Series title sponsor Dunlop has published a series of smart infographics deconstructing the 2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship up to this point, with just three rounds of this 60th anniversary season to come this weekend at Brands Hatch.
First up, the picture in Dunlop's #ForeverForward award.
As always, the overtaking league that recognises and rewards drivers’ fight-backs from adversity has been hotly contest over the course of the 2018 campaign, with the competition set to go down to the wire. Tom Ingram's trademark battles through the pack at the likes of Snetterton and Rockingham have earned him top spot in #ForeverForward so far, and have ensured he heads to Brands Hatch in with a real shout of overturning Drivers' standings leader Colin Turkington.
Weekend honours this season have been sealed by seven different drivers, racing for seven different teams, representing six different marques – such is the fierce competition throughout the BTCC field between drivers, outfits and machinery.
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing's Ash Sutton enacted a valiant defence of his maiden BTCC crown this year and his #ForeverForward tally illustrates that. On a number of occasions this year, the Subaru man has been forced into battling back through the pack and he narrowly heads a gaggle of drivers including Stephen Jelley, Josh Cook and Senna Proctor in the scrap to dethrone Ingram atop the standings.
In the overall Drivers' picture, it has been a titanic tussle all season between Turkington and Ingram, with the Speedworks Motorsport man topping the charts after four race weekends in 2018 – the pair have been inseparable.
Double champion Turkington stole the initiative at Oulton Park, where he secured his only race victory of the campaign to-date, but Ingram briefly wrested control of the Drivers' running back at Snetterton following a profitable 'Diamond Double' weekend where he tallied well in the double-score finale.
After that, strong weekends for Team BMW and Turkington at Rockingham and Knockhill meant a points margin began to open up following the latter weekend as the double champ began to tighten the screw. Ingram, though, nibbled away at the gap at Silverstone, taking nine points out of WSR's front-running driver's advantage. With the gap standing at 34 points, and 67 still on the table, it's all to play for at Brands Hatch.
Despite some typically Turkington consistency, Ingram has not dropped below sixth in the Drivers' Championship at any point this season. A difficult Donington Park for Turkington saw him down in 10th in the running, but from there on in, he's scored points at the fastest rate of any driver.
