Team Shredded Wheat Racing with DUO is looking to carry its recent form into this coming weekend as the 2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship reaches the mid-way point at North Yorkshire’s Croft Circuit.

A trio of top tens for the Motorbase-run outfit at Oulton Park three weeks ago saw Mat Jackson claim season-best results of sixth and seventh in the weekend’s opening races before an engine issue cruelly ended the Warwickshire man’s chances of challenging the podium in the finale.

With a pre-Croft test session under his belt, Jackson – who turns 36 on Saturday - is confident that the Focus has turned a corner and has his eyes firmly set on a return to the rostrum.

“We’ve put a lot of work in since Oulton Park and have definitely taken a step forward with the car," added Jackson. "We had a really productive test last week, worked through a number of changes on the Focus and I feel that we’re in a good place going into this weekend.

“Obviously the real test will be how we compare against the others at Croft, which favours the rear wheel drive, but the plan is to get back onto the podium this weekend; that’s what we need.”

BTCC rookie Luke Davenport looks to continue his upward curve after breaking into the top ten and claiming his maiden podium and Jack Sears Trophy triumph at Oulton Park. The 24-year-old is keen to build on his performance and move up the standings before the BTCC heads into its traditional summer break.

“We haven’t had a weekend yet where we’ve been consistently happy with the results on both days so that’s what we’re looking for at Croft," said Davenport. "We’ve got the capability, the car is improving all the time and we’re gaining more experience each weekend.

“It’s just about tying it all together now - qualifying well on Saturday and then consistently staying in and around that top ten. That would be brilliant.”

Team-mate Martin Depper is hoping for a change of fortunes at the North Yorkshire circuit after enduring a tough start to his 2017 campaign, with the Midlands-based driver looking for a consistent, incident free weekend as he settles in to his first season in the Ford.

“I'm looking forward to Croft," said Depper. "We feel we've made a good step forward recently and I'm hoping this translates to a good lap time. Croft is a great circuit which has a bit of everything. It’s quite challenging and with high tyre wear you need to have a car which can be both fast and look after its tyres. Qualifying will be key, as it has been all season, and it’s an area we've been looking at.”

“We’re all looking forward to Croft this weekend,” added Team Manager Oly Collins. “We saw an improved performance for the Focus last time out at Oulton Park. Qualifying in particular was a step forward which is proving more important than ever this year, so being able to get that one fast lap out of the tyres is key to us having a successful weekend.

“We've been out testing since Oulton Park and we’re confident that we’ve made further improvements to the cars;” added Collins. “Hopefully those improvements will translate into results on the track this weekend.”

Senna Proctor might be the only Yorkshireman on the 2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship grid as the UK’s biggest and best motor sport series speeds into Croft this weekend 10/11 June, but the rapid rookie is ready to put on a sparkling show for fans.
 
Proctor has stepped up to the BTCC this year from the Renault UK Clio Cup, and the Driffield-based teenager has made steady progress to-date behind the wheel of his Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra, comparing well against experienced team-mate Tom Chilton, a multiple race-winner in both the BTCC and FIA World Touring Car Championship.
 
Following his maiden top ten finish at Donington Park, last time out at Oulton Park, Proctor cracked the top ten in qualifying for the first time too, only to then find himself demoted by a yellow flag penalty and lose out somewhat in the heat of battle on race day. As the BTCC heads to his home circuit for its sole north-eastern jaunt of the year, the 18-year-old Jack Sears Trophy pace-setter is fired-up to convert his potential into on-track results.
 
“I can’t wait for the weekend!” he enthused. “It will be great to have so many friends, family and sponsors at Croft supporting me, and I really want to reward them with my best finish of the season. It’s one of my favourite tracks on the calendar, although I’ve never seemed to have much luck there, so hopefully this will be the weekend when we finally string it all together.
 
“Croft is a great spectator circuit and generates brilliant racing. The first two sectors are high-speed and you can really hang the car out on the edge, and then you have to rein it all back in again for the tight and technical final sector and be as clean and patient as possible. It’s very much a lap of two halves in that respect, which makes it extremely rewarding to drive – not to mention tough for the engineers to strike the perfect set-up.
 
“We’ve been consistently progressing the Astra over the opening rounds, and hopefully at Croft, we can really concretise the promise we showed at Oulton Park. After driving quite conservatively earlier in the season, my dad [former BTCC racer Mark Proctor] let me off the leash a bit at Oulton and I took a few more risks – some of which paid off, some of which didn’t. The target has to be to qualify inside the top ten again at Croft and then convert that into three strong race finishes, which is something we didn’t do last time.
 
“Competing in the BTCC has been a fantastic experience so far, and it really is incredibly hard-fought all the way up and down the field – the best series in Britain without a doubt. The closeness of the racing has been quite an eye-opener for me, but that’s a challenge that I relish and I’m planning to stick around for quite some time.”

Team BMW is aiming to top the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship this weekend as the series reaches its halfway point at the demanding Croft Circuit.

Three wins so far in 2017 from Rob Collard and Colin Turkington have placed the West Surrey Racing-backed outfit second in the Teams’ standings while BMW lead the Manufacturers’ tally.

Hampshireman Rob Collard is the only driver to have finished on the podium at every race weekend this year and was victorious on his past two visits to Croft in 2015 and ‘16.

He heads to North Yorkshire second in the Drivers’ Championship as the only driver to have scored points in every race, but will carry 66kg success ballast into the weekend, making his BMW the second-heaviest car in the field.

With 11 wins at Croft, Collard’s team-mate Turkington has twice as many BTCC victories at the 2.1-mile circuit near Darlington as any other driver in the series.

His 19 podiums – including his first in the BTCC, achieved with WSR in 2002 – five pole positions and nine fastest laps at Croft, indicate he'll be among the front-runners once more.

The Ulsterman, who lies fourth in the BTCC points, has won twice in 2017 and heads to Croft with 48kg success ballast in his BMW.

BMW Pirtek Racing's Andrew Jordan delivered a superb second win of the year last time out at Oulton Park to move up to seventh in the Drivers’ Championship. The driver from Lichfield, Staffordshire, has a special link to Croft as it was the scene of his maiden BTCC victory in 2010. He will attempt to add more success while carrying 27kg success ballast into the weekend.

WSR, who run the trio of BMW 125i M Sports from their Sunbury-on-Thames headquarters, is the most successful team in BTCC history at Croft with 16 race wins, including a treble victory and a lock-out of the podium in 2015. Their next race win will be the team's 75th in the BTCC and their 50th with BMW machinery.

Rob Collard said: “It’s been a very strong season so far and we’re second in the championship with a lot more points than at this stage of the 2016 season. I’m the only driver to score a podium at every event so far and we’ve tended to have two very good finishes each weekend, which has served us very well. It’s important to score big this weekend as Croft is a track where WSR have been very strong in the past and where I’ve won in each of the past two years, but we seem to be closer than ever before at the non-BMW circuits, so I genuinely think we can win anywhere.”

Colin Turkington said: “Croft has some very special memories for me, like my first podium in the BTCC and double wins in each of my title-winning seasons, and the BMW has traditionally been so good around here that I always enjoy coming back. Oulton Park didn’t quite go to plan, so it’s doubly important to score big points at Croft before we start going to the circuits that aren’t usually so good for us. Fourth is a strong place to be in the points and if we can score well, we’re pretty likely to be higher up by the end of the weekend.”

Andrew Jordan said: “My championship challenge re-started at Oulton Park. From the moment I got into the car at in first practice, I just knew I was going to be fast, and it couldn’t have gone much better. Like Oulton, Croft is a circuit that’s always been good for the rear-wheel-drive BMW because of the number of slow corners that reward a car that’s strong in the traction zones. Although I’ll be going in with more success ballast than I did at Oulton, I’m confident of another big points haul to help me continue to close the gap to the top of the points table.”

Dick Bennetts, Team Principal, said: “We’ve had a lot of success at Croft in the past with 16 wins and even a one-two-three finish in 2015, so it’s certainly a circuit at which we’ve been able to use the strengths of the BMW to the best possible effect. But that’s history and this weekend is now; and everybody at WSR will work extremely hard to make sure we can fight at the front. This year, with 32 cars on the grid, and a very competitive top-15 cars, it won’t be easy. Both Team BMW cars will carry a lot of success ballast, but if you’re going to fight for a championship, that’s the way it has to be and we’re used to it.”

“The thing that’s impressed me most about Andrew this year is his ability to do what true champions do and not dwell on a bad weekend. He showed at Oulton Park that he’s not affected by what happened earlier in the season and drove very well. Like Oulton, Croft is a track at which we’ve done well in the past with the BMW and we’ve continued to work hard on the car this year to make sure it remains a contender at every circuit. The plan is to score big and enhance our position in the championship.”

Triple Eight Racing Press Release

Triple Eight Racing is now delighted to confirm the replacement driver for the remainder of the 2017 BTCC season. The entire team, MG and all our partners are thrilled to welcome back Josh Cook. 

Josh enjoyed working with Triple Eight Racing during 2016 in which he achieved an excellent season both on and off the circuit. Highlights included front row qualifying results and podiums. Josh also notched an impressive 14 ‘top ten’ finishes during his maiden year in the MG6.

Together with Josh and his engineer, who accompanies him on this move, the team hope to pick up the momentum of 2016 and continue to enjoy further success together.  

Newly appointed Team Principal Nico Ferrari expresses his delight at the new signing.

"It’s a shame things didn’t work out with Dan (Daniel Lloyd) but now we’re in a great position to continue improving the MG6 and we can start to prove the capability of the car. The team have gone through a huge shake up in recent weeks and this is only adding to the strength of the new look Triple Eight Racing."

Ferrari went on to comment on how he believes the two drivers will work well together as a team and accelerate the performance of the MG6.

"Josh’s experience in the MG last year will be a huge boost for our engineering team. Árón (Árón Taylor-­‐Smith) is a superb driver and has done an exceptional job developing the car, these two will work great together both racing but also promoting our partners MG. Josh was excellent last year, as is Árón this year so we’re now in a position to really capitalise on two brilliant drivers."

Josh Cook who has already competed in the first four rounds of the 2017 BTCC season for Maximum Motorsport describes his thoughts on the move.

"Firstly I would like to thank all those at Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport for the opportunity at the start of the season and for all of their  hard  work.  I  wish them further success and now look forward to building on my 2016 season with MG in the MG6."

Team Manager Micky Sergeant added, "Fantastic to have Josh back in the team. A great ambassador for Triple Eight, MG and the sport in general both on and off track. There was always unfinished business from my point of view and I relish the chance to work with him once again."

Josh Cook will be competing at rounds 13,14 and 15 this weekend at Croft with Triple Eight Racing.  

Power Maxed Racing's Tom Chilton took Dunlop's #ForeverForward award at Oulton Park, gaining a total of 24 positions over the course of the weekend.

Chilton made up a string of positions after qualifying down in a frustrating 30th spot on Saturday and was also forced into recovery mode after an infringement saw him placed at the rear of the grid for race two. 

Team BMW's Colin Turkington had encountered gremlins in his 125i M Sport on Saturday, but overcame them to fire his machine into a last-ditch fourth in qualifying. Come Sunday, however, the gremlins reappeared and scuppered his race one chances, leaving him marooned down in 29th.

His team rectified the problems ahead of races two and three though and Turkington battled his way up to fifth by the final chequered flag of the day. The Ulsterman jumped back to the top of the overall standings as a result.

Matt Simpson in the Simpson Racing Honda Civic Type R enjoyed strong forward momentum over the weekend, fighting back with aplomb from a race one non-finish to score points in the finale – encouraging for the Londoner.

Fans voted in their droves over on Dunlop's Facebook page to decide who provided the best of the overtaking action across each of the three races.

It was swashbuckling Ashley Sutton who took on that particular mantle in races one and two with passes on Aiden Moffat and Andrew Jordan respectively – despite a heavy load of ballast on board.

Sutton was an eye-catching mover on the way to his best haul of the season with a podium, a victory and fourth spot from the three encounters in Cheshire.

#ForeverForward – Oulton Park:

1) Tom Chilton 24
2) Colin Turkington 23
3) Matt Simpson 17

#ForeverForward – Overall Standings:

1) Colin Turkington 65
2) Ollie Jackson 60
3) Jake Hill 57

The IHG® Podium Predictor returns this weekend as the BTCC heads to Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire so be sure to get your entries in over at podiumpredictor.com now!

The BTCC Podium Predictor is new for 2017 and gives fans the chance to score bragging rights and a bundle of top-drawer prizes courtesy of longstanding championship partners IHG® Rewards Club.

If you beat the pundit you'll be in line for a massive 50,000 IHG® Rewards Club points to spend as you wish plus signed motor sport artwork from Graham and Leigh and more special gifts. Of course, you'll get tickets to a race weekend of your choosing, too. 

In order to qualify for the ultimate prize as Ultimate Predictor – with 1,000,000 IHG® Rewards Club points up for grabs, you’ll need to predict every podium finish and all race and class fastest laps correctly, scoring the maximum 120 points.

John McGladrigan was the expert forecaster over the Oulton Park weekend as he beat the pundit in ITV's Paul O'Neill – not the hardest benchmark to outdo, we know – to take home four weekend passes for the Knockhill weekend and enough IHG® Rewards Club points for the stay over, as well as a stunning piece of wall-art from Graham and Leigh to hang up in pride of place at home.

Find out just who it is you'll be up against later in the week. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled and enter – it's all to play for!

COMPETITION: We’re giving you the chance to win weekend VIP passes for Rounds 13, 14 and 15 from North Yorkshire's Croft Circuit. 

The prize includes: 

A pair of weekend passes Saturday/Sunday 10-11 June

Walk the grid to see all 32 BTCC cars line up before a race

4 pairs of weekend passes for runners-up

To be in with a chance of winning, simply like the Croft Circuit Facebook page, share our competition post and comment on our Official BTCC Facebook page to let us know you’ve entered! You may also enter on Twitter by RT’ing our competition post and liking then tagging @Croft_Circuit.

The competition closes at 4pm on Monday 5 June. For full terms and conditions see below.

Good luck!

Terms and conditions:

1x Like + Comment on Facebook = 1 entry or 1x RT + tag @Croft_Circuit on Twitter = 1 entry. 1 entry per person. Winners picked at random. The competition will close 4pm on 5 June. The winners will be announced on Facebook and Twitter the following morning. The winners will have 24 hours from the announcement to come forward. If this does not happen another winner will be selected. The winners must be available over the Croft race weekend, transport to and from the circuit is not included. The prize is non-transferrable. Children under 16 will not be able to take part in the grid walk.

The 2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship reaches its half way point next weekend (10/11 June) as the series' pilgrimage around the best of the UK's motor racing venues reaches North Yorkshire's Croft Circuit for Rounds 13, 14 and 15 of the campaign.

A capacity 32-car grid will head north with drivers still searching for a foothold in Britain’s premier motor racing series, and the first dozen rounds of the season have been typically feisty and unpredictable – the fiercely competitive nature of the BTCC throwing up eight different visitors to the top step of the podium so far.

Five marques have been represented in the winners' circle, with Subaru joining the fold with a maiden win in 2017 via star turn Ash Sutton at Oulton Park – the site of its historic first victory in the championship last year.

The power shifted in the Drivers' standings following the latest three rounds in Cheshire, with reigning champion Honda's Gordon Shedden wresting control at the head of the pack after a disastrous outing for early-season table-topper Tom Ingram in the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota.

The latter will be looking to bounce back after notching just a single point at Oulton, which shuffled him from top of the tree to third on the ladder between the Team BMW pair of Rob Collard second, and Colin Turkington, fourth – both winners at Croft in 2016.

A strong crowd is expected to descend on the charming, charismatic and challenging Croft Circuit to enjoy the mid-June sun with hundreds of thousands more watching the action live on ITV4, as is the case for each and every BTCC encounter.

A year on...
Gordon Shedden endured a tumultuous first half of the campaign in 2016 in his bid to retain his crown. By the time the Halfords Yuasa Racing champion arrived in North Yorkshire, he had suffered three non-finishes. Despite this, he still sat fourth in the championship.

Croft, though, did the Scot no favours with a weekend-best result of just 13th place and a race three finish outside of the top 20 leaving him marooned way down the order in the race for the most coveted crown in British motor sport – ninth and over 50 points shy of then-leader Sam Tordoff. 

It's a different kettle of fish in 2017, though, as Shedden stands in charge at the top of the pile as he searches for a third consecutive BTCC crown. A consistent run of results, with only one non-finish, a disqualification from a provisional race win at Donington Park, encompasses two race wins and five visits to the rostrum – double the number of each in comparison to this same stage last season.

This leaves the triple champion with a very different proposition at the classic Darlington venue this time around – heading the pack with maximum success ballast on board his Honda Civic Type R, albeit at the scene of his worst weekend of 2016.

“It’s fantastic to be heading there leading the championship, but the downside to that is having to carry 75kg of glorious ballast for qualifying and race one!" said Shedden. "That means we’ll need to play the long game, but hopefully the Civic Type R will do the business and the weekend will come to me as it goes on.”

“Croft is an interesting circuit,” he reflected. “It’s a little bit like a game of two halves with some really slow, technical corners and some really fast, high-adrenaline corners, which always throws up a few surprises."

Those next up in the running will be hot on Shedden's heels, ready to capitalise, and will have a job on their hands given Honda, with the exception of last year, are traditionally extremely strong at Croft with 13 wins there in the modern era – joint-most with BMW.

It is the Bavarian marque currently leading the chase with Team BMW's Rob Collard – the only driver to have scored points in every race so far in 2017. He also happens to have a sparkling record there, having won twice in the last two visits, tallying five podium finishes since 2014. 
 
Croft is a circuit that naturally favours rear-wheel drive machinery and the sister Team BMW machine, harbouring Colin Turkington, will surely be there or thereabouts as he aims to close on Shedden from fourth in the standings. The Ulsterman has garnered the most victories, podiums and fastest laps there in the last 20 years – 11, 19 and 7 respectively. Little wonder he has been dubbed the 'King of Croft'.

Speedworks Motorsport's Tom Ingram is in recovery mode and will be looking to make amends and get his title challenge back on track while Matt Neal in the second Halfords Yuasa Racing Honda Civic Type R is also in the mix – a stunning podium triple at Oulton Park made certain of that.

The third 125i M Sport, of BMW Pirtek Racing's Andrew Jordan is currently some 50 points shy of the top of the table but a victory and a further podium at Oulton Park showed he is firmly in contention, as is the Subaru of Ash Sutton who is just ahead in the tally in sixth spot after his trip to the top step in Cheshire.

Local Heroes
Legendary BTCC champion Jason Plato has suffered a difficult 2017 to date, with fewer points on the board after the opening 12 rounds than ever before. A heavy start line shunt at the season-opening weekend was a factor and Plato will be hoping to be back at the sharp end on home soil, with the Subaru now a race-winning machine in 2017 in the hands of team-mate Ash Sutton.

“There’s progress on my car at times but we’re still trying to fathom what exactly is wrong with it," said Plato. "At the moment it still won’t do what we want it to do.

"Mine is not responding in the same way as the other cars – we made changes on the others and got the same reaction from each, but made the same changes on my car and there was no reaction, so something’s not working.

"I always enjoy coming to Croft," continued Plato, who grew up in nearby Newcastle. "It's great to see familiar faces and the racing is always good. It’s usually a rear-wheel drive track and it suited the Subaru last year and hopefully we'll make another step there with my car and we'll see what we can do as a team. I'm looking forward to it."

Huddersfield's Dan Lloyd also calls Croft home and the MG man will be hoping to make a jump next weekend and build on a season-best 12th last time out, though matching his qualifying effort last year – a front-row berth – may be a tough challenge for the MG6 on current form.

Timetable and tickets 
All three BTCC races on Sunday, 11 June alongside the rest of the day's action will be broadcast live and in high-definition on ITV4, via the ITV Hub and streamed live at itv.com/btcc. Those in attendance at the circuit can stay in touch with the commentary and live timing from every session, available at btcc.net/live throughout the weekend.
 
The support series' on the TOCA package are also guaranteed to thrill with a double digit total of races set to entertain the crowds. The Renault UK Clio Cup, F4 British Championship and two Ginetta series' will all be in attendance in North Yorkshire, making for a packed weekend of truly unmissable racing.

Tickets can be purchased at discounted advanced prices at £11 on Saturday and £24 on Sunday, or £33 for the full weekend. Accompanied children aged 15 and under are admitted free. For further information see www.croftcircuit.co.uk or call 01325 721815.