Motorbase Performance driver Ollie Jackson has won his first ever Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship race after coming out on top of a truly sensational contest at Silverstone.

The UK's elite motorsport series has delivered time and time again down the years and this bout will go down as one of the very best as Jackson scored a famous victory.

Laser Tools Racing's Ash Sutton went from 26th to second by the finish, although he was later relegated post-race to third, which was just one of many amazing stories in the reverse-grid finale at the Home of British Motor Racing.

The action commenced in dramatic fashion with one of the biggest accidents in recent years when contact between Matt Neal's Honda and Rory Butcher's Ford on the run down to Becketts sent the latter into a heart-stopping barrel-roll.  The #6 machine of Butcher had slid across the grass at high speed, before making heavy impact with the barrier and rolling wildly back onto the circuit. Thankfully, Butcher immediately emerged relatively unscathed from the incident – testament to the safety of the BTCC cars.

We had already lost championship contender Tom Ingram after his Toyota was bumped into the barrier, following a scrape between Tom Onslow-Cole's VW and Carl Boardley's BMW, whilst female racer Jade Edwards endured contact with Andy Neate's Ford for the third time in as many races.

It was the frightening accident involving Neal and Butcher, however, that brought out the red flags with barrier damage and his stricken car needing to be removed.

If that wasn't enough drama then the rescheduled 12-lap sprint had it all, with no fewer than six contenders for victory.

Jackson had jumped Team BMW's Tom Oliphant off-the-line, and although he briefly lost the lead for a matter of seconds later in the race, he fought back well to return to the front.

It seemed only a matter of time before one of the big guns would get by, but Oliphant was soon having to worry about the likes of Ciceley's Adam Morgan, BTC Racing's Josh Cook and Tom Chilton, as well as the absolutely charging Infiniti Q50 of Sutton.

Laser Tools Racing's Sutton had already sliced past numerous rivals and was somehow staring at an unlikely victory as the race drew to an unforgettable climax. 

Positions changed hands several times before Sutton went side-by-side with Oliphant through Copse on the final tour. Sutton eventually made the move stick, but it had given Jackson just enough breathing space to hang on at the front.

This was one of those moments that the usually packed grandstands would have been on its collective feet as Jackson crossed the line to take a hugely popular victory from Sutton and Oliphant. The final two podium positions were reversed post-race, however, when Sutton was adjudged to have gained an unfair advantage during his battle with Oliphant.

"I’m really really emotional," said Jackson. "It was terrible obviously for Rory, thankfully it sounds like he’s okay. Amazing day, after not a brilliant qualifying, and to make it back up, to get a good start and to actually take the win is amazing – I’m living the dream.

"I wanted it. It’s taken long enough so I wasn’t going to give it away easily this time. I absolutely gave it my all."

"I’ve now realised where our pace at Donington went," responded Sutton. "It’s the weight in the car. Since then we’ve had weight in the car and you’ve taken it out and we’re back to where we were at Donington. The thing is absolutely phenomenal. I can’t get over it.

"When you’ve got a car that good underneath you and I could see that Tom was struggling a bit with Ollie and there was a bit of elbows going on there and I thought I would try and take advantage of that. It kind of fell into my hands. Tom gave me a load of racing room through turn one and I respect that, he didn’t run me wide or anything like that. He gave it his best shot with Ollie and unfortunately there weren’t enough laps for me to have a go."

Halfords Yuasa Racing's Dan Cammish collected some hugely important points with fourth, whilst Morgan, and the impressive Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai of Senna Proctor were next in the order.

Cook, Chilton and Laser Tools Racing's Aiden Moffat got shuffled back late on, whilst reigning champion Colin Turkington had to settle for tenth.

2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 3 – Silverstone

1          Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance 12 laps
2          Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +0.576s
3          Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.612s
4          Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +1.130s
5          Adam MORGAN (GBR) Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools +3.827s
6          Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +3.947s
7          Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +4.238s
8          Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +4.472s
9          Tom CHILTON (GBR) BTC Racing +4.599s
10        Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +4.911s
11        Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +5.543s
12        Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) GKR TradePriceCars.com +6.191s
13        Chris SMILEY (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +7.178s
14        Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) HUB Financial Solutions with Team HARD +7.241s
15        Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +10.661s
16        Jack GOFF (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +10.838s
17        Jack BUTEL (GBR) Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools +11.030s
18        Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +11.328s
19        Tom ONSLOW-COLE (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +12.921s
20       Sam OSBORNE (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +14.645s
21        Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with Team HARD +23.487s
22        Jade EDWARDS (GBR) Power Maxed Car Care Racing +6 laps
23        James GORNALL (GBR) GKR TradePriceCars.com +8 laps
24        Michael CREES (GBR) The Clever Baggers with BTC Racing NO TIME
25        Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Motorbase Performance NO TIME
26        Andy NEATE (GBR) Motorbase Performance NO TIME
27        Tom INGRAM (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters NO TIME

Team BMW's Colin Turkington claimed the win in a wild second Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship contest at Silverstone while a trio of title rivals all hit trouble.

Pole-sitter Dan Cammish led off the line in the Halfords Yuasa Racing Honda Civic Type R but Toyota star Tom Ingram nipped into the lead before the end of the first tour. Earlier in that lap, there was contact between championship leader Ash Sutton and Motorbase Performance's Rory Butcher at Becketts, which ultimately sent both tumbling down the order.

With those two out contention, Turkington set about attacking the #27 machine of Cammish ahead of him, and on lap nine he made a move stick on the exit of Woodcote.

Second soon became first for the reigning champion as race leader Ingram suffered a puncture while braking into Becketts, and further fortune followed as Sutton's recovery drive was also ended by a puncture – potentially picked up during the earlier incident with Butcher.

So if Thruxton went against Turkington last weekend then the tide has turned here as the four-time champion has taken a first win at Silverstone since 2015, and with it the standings lead from Sutton.

"All credit to my guys and Team BMW, I had a really fast car in that race," said Turkington. "Once we took a bit of the weight out, the handling was incredible. I knew I had good pace but to be able to pick up on the other guys' misfortunes, I’m just so excited to win today. I can’t remember winning at Silverstone. It’s become a bit of a home Grand Prix for us. Since moving to the UK we’re quite close to here, so it’s an extra special feeling to win here at Silverstone.

"Thruxton really didn’t go my way at all. I felt a bit of momentum swing to the favour of the other guys and I felt on the back foot the whole way through Thruxton and even Free Practice here at Silverstone. But we kept working hard, kept digging and the result has come to us. It felt like it was slipping away, and we’ve made some ground back.

"You see how quickly things can change. I’d been watching footage this morning from last year, the 2019 coverage, and saw that two cars had got front left punctures going through Brooklands so I was mindful of that and to try and stay away from it. It’s great to get my car home in one piece."

Cammish collected second as his impressive day continues and a special mention for Adam Morgan – the Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools driver completing the podium positions after a late change to the setup of his Mercedes A-Class.

Halfords Yuasa Racing's Matt Neal took fourth, whilst Aiden Moffat produced one of the best performances to take fifth. The Laser Tools Racing driver made a number of eye-catching moves, none more so than when he made it three-wide along the start/finish straight, before slicing down the inside of two cars on the exit of Copse.

BTC Racing's Josh Cook and MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square's Jake Hill finished sixth and seventh respectively, ahead of Motorbase Performance's Ollie Jackson.

Team BMW's Tom Oliphant was the star of the show as the 2020 race-winner carved his way through the order from the back of the grid. An issue in race one forced him out of contention, but the Tarporley-based driver fought back brilliantly in the next bout to take ninth, and he was further rewarded post-race with pole position in the reverse-grid encounter that will take place at 1724 later today – live on ITV2.

"I’ve been asked by Dick Bennetts to pull out number nine which would put my team-mate on pole but, given my track record, I don’t fancy my chances," commented Turkington shortly before carrying out the draw. You make your own luck in the BTCC, but Turkington proved untouchable both on and off-track during this one.

Excelr8 Motorsport's Senna Proctor rounded out the top ten.

2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 2 – Silverstone

1             Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW 22 laps
2             Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +1.245s
3             Adam MORGAN (GBR) Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools +3.172s
4             Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +7.876s
5             Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +12.576s
6             Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +13.804s
7            Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +14.500s
8            Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +14.910s
9             Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +15.102s
10          Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +16.911s
11           Tom CHILTON (GBR) BTC Racing +17.115s
12           Sam OSBORNE (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +17.831s
13           Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) GKR TradePriceCars.com +18.380s
14           Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Motorbase Performance +18.559s
15           Chris SMILEY (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +20.016s
16           James GORNALL (GBR) GKR TradePriceCars.com +20.404s
17           Jack BUTEL (GBR) Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools +21.098s
18          Tom ONSLOW-COLE (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +21.446s
19           Jack GOFF (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +21.913s
20          Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +22.858s
21          Jade EDWARDS (GBR) Power Maxed Car Care Racing +25.507s
22          Andy NEATE (GBR) Motorbase Performance +26.205s
23          Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) HUB Financial Solutions with Team HARD +43.244s
24          Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with Team HARD +1 laps
25          Tom INGRAM (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters +1 laps
26          Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +2 laps
27          Michael CREES (GBR) The Clever Baggers with BTC Racing +9 laps

Dan Cammish finally converted pole position into victory in the opening Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship race at Silverstone, but it wasn't without a huge scare as he took on his Thruxton nemesis Tom Ingram.

The top five drivers in the standings occupied the top five finishing places in this particular bout as the leading quintet produced a high-class contest, and with the dust still settling here at the Home of British Motor Racing, just 30 points separate them all in the race for the title.

Halfords Yuasa Racing's Cammish held P1 off the line – something he struggled with in Hampshire last weekend – but he couldn't hang on for long as he and Toyota star Ingram swapped places twice on the opening tour.

Cammish critically nipped back by before the end of the first lap and he would resist an even bigger challenge on lap five.

The BTC Racing-run Honda of Michael Crees and James Gornall's Audi S3 made contact, bringing out the safety car, but the boys up front were still fighting until the first visible SC boards were displayed.

The Honda Civic Type R of Cammish left a slight gap at Luffield and Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters' Ingram immediately nipped up the inside. The pair ran side-by-side across the line with Ingram 0.009s ahead, but with the safety car boards being displayed at Woodcote, the Corolla driver was forced to concede the position.

Both Cammish and Ingram held station following the restart to secure valuable points in first and second, whilst the battle for the final place on the rostrum gathered momentum following Team BMW driver Tom Oliphant's exit with suspension damage.

"Happy days!" beamed Cammish. "Tom [Ingram] didn’t make that easy, did he? I was so conscious of the start, I wanted to make a good one. I think me and Tom were about the same but, because I covered him off, I was so busy watching his front bumper that I kind of forgot to brake for turn one so ended up miles off the road, but thankfully I kept it together and off we went! Tom gave a good chase though. He got a lot of traction in those opening laps, he was able to drive lines that I just couldn’t quite get to and he actually got the lead. Thankfully for me, it was sort of under the Safety Car so I was happy to hear over the radio that we could reverse the positions!

"I didn’t think the door was open but he’s got so much front end. I’ve seen over the last couple of years how they set that car up and he can really use the front to rotate the car and maybe we’re a little bit lazier. But to be honest I also think he kind of ran out of front as the race went on and my car was consistent, and I managed to pull away in the end. It was a great drive by him. It was like a role reversal from last week – he made me work for it! But I’m really pleased to have got the victory.

"It means a lot to lead off the front and soak up the pressure and, to be honest, to get it off the line. After three terrible starts last week, 95% of that race was done in the opening corner, that could have been very different. But it’s not over yet, still got more to do and keep it consistent. It’s been a great opening race, I’m really pleased. The guys have given me a great car all weekend so a massive thanks to Team Dynamics and now we move forward. Let’s see if we can keep racking those points up."

Ingram was equally pleased with his progress as he focusses on the overall picture.

"I said to David [Addison] before the start of the race on the warm-up lap, ‘yes I want to win, of course, I’d like to win, but at the same time I’ve got to be wary that I’m after points and points make prizes’," he said. "So I had to be wary of that. At the start, I had a little bit of a better launch than Dan [Cammish] and we were elbows out on the first lap, but then we had the Safety Car and I managed to get the move done.

"As I was coming down the back straight, Spenny [Aldridge] came on the radio to say there was a Safety Car out that lap. So I thought bingo – I know Dan will have got the same call, so I’ll launch an attack when Dan isn't expecting it, and it worked perfectly. I thought I was ahead at the line but obviously the timekeepers had a look at it and said it was the other way around. But a great result nonetheless, a great result for Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters so I’m very pleased."

Motorbase Performance's Rory Butcher produced an impressive defensive drive as he had the championship's top two drivers in his mirrors. Team BMW's Turkington was quicker than the Ford, but in all the wrong places, as the reigning champ couldn't mount a serious move. Laser Tools Racing's Ash Sutton closed in and the trio were nose-to-tail in the closing laps.

Not for the want of trying, the positions remained unchanged until the finish with the title race now shaping up to be an absolute classic.

"I didn’t make it easy for myself at the start," confirmed Butcher. "I launched pretty badly and had to take a few risks on that first lap to make sure I held position. And then it was quite easy to see Colin [Turkington] had a bit more minimum speed in the corners; he just came right up onto my rear bumper. A couple of times I thought that he was going to get past on the exit so I just had to cover all bases. But as soon as Ash [Sutton] came onto his tail it made my life a little bit easier. I knew that Colin’s mind would be elsewhere.

Adam Morgan was the best-of-the rest in the Carlube-backed Mercedes, ahead of the scrapping Jake Hill in the MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square Honda.

Tin-top legend Matt Neal recovered from a poor start, as well as an early slide through Becketts, to grab eighth, whilst Team Parker Racing's Stephen Jelley and BTC Racing's Josh Cook completed the top ten positions.

2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Race 1 – Silverstone

1          Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing 25 laps
2          Tom INGRAM (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters +1.081s
3          Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Motorbase Performance +4.468s
4          Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +4.815s
5          Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +5.049s
6          Adam MORGAN (GBR) Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools +7.516s
7          Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +8.957s
8          Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +9.368s
9          Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +10.856s
10        Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +14.030s
11        Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +17.706s
12        Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) HUB Financial Solutions with Team HARD +18.898s
13        Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +18.915s
14        Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +19.500s
15        Tom CHILTON (GBR) BTC Racing +19.713s
16        Chris SMILEY (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +20.870s
17        Sam OSBORNE (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +22.368s  
18        Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) GKR TradePriceCars.com +22.812s
19        Tom ONSLOW-COLE (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +23.639s
20       Jack BUTEL (GBR) Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools +24.784s
21        Andy NEATE (GBR) Motorbase Performance +25.131s
22        James GORNALL (GBR) GKR TradePriceCars.com +25.412s
23        Jade EDWARDS (GBR) Power Maxed Car Care Racing +27.430s
24        Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with Team HARD +29.812s
25        Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +13 laps
26        Michael CREES (GBR) The Clever Baggers with BTC Racing +21 laps
27        Jack GOFF (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +23 laps

Following an exciting qualifying session yesterday (26 September), the Official BTCC Website caught up with the top three qualifiers ahead of what is sure to be another highly competitive Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship race day as the title battle intensifies...

Securing a second successive pole position, Dan Cammish will be aiming to bag a significant points haul in rounds 16, 17 and 18 today and navigate his way closer to the summit of the Drivers' standings:

A second-place start for the opening encounter should put Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters' Tom Ingram in good stead, at a circuit where the 27-year-old has gone well in previous years:

Having been pipped from the front row by Ingram in the final minutes of the session, Rory Butcher will start round 16 from third on the grid:

Listen below to catch up on everything from yesterday's qualifying session using the exclusive circuit commentary podcast!

Honda star leads the way during BTCC qualifying at Silverstone

Halfords Yuasa Racing's Dan Cammish delivered back-to-back pole positions in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship as the Honda man followed up last weekend's Thruxton flyer with a record-breaking tour of the Silverstone National circuit earlier today (Saturday).

An enthralling session at the Home of British Motor Racing – interrupted by a red flag stoppage as well as a light rain shower – often swung one way and then the other, but Cammish eventually proved to be the class of the field with the most commanding qualifying display of the season so far.

Tom Ingram and Rory Butcher expressed delight to have set the second and third quickest lap times respectively, after both talented racers struggled down the order during the early running.

Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters' Ingram left it until the final moments as he hauled his Corolla around the 1.64-mile circuit to complete the front row order. The Bucks ace has taken five victories in the previous four visits to Silverstone – the best results of any driver on the current BTCC grid – so is sure to be a serious contender come race day.

The Motorbase Performance Ford Focus of Butcher failed to find front-running pace earlier in the day, but the #6 machine also came alive in the closing stages, and now the Scotsman is well placed as he looks to keep his championship ambitions alive.

Team BMW can be equally proud of its efforts as Colin Turkington and Tom Oliphant ended up fourth and fifth on the timesheets. Both Oliphant and Turkington took turns to tow each other during the 30-minute session and they duly delivered in what could have been a tricky afternoon for the 3 Series drivers.

Matt Neal made it a top six celebration for Halfords Yuasa Racing as the veteran continued his good run in the Honda Civic Type R.

Championship leader Ash Sutton looked to have been caught out by the rain during the opening exchanges as he languished outside the top ten in the Laser Tools Racing Infiniti Q50. Thankfully, track conditions improved towards the end and the fully focussed Sutton grabbed seventh – hugely important considering his main championship rivals fill the top five positions.

Adam Morgan has consistently produced the goods in his Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools Mercedes, and did so again to slot into eighth, with the intention of moving further forwards on Sunday.

Tom Chilton was the highest placed BTC Racing car in ninth, whilst Jake Hill continued his run of qualifying inside the top ten at every event this season.

Jade Edwards became the first female to contest a competitive BTCC weekend in 13 years as the Power Maxed Car Care Racing driver qualified 26th.

The session was stopped briefly in the first few minutes when two rookies – Jack Butel and James Gornall – made contact while trying to warm their tyres, the latter having to abandon his Audi S3 with damage to the front-right of his car. Mercedes man Butel was given a seven place grid penalty post-session for his part in the incident and will subsequently start 27th on the grid.

Cammish extended his advantage in the Goodyear Wingfoot Award, which is presented to the highest qualifier throughout the season. The session itself proved ultra-competitive with the top 24 cars incredibly separated by less than a second.

Rounds 16, 17 and 18 of the 2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship take place at Silverstone tomorrow, with all the action being broadcast live on ITV2 from 1100.

Dan Cammish said: "I don’t really know where that came from. I expected to do a similar lap to FP2 on the better tyre, but the weather was a bit up and down and there were certainly spots of rain. I just stuck at it and kept going on my second set and the lap sort of appeared. The thing with here is there’s so much traffic and you never know when you’re going to get your moment. I managed to put it together and there it was.

"I still think that there’s something better but it’s just so difficult to get out; one lap you’re too far over the limit one way, too far under the limit the next. The thing with Silverstone – and it’s similar to Brands Hatch Indy – you’re looking for hundredths all the time and that’s the difference. So it’s a bit of a bigger margin than I was expecting, but a pleasing one!

"I’ve made some great starts in the BTCC and some bad ones: at Thruxton, they were bad ones. Ultimately that’s down to me, I made a bit of a fluff and Tom [Ingram] did a great job on his start. But I don’t want to be hung up on it or think there’s any problem. Clean slate and give it a go tomorrow! I copied Tom and got myself a Batak machine so hopefully that was the little thing I was missing."

Tom Ingram said: "I left it far too late for my liking! If I’m honest, it felt like we were slightly struggling throughout that session and it just seemed to take too long to get into the sweet spot of the car. Throughout FP1 and FP2 the car felt really good and maybe we should have changed a little bit more going into qualifying. It just felt a little too safe for my liking. It wasn’t Thruxton-esque enough – which is unfortunately how I quite like the car to be set up, especially around here!

"We’ve all done it – you’ve got to try your luck! You’ve got to push your boundaries and make sure you get the most out of it. Obviously, for one of my laps I was over track limits so they had to take that one off me, which did put a little pressure on towards the end and I was mindful that I’ve got a quick car and I’ve got to extract the very most from it. Even on new tyres it’s still lacking a little bit, but I think we’ll be in good shape tomorrow. We’ve got a very good race car, we’re going to get a good run and get away!

"It really is encouraging, we’ve had a win here every year since 2016. Last year we had two wins. It’s a circuit that’s served us very well over the years and hopefully that will continue into tomorrow and we can keep that record going and try to claw the points back against Ash and Colin. That’s really the goal tomorrow, to claw some points back on those guys."

Rory Butcher said: "That was tough. I can’t help but say how happy we were to get on the front row, and obviously getting pipped by Tom at the end was disappointing. But to be up with these guys is fantastic because in practice we just didn’t seem to be showing that outright speed. It came together in quali.

"We’d been changing the car all day and even made a change mid-session; just before that final run we had a little tweak to the front of the car and it gave me confidence through the first turn. It puts us in a good position for tomorrow. The points are so close up there at the top and we need to keep punching hard against these guys.

"I think there’s podiums to be had. We’ve got to race hard, but we’ve got to make sure that we keep up the points on the board. I think Dan looks like he’s got a hell of a lot of pace there. It would be interesting to see his lap and how big a tow he got. But the two ahead are super quick and I’ve got Colin behind me. It’s going to be a hard fight but we’re aiming for podiums and to maximise points."

2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Qualifying – Silverstone

1             Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing 57.349s
2             Tom INGRAM (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters +0.198s 
3             Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.201s 
4             Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.203s
5             Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +0.208s 
6             Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.254s 
7            Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.314s
8            Adam MORGAN (GBR) Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools +0.324s
9             Tom CHILTON (GBR) BTC Racing +0.345s 
10          Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +0.370s
11           Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.388s
12           Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +0.466s 
13           Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) HUB Financial Solutions with Team HARD +0.525s 
14           Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +0.528s
15           Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.546s
16           Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +0.569s
17           Sam OSBORNE (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +0.574s  
18           Jack GOFF (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +0.660s
19           Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) GKR TradePriceCars.com +0.723s
20          Jack BUTEL (GBR) Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools +0.738s*
21          Tom ONSLOW-COLE (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +0.836s
22          Chris SMILEY (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +0.843s 
23          Michael CREES (GBR) The Clever Baggers with BTC Racing +0.883s
24          Andy NEATE (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.922s
25          Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with Team HARD +1.064s
26          Jade EDWARDS (GBR) Power Maxed Car Care Racing +1.282s
27          James GORNALL (GBR) GKR TradePriceCars.com NO TIME

 *received a seven place grid penalty following an incident during qualifying resulting in a red flag.

Halfords Yuasa Racing enjoyed a stellar Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship Free Practice 2 session at Silverstone as Dan Cammish led home team-mate Matt Neal.

The Honda duo had a strong weekend at Thruxton last time out – each claiming a podium double – and the Civic Type Rs also seem to be on song around the 1.64-mile Silverstone National circuit.

We could be in for one of the most unpredictable qualifying sessions of the season with around a dozen drivers gunning for pole position later this afternoon, and some 25 drivers separated by less than a second during FP2.

Early morning pace-setter Ash Sutton was third, with Toyota man Tom Ingram again immediately behind him amid the coolest temperatures of the campaign so far. 

"A colder day for us is more enjoyable as the cockpit temperatures are nowhere near quite as high," said Ingram. "The car just feels a little bit more alive, from a drivers point of view, I prefer this sort of temperature as it makes it all a little more enjoyable. Anyone in the garages will definitely not agree with that.

"Thruxton was fantastic as we’ve been lacking that little spark and sparkle and we definitely found it last weekend. It’s exciting to be back on it and be towards the sharp end. We’ve been there or thereabouts, but the top three is where the points are so we’re hoping we can take it into this weekend.

"Silverstone is a circuit that we’ve done well at in the past. I’ve won here every year since 2016 so it’s exciting to start turning it around and start challenging Ash and Colin.

"Here, Saturday will be even more important than ever before, and qualifying will be super important. So we’ll see how that goes later on."

BTC Racing's Josh Cook improved to claim fifth ahead of the ever-consistent Adam Morgan in the Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools Mercedes.

Stephen Jelley surprised as he flew to seventh late on the in the Team Parker Racing BMW 1-Series – the Leicestershire driver hoping for a return to form at the Home of British Motor Racing.

Team BMW had to settle for eighth and tenth respectively with Tom Oliphant edging out his illustrious team-mate Colin Turkington, whilst James Gornall was impressively wedged between them in the GKR TradePriceCars.com Audi.

Qualifying for Round 16 of the 2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship takes place at Silverstone at 1510 with the action being streamed live via www.itv.com/btcc.

2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 2 – Silverstone

1        Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +57.400s
2        Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.088s
3        Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.158s
4        Tom INGRAM (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters +0.237s
5        Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +0.257s
6        Adam MORGAN (GBR) Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools +0.288s
7        Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +0.311s
8        Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +0.329s
9        James GORNALL (GBR) GKR TradePriceCars.com +0.336s
10      Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.341s
11      Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.372s
12      Sam OSBORNE (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +0.410s
13      Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.413s
14      Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +0.502s
15      Tom CHILTON (GBR) BTC Racing +0.522s
16      Tom ONSLOW-COLE (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +0.544s
17      Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +0.546s
18      Michael CREES (GBR) The Clever Baggers with BTC Racing +0.554s
19      Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.559s
20      Chris SMILEY (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +0.602s
21      Jack GOFF (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +0.611s
22      Jack BUTEL (GBR) Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools +0.772s
23      Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) HUB Financial Solutions with Team HARD +0.772s
24      Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) GKR TradePriceCars.com +0.899s
25      Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with Team HARD +0.994s
26      Andy NEATE (GBR) Motorbase Performance +1.013s
27      Jade EDWARDS (GBR) Power Maxed Car Care Racing +1.382s

More to follow... 

Ash Sutton moved to the summit of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship standings at Thruxton last time out and now the young charger is aiming to stay there as the series rolls into Silverstone this weekend.

“Heading to Thruxton we knew it wasn’t going to be our strongest track, so to come away with three top five finishes and the lead in the points was fantastic,” said the Laser Tools Racing star.

“We had a bit of luck with Colin [Turkington] having his issue in race one, but we maximised everything that we could to basically get a 26-point swing in the championship.

“Going to Silverstone with maximum success ballast won’t be ideal but we have the points in the bag and also I think the car will be a little better suited there.”

As mentioned, Sutton benefitted from a difficult weekend for reigning champion Turkington, as the Team BMW star failed to score for the first time this season following a mechanical issue in the opening race.

He charged back through the order in the other contests to claw back some points, but the Northern Irishman is now playing catch up with 12 of the 27 races remaining.

“When race day doesn't quite go to plan you find you're chomping at the bit to get back out there,” said Turkington. “Of course I didn't score the points I would have liked at Thruxton, but we made good progress back through the pack. 

“Finishing the weekend in a good place with a forwards mentality is a big positive.  We're here to win and a bump in the road only increases the motivation for me.”

Silverstone feels like the beginning of the business end of the season with the likes of Tom Ingram, Rory Butcher and Dan Cammish also harbouring intentions of winning the most coveted crown in British Motorsport. 

The 1.64-mile National circuit often proves to be one of the closest of the season. It is also synonymous with slipstreaming so it’s likely there will be action aplenty this weekend as we head towards an exciting climax of the 2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship.

“The nature of the national circuit allows for plenty of overtaking so I'm sure it will be BTCC business as usual!” concluded Turkington.

Qualifying commences at 1510 with all the action being streamed live via www.itv.com/btcc, with the entire race day being broadcast live on ITV2 from 1100 tomorrow.

New standings leader Ash Sutton has fired out an early warning to hit title rivals by topping the opening Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship Free Practice session at Silverstone.

Sutton hit the front for the first time this season with a trio of top five finishes at Thruxton last weekend, whilst reigning champ Colin Turkington suffered with an on-track issue, and now the Laser Tools Racing driver is looking to stay on top despite carrying maximum success ballast onboard his Infiniti Q50. 

"Last weekend was perfect obviously with Colin having an issue in race one it fell into our hands," said Sutton. "From then it was about maximising points but being safe, thinking about every situation and move that we were making. For me we played that the best we could do, in the safest manner.

"We’ve done a very good time this morning, I expect the pace to be a little quicker than that, and we’re trying to find where that pace is in the car. Obviously with carrying the weight in FP1, there’s going to be a switch and we’re going to drop down the order a fraction. We’re in a very good position. Looking at the car where it is and where it was – I’m very happy.

"We didn’t expect to be leading the standings at this point, obviously we know what we’re up against. They’re not easy people to beat and the position we’re in shows we’ve done a very good job up to now, but it's all ours to go wrong. So we’ve just got to maintain what we’ve got, make sure we’re finishing every race and keep the points up."

Tom Ingram – another man in form following his win double in Hampshire last time out – was just 0.090s behind Sutton in this FP1 session, as the Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters star has also fired himself into title contention.

Ingram is looking to make a late push for overall glory and he's in the right place to do it as the most successful BTCC driver at Silverstone in recent times. Five wins over the last five years is quite an impressive return, and one or two more this weekend will do his championship chances no harm at all.

Team BMW's Tom Oliphant and Excelr8 Motorsport's Senna Proctor teamed up for a Kwik Fit golf event on Friday and the duo clearly enjoyed eachothers company as they've also paired up on track... ending this session in third and fourth respectively.

Halfords Yuasa Racing enjoyed one of its best weekends of the season so far with a quadruple podium visit at Thruxton so it's little surprise to see Matt Neal and Dan Cammish continue their upturn in fortunes with fifth and sixth here at Silverstone.

Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools' Adam Morgan is fast-becoming one of the most consistent driver/car combinations on-track as the Lancastrian slipped into eighth during practice. The Mercedes man qualified fourth last weekend so will be hoping to be a contender again later this afternoon.

Aiden Moffat claimed the first ever podium for the Infiniti Q50 here last season and the Scotsman kicked off this year's event in solid fashion with ninth, whilst Motorbase Performance's Rory Butcher rounded out the top ten.

Qualifying at Silverstone often proves to be one of the hardest fought of the season and things are already heating up this time around with the top 25 being covered by less than a second in the opening session.

2020 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 1 – Silverstone

1        Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Laser Tools Racing 57.501s
2        Tom INGRAM (GBR) Toyota Gazoo Racing UK with Ginsters +0.090s
3        Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +0.157s
4        Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +0.199s
5        Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.248s
6        Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.260s
7        Adam MORGAN (GBR) Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools +0.272s
8        Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.308s
9        Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.355s
10      Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.397s
11      Chris SMILEY (GBR) Excelr8 Motorsport +0.413s
12      Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +0.470s
13      Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +0.511s
14      Jake HILL (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +0.512s
15      Tom ONSLOW-COLE (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +0.610s
16      Michael CREES (GBR) The Clever Baggers with BTC Racing +0.650s
17      Sam OSBORNE (GBR) MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square +0.709s
18      Ollie JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.720s
19      Carl BOARDLEY (GBR) HUB Financial Solutions with Team HARD +0.724s
20      Tom CHILTON (GBR) BTC Racing +0.752s
21      Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) GKR TradePriceCars.com +0.803s
22      James GORNALL (GBR) GKR TradePriceCars.com +0.807s
23      Jack GOFF (GBR) RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport +0.830s
24      Andy NEATE (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.962s
25      Jack BUTEL (GBR) Carlube TripleR Racing with Mac Tools +0.981s
26      Jade EDWARDS (GBR) Power Maxed Car Care Racing +1.147s
27      Nicolas HAMILTON (GBR) ROKiT Racing with Team HARD +1.448s

GKR TradePriceCars.com will hope to build on the points scoring finish it secured at Thruxton last weekend with a strong performance at Silverstone as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship heads into the sixth race weekend of the 2020 campaign.

Essex racer Bobby Thompson enjoyed one of his strongest weekends of the season at Silverstone last year after recovering from a retirement in the opening race to bag a pair of points-scoring finishes – coming from 27th on the grid to 13th in race two before a solid run to tenth in race three.

The 24-year-old was forced to produce a similar fightback at Thruxton last time out after an unfortunate off in the second race of the weekend left him to battle his way through to the points in race three, which marked his seventh top 15 finish of the campaign.

Having made a number of improvements to the #19 car over the course of the Thruxton meeting, Thompson heads for Silverstone with the target of scoring points in all three races, and on closing the gap to current leader Michael Crees in the Jack Sears Trophy standings.

Thompson currently lies in second place in the Jack Sears Trophy standings and has one round win – at Oulton Park last month – to his name.

Team-mate James Gornall endured a frustrating weekend at Thruxton after suffering gearbox failure in race two, which would then prevent him from taking the start of the final race of the weekend.

The former British GT champion – a member of the prestigious British Racing Drivers’ Club – has shown his undoubted talent on a number of occasions so far in his maiden season of touring car competition; most notably at Brands Hatch where he secured the Jack Sears Trophy win on the back of three points finishes.

With luck having eluded the 36-year-old in recent events, Gornall heads into the weekend determined to fight for three solid finishes – with a hat-trick of points scores being the target.

"Silverstone has a lot of high speed corners and not many heavy braking points, so it will be quite similar to Thruxton in a way,” considered Thompson. “We need to see how we go when we get there, but the focus for me is to try and get back into the top 15 on a regular basis.

"We made quite a few changes to the car at Thruxton that improved our performance, so we need to see how those changes work at Silverstone. There are also a few other things to look at that will hopefully help us move forwards up the order.

"It’s going to be a busy Saturday in practice but the focus has to be on bringing home more points and closing the gap on the JST lead. I got two points scoring finishes last year, including a top ten, and a repeat this year would be great."

"The last few meetings have been tough and we’ve not been able to get the results that we are capable of – and that the team deserves – for various reasons,” reflected Gornall. “That is something that is massively frustrating for me as a driver, but only makes me more determined to have a solid weekend when we get to Silverstone.

"We’ll have to see where we stand when the track action kicks off but we need to work on trying to get as much pace as we can from the car on Saturday to get higher up the grid, because all season we’ve had a stronger car on race day than we have had in qualifying.

"We know that the Audi has had some decent results at Silverstone and we know we can be in the mix for points. Hopefully I can have a bit more luck on my side and we can push for three solid results, and get some more on the board."

This weekend’s racing action will once again air live on ITV2 on Sunday from 1100, with qualifying on itv.com/btcc from 1505 on Saturday.

As we head into the sixth event of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship’s 2020 campaign, Silverstone is set to host another weekend jam-packed with edge-of-the-seat BTCC action.

With a change at the top of the standings, Laser Tools Racing’s Ash Sutton now sits at the summit of the Drivers’ Championship, while reigning champion Colin Turkington is 16 points in arrears. In third place, a further 16 points behind, Toyota man Tom Ingram will be looking to replicate his 2019 Silverstone success to continue to climb the order.

This week, as it was last time out at Thruxton, the BTCC will be broadcast live on ITV2 as well as the ITV hub, with qualifying available at itv.com/btcc on Saturday.

Qualifying LIVE: Saturday 26 September
ITV.com/BTCC from 1505

Raceday LIVE: Sunday 27 September
ITV2 & ITV2 HD 1100-1825
ITV2+1 1200-1925
ITV.com/BTCC 1100-1825

Highlights: Saturday 3 October
ITV4 & ITV4 HD 0725-0855
ITV4 +1 0825-0955
ITV Hub Available anytime for the next 30 days

Highlights: Sunday 4 October
ITV4 & ITV4 HD 0825-0955
ITV4 +1 0925-1055

Highlights: Wednesday 7 October
ITV & STV 1140-0110
ITV+1 & STV+1 0040-0210