos/1914175878623853/?hc_ref=ARTom1-lKZz7-3fahbi7hKG6g8_BDiMB5diPvLpuQ2qxAjdo-ujHahjT03KJ3aj7aH0&fref=nf 

The campaign kicks off with qualifying this Saturday before the all-important race day on Sunday. You can catch all of the Indy circuit action at the following times:

Qualifying LIVE: Saturday 7 April
ITV.com/BTCC 1505-1550

Raceday LIVE: Sunday 8 April
ITV4 & ITV4HD 1015-1820
ITV4+1 1115-1920
ITV Hub 1015-1820
ITV.com/BTCC 1015-1820 

Highlights: Saturday 14 April
ITV4 & ITV4HD 0800-0930
ITV4 +1 0900-1030
ITV Hub Available anytime for the next 30 days

Highlights: Sunday 15 April
ITV4 & ITV4HD 0600-0710
ITV4 +1 0700-0810

Highlights: Wednesday 18 April
ITV1 & ITV1HD 2340-0100

The tens of thousands of fans trackside this weekend can also compliment their viewing with the LIVE section of the BTCC website, where you can access circuit commentary and live timing, whilst the ITV Hub will broadcast live coverage throughout Sunday on mobile and tablet devices.

ITV4 has released its LIVE broadcast times for all ten 2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship events with more shows to be scheduled in due course: 

Jack Goff was the 12th winner of 2017 and he's the next on our list of last year's record 13 different Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship victors following his top-step drive in race two from Silverstone.

Pole-sitter, Speedworks Motorsport's Tom Ingram started strongly and made good on his advantageous grid position, with the Eurotech Racing Honda Civic Type R of Goff also making a clean getaway.

It wasn't long before the scarlet Civic was hounding the Avensis, with Ingram forced onto the defensive. After two tours of trying to make his presence felt, Goff slipped his Honda into a position to make a move stick – up the inside of the Toyota at Becketts on lap three. From there, Goff had the pace to make hay out front and create a cushion to the chasing pack behind as he sealed the win in style.

“The second one took a little while to come,” said Goff post-race. “It’s been over two years now! It’s for all the Eurotech guys – we’ve had a tough time with Jeff (Smith)’s accident and it’s for all our sponsors too. I watched some old footage of Andy (Jordan) and Jason (Plato) back and I saw that at turn one we might get a bit of help with the softer compound tyre. The car was fantastic.

“It’s usually pretty good but performance over the race distance is sometimes our downfall. It was great there though even with ballast. The first NGTC pole for a Honda here and a first win for Jeff as team boss. Brilliant!”

This week’s edition of Motorsport News (out now) provides an experts view as part of its four-page preview of Britain's best-loved championship

Below is an excerpt from the interview with ITV's Tim Harvey, Paul O'Neill and David Addison, but be sure to pick up a copy of this week’s MN for the full article:

The British Touring Car Championship never fails to deliver excitement and interest up and down the grid. From the battles at the front to the shifting landscape of the series itself, there is always plenty to chew over.

Who better to answer the burning questions than the experts from ITV4, the series broadcasters, who scrutinise every practice, qualifying and race in detail.

We sat down with ITV’s racers-turned-TV personalities Tim Harvey and Paul O’Neill, along with lead commentator David Addison, to answer some of the hot topics going into the new BTCC campaign, which kicks off at Brands Hatch this weekend.

MN: Who is going to be champion?

Tim Harvey: “Colin Turkington. Because consistently he is always challenging for the title, and he has all the goods at his disposal. BMW should be slightly quicker this year in a straight line. He has everything he needs to win the championship.”

Paul O’Neill: “Turkington.”

David Addison: “Turkington. He is a top-class driver in a top-class team. Nothing is left to chance at WSR. They had occasional electrical dramas last year but it is very rare that it has a mechanical fault. Turkington knows how to wrap up points, he knows how to win championships and he rarely makes mistakes. WSR is also competitive at every venue and not every team is.”

MN: Who do you think is going to be the surprise of the season?

PO: “The Team Hard VW CCs are going to be good. If you asking me who I think is going to win the Jack Sears Trophy I would say Bobby Thompson. If you asking for someone who is not on the radar, I would say Jake Hill is going to win some races.”

TH: “The obvious candidate for the Jack Sears Trophy is Dan Cammish. He is in a fantastic car and with a fantastic team.”

DA: “I hate this phrase, but the one that will fly under the radar is James Nash because he is better than people give him credit for. He has proved how good he is in TCR and with the BTC Norlin team having proper Honda Civics at its disposal they will have a good year.”

The boys go on to discuss Dan Cammish’s chances, the competitiveness of the championship, the series’ young guns and which drivers they would pick in their BTCC dream team!