BTCC round 6 - Snetterton: Motorbase in, Welch Motorsport out


August 5, 2015
News
Marijan Malcevic


The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship gets back on track with Round 6 at Snetterton in Norfolk next weekend (8/9 August). More than 30 cars and drivers will fight each other on  the longest circuit in the calendar. Snetterton 300 with its 12 corners at 2.99-mile circuit offers the combination of fast straights and Twisty infield sections.

At the top of the championship standings there were five champions in the top 6 positions, which highlights just how challenging it is to break through in Britain’s toughest series. Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa) is currently leading the way with 195 points, his team-mate Matt Neal is third with 173 points and between them is Jason Plato (Team BMR) with 185 points.

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Sam Tordoff (West Surrey Racing) is fourth with 162 points. In his third BTCC season, he has two wins so far and is still aiming for his first championship title. Reigning champion Colin Turkington (Team BMR) is fifth, ahead of 2013 champion Andrew Jordan (MG Triple Eight). Positions 7 to 9 are taken by another hat-trick of superstars who have already won races this season – Adam Morgan (WIX Racing), Rob Collard (West Surrey Racing) and Andy Priaulx (West Surrey Racing), and they are separated by just two points.

Eight drivers have already had victories in 2015 and one more serious contender for victory will be on track at Snetterton. Motorbase Performance team is getting back in the competition with 2-litre EcoBoost engine powered Ford Focus and Mat Jackson who has already showed the potential of new car. He was the  fastest on official Dunlop tyre test at Snetterton in early July. The second  driver of the Motorbase squad will be James Cole.

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Although Motorbase is back, the starting grid won’t be full, because Welch Motorsport will unfortunately miss the Snetterton event. It has been confirmed that an unavoidable overseas supply issue has left the team without some vital reliability-related engine parts for its pair of Protons.

“Whilst it has been a challenging season thus far, we have been making extremely good progress in recent weeks and months, which Daniel’s points finish at Oulton Park was a direct result of. In our attempts to continue to move forward, we made a decision to update our engines with what we saw as vital reliability-related parts. Unfortunately we have been let down by an overseas supplier in this regard and will not be able to complete building the engine until these components arrive. This is obviously a frustrating situation for all concerned, but we must thank our partners and sponsors who have all been extremely supportive towards what we believe is a bright long-term future for Welch Motorsport. We have explained our position to TOCA and hope to have these parts in place in time for Knockhill later this month,” Welch Motorsport Team Principal John Welch said.

Three BTCC races will take place on Sunday, starting at 12.02, 14.35 and 16.57 (local time). In addition to the BTCC, there will be a number of races in the support series – Porsche Carrera Cup GB, MSA Formula, Ginetta GT4 Supercup, Ginetta Junior Championship and Renault UK Clio Cup.

Photos: btcc.net

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