Hairpin to be rechristened ‘Wilson’ from this weekend’s BTCC meeting

Snetterton’s Montreal hairpin will be renamed in honour of Justin Wilson, starting from this weekend’s (30/31 July) round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. Wilson, who was tragically killed in an IndyCar race last August, was a protégé of circuit owner MSV’s Chief Executive, Jonathan Palmer, who guided him through much of his junior single-seater career towards Formula One.

Palmer and Wilson’s association dates back to the fiercely competitive inaugural Formula Palmer Audi Championship in 1998, a season which yielded a first major car racing crown for Justin. Success in that championship earned Justin a full season in the International Formula 3000 Championship, just one rung on the ladder below Grand Prix racing at the time, and the title followed three years later in 2001.

Justin and Jonathan maintained a close working relationship throughout this period, culminating with the creation of Justin Wilson PLC, an innovative, publically-funded scheme, which paved the way for Justin to graduate to F1 with Minardi. Whilst the F1 dream didn’t pan out perfectly, Justin and Jonathan maintained a close friendship as the Yorkshire driver developed a fantastic reputation as one of the leading single-seater drivers in America until his untimely death in 2015.

Appropriately, the Wilson hairpin leads into Palmer corner on the 300 circuit which will be used this weekend – aptly, Sunday’s three BTCC races will take place on what would have been Justin’s 38th birthday.

A special corner board featuring Justin’s iconic rainbow-coloured helmet design, in addition to the Wilson name, has been installed in time for the BTCC event. This special tribute was unveiled today (Monday) at a ceremony attended by Jonathan and Justin’s parents, Keith and Lynne, ahead of the corner’s official relaunch this weekend.

Jonathan Palmer commented: “Justin Wilson, the champion of my inaugural Formula Palmer Audi championship, thoroughly deserved the support which that success brought him, and it was enormously satisfying to watch him make the best possible use of every opportunity he had through to F1 and IndyCar racing. But not only was Justin an outstanding racing driver, he was also the epitome of a true sportsman, earning universal respect and admiration. He leaves a lasting legacy that we will cherish and perpetuate, with the naming of Wilson corner at Snetterton an important part of that.”

Justin’s younger brother Stefan, who raced at the Indianapolis 500 earlier in the year in tribute to his elder sibling, said: "This is such an incredible gesture by MSV and I know Justin would be very honoured and humbled to learn that he has a corner here at Snetterton named after him. Snetterton has a special place in our memories as our dad raced here back in the ‘60s and he would tell us stories of racing down the old Norwich straight. Plus, Justin and I raced here many times in our own careers!"

Keith Wilson added: "We cannot thank Jonathan and Lisa Davis (MSV’s General Manager) enough for all their support for Justin and our whole family stretching right back as far as the inaugural Formula Palmer Audi race in 1998. They have played a huge part in all of our lives and as Stefan says Justin would be so honoured to have this corner named after him. Snetterton is a great circuit steeped in history and after having new life injected into it by Jonathan its life should extend for further generations allowing Justin's corner to rekindle his association with Snetterton and Jonathan.”

Wilson corner will be used for the first time during the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship this weekend on 30/31 July. For more information, please visit www.snetterton.co.uk.

Get all ten of this season's Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship winners so far in these complete Perfect Ten wallpapers:

POSTER - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

1024 x 768 - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

1280 x 1024 - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

1920 x 1080 - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

1920 x 1080 - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship returns from its mid-season break with a trip to Norfolk's Snetterton circuit next weekend (30/31 July), having seen a greater number of different winners in the first half of the campaign than ever before.

MG Racing RCIB Insurance driver Ashley Sutton stormed to his first ever Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship victory after producing an outstanding performance in the final encounter at Croft.

The young rookie’s success meant that the BTCC boasted ten different race winners from the opening 15 races of the 2016 season heading into the summer break.

Click below to download your Sutton poster or wallpaper.

POSTER - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

1024 x 768 - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

1280 x 1024 - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

1920 x 1080 - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Sam Tordoff became the ninth different race winner from the opening 11 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races after delivering a commanding drive in race two at Oulton Park.

The Team JCT600 with GardX driver blasted his BMW off the line, past pole-sitter Colin Turkington, and never looked back. The unpredictability of the 2016 BTCC campaign exemplified as the Yorkshireman romped home to add his name to the list of drivers to reach the top step of the rostrum.

Click below to download your Tordoff poster or wallpaper.

POSTER - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

1024 x 768 - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

1280 x 1024 - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

1920 x 1080 - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

After a flying start, Adam Morgan's season has stuttered somewhat following a couple of setbacks and a bout of bad luck over the last two Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship events. He's looking to Norfolk's Snetterton circuit to get things back on track.

The opener at Brands Hatch was the perfect way to start 2016 for WIX Racing, with a race three win to kick of the campaign. A quieter Donington Park was then followed by a storming Thruxton weekend, a contender for best-ever for the Cicely Racing-backed squad as Morgan romped to a win and two podiums – no mean feat with the reverse grid and ballast system employed in the BTCC.

A slice of that early-season form is what the Lancashireman is shooting for in the rounds to come as he aims to propel his Mercedes back up the championship table.

"We had a really good Thruxton, and Brands was good for us as well and then the other three – Donington, Croft and Oulton – have been very poor," said Morgan.

"If you turned those three into average weekends we’d be much higher up the tables. Everyone has good luck and bad luck in racing and it was our turn for some bad luck."

"At Oulton we had a setup issue and we struggled with it all day trying to find out what it was exactly. It wasn’t actually until we got to Croft that we knew what was causing the issues.

"So, we were driving around a whole weekend after we’d changed absolutely everything on the car to get to the bottom of it but we couldn’t pinpoint what it was. It was a bit of a nightmare really.

"At Croft, I had contact in race one and two so it was just a weekend to forget because we had quite good pace there too. It was just one of those things. We broke a toe-link at the back in race one and race two the front hub just shattered.

"Hopefully we’ll turn it around at Snetterton. It’s somewhere I like to come. I’ve always gone quite well here so hopefully it’ll be the same again, another podium maybe. We’ve had two pretty poor rounds in the last couple so we want to get back up to where we belong, in the top five or six, and we can hopefully move our way up the championship.

"Our aim for the second half of the season is the same as it always is. We go out nice and consistent and try and stay out of trouble, keep the points ticking over and try and get a few more podiums."

Colin Turkington claimed the first ever Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship victory for Subaru after producing a lights-to-flag performance in the opening contest at Oulton Park to become winner number eight of the campaign.

The double BTCC champion made a decent getaway from pole position and was able to resist the attentions of Sam Tordoff’s Team JCT600 with GardX BMW in the early running, before gradually stretching away in the latter stages.

It was an historic result for the Japanese marque which had endured a baptism of fire on its introduction to Britain’s biggest motor sport series. Challenging weekends at Brands Hatch and Donington Park were followed by the team pulling out of the Thruxton event due to safety concerns with its fuel system. Tireless hard work, updates to the car and a two-day test have since led to an impressive turnaround, culminating in this fantastic result at the Cheshire circuit.

Click below to download your Turkington poster or wallpaper.

POSTER - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

1024 x 768 - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

1280 x 1024 - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

1920 x 1080 - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Hindsight is a frustrating thing for me as I look back on the first half of the season. A lot of things have gone right. I am able to focus much better for a race weekend now and I’m far less stressed out driving for Handy Motorsport rather than running my own team.

The car is a much more suited base car than the Audis. I think we would have really been pulling our hair out if we had continued with them and as an overall thing I’m very happy working with Simon Belcher and the Handy team.

We have made a lot of changes and there were a lot of firsts for most of the team so it’s really taken us until now for everything to fully gel and to find our feet but now we have a smooth running outfit that’s a match for any in the pit lane...

Read all of Rob's mid-season blog over at hiqonline.co.uk.

Andrew Jordan joined a list of seven different race winners from the opening eight Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races in 2016, after the Pirtek Racing driver produced an impressive drive in round eight at Thruxton.

The moment of truth came on lap 11 as Jordan scythed his way past leader Morgan decisively with the Mercedes struggling with weight on the car. He held the rest at arm's length throughout the rest of the shortened encounter to notch the victory. Jordan's first win for Motorbase Performance in the Pirtek Racing Ford Focus was also his first in the BTCC since Croft 2014.

Click below to download your Jordan poster or wallpaper.

POSTER - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

1024 x 768 - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

1280 x 1024 - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

1920 x 1080 - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

West Surrey Racing's Rob Collard sits just 12 points shy of leader Sam Tordoff in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship drivers' standings in a top-two lockout for Team JCT600 with GardX heading into next weekend's return to action at Snetterton (30/31 July).

The Hampshireman is hopeful of keeping right in the championship mix by maximising a weekend in Norfolk that may not necessarily suit the rear-wheel drive BMW 125i M Sport, at a circuit that has not been the kindest to Collard in the past.

"Snetterton’s not one of my favourite circuits if I’m honest, It’s been a little bit of a bogey track for me," said Collard. "The hope is that we qualify reasonably well but it’ll be difficult for us to be honest to have the one-lap pace that the front-wheel drive cars showed in the test – we were down in 16^th and 18^th on the Thursday.

"I just want to get through Snetterton with a nice bag of points and three strong finishes – that’s all I ask for, then hopefully it’ll be glory days heading to Knockhill.

"The 2016 BTCC is so competitive, so to be able to have won races and to have had podiums and be second in the championship in such a competitive year, it’s fantastic. It’s my highest ever placing at this stage in the season and we have to take the positives from that. It’s taken a long time to climb to that level.

"We had a few issues with things out of my control and some contact where we lost 25-30 points at Oulton Park for example. We’ve got to make sure nothing like that happens at Snetterton then we’re onto the tracks where I feel really strong – Knockhill, Silverstone, Brands Hatch GP. I feel we go strong there and I’m really looking forward to them.

"I think it’ll be difficult to get podiums at Snetterton just because of where we have to qualify, with weight on. Hopefully we may get lucky in race three. A batch of top-six finishes would, for me, be ideal. If I can do that in all three races I’ll be well placed. If I can come away from Norfolk  in the top three then I’ll be happy."

Testing at Snetterton was positive for WSR, with plenty of ground covered by Collard, Tordoff and Jack Goff. The former was largely involved with development work throughout the early portion of testing, but did get licence to run on his own accord later on – leaving him pleased with what he saw from the car in the circumstances.

"It was quite a tiring couple of days, I must admit," said Collard. "We had a good mixture of different conditions with the wet weather on the Wednesday. As much as we didn’t anticipate too much rain, we were able to try different things on the car, It was hard to tell exactly what worked as all three cars were running differently, all trying different things. I was predominantly acting as the development car, working on some aero, so not necessarily going for the fastest time but trying to be consistent.

"We had more of a free reign on Thursday afternoon. The car feels good. We’re carrying some weight for Snetterton so we’re not at the top of the timesheets, however, I feel the car is very raceable. We’ve not been looking for a one lap time; we’ve been looking for all three cars to be able to do a bit of durability running and it was very encouraging overall.

"Testing isn’t always about finding things that work, it’s sometimes about finding things that don’t work. You can tick them off the list so you don’t then waste time on the racetrack.

"Some of the things we did at Thruxton went from massive swings from one area to another to find what did and didn’t work. It’s very surprising actually but it’s impressive how the car reacted to changes. We have a lot of data-crunching to do now.

"The engineers are going to be flat out in the lead up to the race here collating all the information from the three cars. We’ll arrive there in good shape."