Two rounds, six races and a championship to be decided. We will know who the champion in just a matter of weeks but there are still four drivers in contention. The leader, Jason Plato, the man chasing him, Gordon Shedden, closely followed by Matt Neal and Colin Turkington. The latter two still have a chance but will need the top two to have some bad luck to really make a go of it.
The Silverstone National circuit hosts the BTCC this weekend and the track should traditionally favour the BMRs of Plato and Turkington, with team mate Aron Smith looking to have a good weekend as well. However that should have been the case at Rockingham and they didn’t have it all their own way there. All eyes will be Plato and Shedden battle this weekend but Mat Jackson could also have a big say in the weekend and will be around the front again.
Last year at Silverstone Plato won races one and two after getting past Turkington in the opening laps of both races. Turkington done the sensible thing by not getting involved in any of the games Plato might have tried to play so he got solid points and maintain his strong championship lead. The third race was more dramatic than races one and two as has come to be tradition in the BTCC. Turkington had no choice but to get his elbows out if he wanted to get some strong points and ended up in a three way battle with Menu and Giovanardi and Plato behind them. It kicked off when Plato hit Turkington’s car which created a domino effect as Giovanardi was turned into a spin when Turkington hit him. It was Turkington and Plato who finished the battle unscathed in 3rd and 4th positions and the real winner was the day was Turkington who took a fifty point lead into Brands Hatch whilst Mat Jackson took the actual final win of the day.
Smith, Turkington and Jackson to be in contention for this weekend especially for pole position have less ballast but Shedden, Plato and Andrew Jordan could all have a say in who gets that point. Jordan should have a very good for the Silverstone track so he will be looking to finish his season on a high.
It really could be anyone’s weekend at the home of British racing, the title may not be won but it could certainly be lost if any of the contenders has a bad weekend there’s no time to recover, therefore the top four will be looking for a meeting as close to perfection as possible but there’s only one winners spot so there could still be a twist before the chequered flag drops at Brands Hatch on October 11th.
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