MULLER: "SOMETHING SPECTACULAR ALWAYS HAPPENS AT BRANDS
HATCH"
Brands Hatch next weekend, 24/25 April, promises to deliver
Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship fans with
three of the most exciting races of the season, believes reigning
champion Yvan Muller.
Vauxhall’s French superstar has endured his highs and
lows at the Kent circuit - last year he was suspended from
competition for grabbing another rival in the paddock - but
he says he loves the place.
Taking time out in France to be with his young family, Muller
said: “My friends from France ask me which race they
should come and watch and I always say Brands Hatch. If you
look at the history of the BTCC at Brands something spectacular
always happens here. It’s that kind of place. And whatever
does happen the fans are guaranteed to see it because it’s
possible to see the whole circuit.
“Of course I prefer to be racing, but it must be fantastic
for the fans around the circuit watching what is happening.
It has a very special atmosphere. There’s also a very
good Chinese restaurant just up the road that I enjoy!
“From a driver’s point of view, I love the track.
I like the rhythm you get going and Paddock Hill Bend is very
challenging. I think the three Brands Hatch races, particularly
considering how close the competition was in the first three
rounds at Thruxton, are going to be among the most exciting
of the year - they usually are.”
In the last three years, Muller has won twice at Brands Hatch
and holds the lap record for the current breed of BTCC cars,
but he has also had his fair share of disasters at the venue:
· Last year he clashed on the track with MG driver
Anthony Reid and afterwards got physical with him in parc
ferme. Muller was suspended from competition
· In 2002, he was in hot water with his own team
when he banged team-mate James Thompson off the track as
their title fight reached fever pitch
· In 2001, his title hopes went up in smoke as his
car’s engine caught fire and arch enemy and team-mate
at the time, Jason Plato, became champion
Muller arrives at Brands with a ten-point lead over team-mate
Thompson and SEAT Sport UK’s Plato thanks to excellent
third, second and first place results in the opening three
rounds at Thruxton on Easter Sunday.
Muller added: “What happened with Reid last year is
in the past. I’m not thinking about it all. I am concentrating
only on staying in front. I would prefer to have the ten-point
advantage instead of trying to make it up, but there are still
26 races to go. A lead like that really is nothing at this
stage.”
Thompson and Plato aside, Matt Neal and MG drivers Reid and
youngster Colin Turkington are likely to be among Muller’s
biggest threats. Neal, who drives for the Computeach Racing
with Halfords team, won 12 months ago at Brands in his Honda
Civic after controversially clattering his way into the lead
at the final bend. Reid is also a past-winner here in his
MG, while WSR team-mate Turkington took his first BTCC race
victory at Brands when the championship visited last August.
Of local interest will be Team Honda’s Tom Chilton
(Reigate, Surrey) who, at 19, is trying to become the BTCC’s
youngest ever race-winner, and Tonbridge-based team Edenbridge
Racing which will make its return to the championship with
its spectacular BMW 320i for driver Justin Keen.
BRANDS HATCH TICKET HOTLINE: 0870 950 9000
Green Flag MSA BTCC Points (after 3 rounds):
1st, Yvan Muller (FRA), 38 points; =2, James Thompson (GBR)
& Jason Plato (GBR), 28; 4, Anthony Reid (GBR), 25 etc.
For all the latest BTCC news and results, visit the championship’s
official website www.tocatour.com
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