Record-breaking Muller leads BTCC into Thruxton
After two action packed races in front of a 40,000-strong
crowd at Brands Hatch, the Green Flag British Touring Car
Championship heads to Thruxton for rounds five and six of
the UK’s premier motorsport series.
Having shared the billing with the London Champ Car Trophy
at Brands Hatch, the BTCC once again displayed the wheel-to-wheel
racing the series is renowned for. Two incident-packed races
saw Honda Racing’s Matt Neal take the first win after
controversially barging past VX Racing’s Paul O’Neill
at the final corner. The incident, which resulted in Neal
being fined by the stewards, caused O’Neill to slide
sideways and lose a certain victory.
Frenchman Yvan Muller, having taken second place in race
one, assumed the championship lead after heading VX Racing’s
three Astra Coupes to an impressive 1-2-3 finish in race two.
Reigning champion James Thompson finished in second place
after a battle with MG Sport & Racing’s Colin Turkington.
The encounter left Turkington’s MG ZS in the barriers
at Graham Hill Bend, while Thompson collected the points in
his bid to retain the championship.
Not only will Muller be looking to savour more success on
track at Thruxton, he hopes to emerge victorious from a slightly
more unusual challenge – the fastest jet-ski crossing
from St.Tropez to Corsica. His world record attempt is due
to get underway this week, weather conditions permitting.
Muller says of the challenge, “I wanted to have a go
at this, as jet-skiing is one of my favourite hobbies, outside
of my professional career as a driver for the Vauxhall Racing
BTCC team. I try to get out on my jet-ski whenever I can,
so I think I stand a good chance of improving on the time
of 2 hours 15 minutes that was set by Alexandre de Banne.”
“I don’t know how we’re going to top our
1-2-3 result at Brands Hatch, maybe we can go for the double-treble
next weekend, with a podium sweep in both races! I won from
pole at Thruxton last year, but of course, the racing is very
competitive this year and we will have to fight hard to be
at the front. Let’s see what happens.”
Hilton Independents Trophy leader Rob Collard leads the local
hopefuls at the Hampshire track, which has a reputation as
the fastest road circuit on the calendar. Collard, from Hook
in Hants, outperformed all manufacturer teams during pre-season
testing at Thruxton and will be hoping for a repeat of his
giant-killing achievement.
For those who can’t make it to Thruxton to see the
action firsthand, Motors TV will once again show all of the
action, live at 12.00BST (Race 1), and 16.10BST (Race 2) on
Bank Holiday Monday, with terrestrial coverage on ITV1 on
Saturday 1st June at 15.40BST.
** Tickets are available from Thruxton Circuit
on 01264 882200 **
For Championship standings, visit www.tocatour.com
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