BTCC: Record-Breaking Weekend at Rain-Soaked Knockhill

On a soggy Sunday afternoon at Knockhill, the BTCC re-wrote the record book in 2 ways as Colin Turkington gained a huge lead in the championship race. The first record was smashed on Saturday as Halfords Yuasa Racing’s Dan Cammish set the first ever sub-51-second lap of the circuit to claim his maiden BTCC pole ahead of the mightily impressive Stephen Jelley for Team Parker. Andrew Jordan and Turkington made up row 2 for WSR with championship challengers Tom Ingram and Ash Sutton 6th and 8th respectively.

Cammish made arguably his best start in a touring car to hold back all 3 BMW’s into turn one as Sutton blasted to 5th after lap 1. But the charge didn’t stop there as the defending champion carved his way past the 3 BMW’s and Cammish to eventually win the race. Jelley and Turkington also found a way past the Honda of Cammish but then Turkington punted Jelley into Clark sending him into the gravel bringing out the safety car.

The final 3 laps after the safety car pulled in went by with little action as Sutton took his 5th win of 2018, with Turkington keeping second despite the contact, and Cammish 3rd. Jelley’s retirement did promote Andrew Jordan up to fourth, with Josh Cook fifth.

Race 2 saw Sutton lead away from pole as Jordan passed Cammish for 3rd into turn one. AMD’s Ollie Jackson found the tyre barriers on lap one, quickly putting the race under the safety car. Following the restart, Cammish ran wide at the hairpin letting both Ingram and Josh Cook through as Ingram then passed Turkington before a 2nd safety car came out with Ciceley Racing’s Tom Oliphant in the gravel.

Turkington dropped further back when racing got back underway with both Cook and Cammish finding a way past the BMW as well as Ingram passing Jordan for 2nd before the final incident saw the race red flagged with 10 laps to go. Sam Smelt the culprit after running straight on at turn one and colliding heavily with the tyre barriers. The race was declared and we thought Sutton had won but he was later disqualified for failing the ride-height check post-race, as did 2nd placed Tom Ingram meaning 3rd-on-the-road Jordan took his first 2018 win to make it 13 different winners this year (equalling the previous record set last year), with Cook 2nd and Cammish 3rd. Behind them, championship leader Colin Turkington continued his run of form taking fourth from Adam Morgan.

That win record was then broken in race 3 with reverse grid pole going to the Motorbase Ford Focus of Tom Chilton who took a lights-to-flag win despite late pressure from Turkington who had started 3rd. The star of the show though was Sutton who, despite the maximum 75kg of success ballast, charged from 30th on the grid to finish in 8th to minimise the damage Turkington did in the championship race.

Adam Morgan had started 2nd but as the track finally started to dry, the tyre of the front-wheeled drive cars began to fade aiding the rear-wheeled drive contingent as Jordan came through for 3rd, elevating him to 4th in the driver’s standings. Morgan and Sam Tordoff completed the top five.

All this means Turkington takes a 43-point championship lead to Silverstone, the largest lead all season, ahead of Ingram with Sutton a further 8 back for Team BMR. Rounds 25, 26 and 27 from Northamptonshire takes place on the 15-16th Spetember.