MIDLANDS TRACK NEXT STOP FOR UK'S TOP MOTOR RACING SERIES
The countdown has begun: there are now less than three weeks
to go before Britain’s premier motor racing series –
the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship – arrives
in the Midlands for its next three rounds at the Donington
Park circuit on Sunday 4 May.
The BTCC, now receiving five hours of live Sunday afternoon
coverage on ITV4 and contested by Britain’s most professional
race teams and drivers, has a long association with Donington
and a bumper crowd is anticipated at the parkland track for
its race day.
Donington’s location makes it the perfect place for
motor sport fans from across the Midlands to see the BTCC
in action – just off junction 24 of the M1 motorway
it is easily accessible from the nearby cities of Birmingham,
Derby, Leicester and Nottingham.
A packed programme of 12 races awaits the BTCC crowd at Donington
on 4 May. While no fewer than three BTCC races headline the
bill, there is further track action from a variety of supporting
categories. Adult tickets can be booked for £23 via
the ticket hotline 01332 810048 or Donington’s website
http://www.donington-park.co.uk/. Admission for children aged
15 and under is FREE.
There is expected to be plenty of trackside support for the
BTCC drivers from across the region: BMW Dealer Team UK driver
Mat Jackson (Henley-in-Arden) currently lies second in the
BTCC standings after winning at Rockingham last Sunday in
his BMW 320si; former double champion Matt Neal (Droitwich),
now with current title-holder Vauxhall’s VX Racing team,
also took a win at Rockingham to move up to fourth in the
points table, while Adam Jones (Solihull) is looking more
and more like a potential race winner in his Team Air Cool
SEAT Leon.
In addition, there is the BTCC’s first father and son
team – namely 50-year-old Mike and 18-year-old Andrew
Jordan (Lichfield), both front-runners in their John Guest
Racing Honda Integras that are prepared in their team’s
workshops in Sutton Coldfield. Stephen Jelley (Leicester)
is also a front-runner in his Team RAC BMW 320si.
Moreover, the region is home to the popular Team Dynamics
squad (Pershore) which in 2005 and 2006 won the BTCC title
with Neal. Its Team Halfords-branded Honda Civics are now
raced by Tom Chilton and Gordon Shedden who also won one of
the three rounds at Rockingham last Sunday to move into third
in the Drivers’ standings.
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