Brits on Tour Issue No:1 - Thruxton

KWIKFIT BTCC 2019 - THRUXTON
Rounds 7, 8 and 9 by Pablo - <strong>Brits</strong> on Tour
The third outing of the
Kwikfit BTCC 2019 at the
Thruxton circuit was an
outstanding affair from the green
light of the first practice session
right up to the final chequered
flag.
I don’t quite know why this
year seems to have stepped up
a gear (excuse the awful pun)
but ‘stepped up’ it certainly has.
Everybody from front to back
has the bit between their teeth
and I’m loving it.
Cracking straight on with
qualifying, I actually found it
hard to keep up. The fast circuit
meant cars coming out for a tyre
scrub then darting back in for
a cross swap before going for a
fast lap or two before the best
was gone out of them. Mind
you there were one or two, Ash
Sutton for example who stayed
out.
It was also a bit of a pain to see
the countless laps being deducted
for the track limit infringements
and positions swapping furiously.
Yes I know, safety comes first and
that is a must, but it did seem
very excessive on Saturday.
It was fantastic to see Dan
Cammish and Sam Tordoff both
break last years lap record, I
love to see limits pushed but the
session was a little marred by the
Blundell - Chilton incident. I
know Mark is a very experienced
racing driver with masses of
experience but I wonder, and I
mean this with the very greatest
of respect, was moving to
Touring Car the right thing to
do? Time will tell. The season
has not started at all well for him
and trying to learn the ropes in
such a competitive field may not
be a good idea. But hey, that’s
just me.
Anyway, qualies over, Tordoff
at the pointy end, followed by
Cammish and Jordan. Fast
forward to Sunday morning for
race 1.
The first race was really a three
horse affair with our front trio
swapping places about and Colin
Turkington hanging on to the
shirt tail of Dan Cammish. I
need to stop here a minute, go
back another two places and
we see a much improved Jason
Plato holding on to his qualie
position. Jason has been a little
quiet this season so far but I
would describe it as flying under
the radar. Have to keep my
eye on him, I think. (more to
follow on Mr Plato in a couple of
paragraphs).
A great win for Andrew Jordan
with Tordoff and Cammish
completing the podium.
Before we get to race two, the
Thruxton masses were very
well treated to a new class of
racing. The Dunlop Mini Se7en
Challenge and the Dunlop Mini
Miglia Challenge. Both races on
Sunday took the crowd by storm.
Totally breath taking and packed
full of drama. We certainly need
more of this.
I was lucky enough to catch up
with one of the drivers of the
Mini Miglia Challenge, Dan
Lewis. Unfortunately he had a
nightmare of a weekend which
probably didn’t need a particular
reporter asking him daft
questions. However, I have to
say Dan is a total gentleman and
chatted to us with a wonderful
smile on his face. (Read more on
Dan, later in the mag).
Ok, on to race two. The front
end remained the same from
Main Image: Jakob Ebrey Photography
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