BTCC Title Race Poised To Heat Up On Return To Knockhill

Photo courtesy of British Touring Car Championship (BTCC)

This year's hotly-contested BTCC campaign is set to take more twists and turns this weekend as it travels north of the border to Knockhill.

The Fife circuit has been a staple of the BTCC calendar since it's inception in 1992, long being a favourite amongst fans and drivers alike. 

Being one of the shortest circuits on the programme at only 1.27 miles - with high kerbs that famously launch cars onto two wheels whilst chasing those vital passing opportunities -  Knockhill has never ceased to provide a ton of action and has given us some of the most exciting and dramatic races in the competition's history,

This weekend might prove to be no different as we enter with another close championship battle, with only 41 points currently separating the top four drivers.

NAPA Racing UK are looking like the success story of the season so far, with another silverware-laden outing a fortnight ago at Croft. The Motorbase-run squad clinched a double lock-out with Ash Sutton, Dan Cammish and Dan Rowbottom gracing the podium for the first two races.

However, a second consecutive race-three retirement saw a frustrating end to the weekend for Ash Sutton who, despite his second-place and victory earlier in the day, failed to extend his six-point lead over Tom Ingram that he started the meeting with.

Bristol Street Motor with Exceler8's Ingram is already proving that consistency is key, keeping up the pressure on Sutton with his tenth podium finish of the season.

Laser Tool Racing with MB Motorsport's Jake Hill will be looking to make up the ground he lost at Croft, after errors whilst attacking in two of the races cost him places and vital points, relinquishing third place to Colin Turkington in the overall driver standings.

Hill is no stranger to success in the Scottish leg of the competition though, having secured his first-ever BTCC victory at Knockhill in 2019 and has achieved podium finishes in each of the three visits since. Most notably, Hill pulled off a triple-rostrum last year with a victory in race one followed by two second-places.

However, over the last decade no other driver can boast a better rate of success at Knockhill than Hill's BMW team-mate and four-time champion, Colin Turkington. Since 2013, the Northern Irishman has secured 15 top-three finishes out of 30 races, with his last victory there coming in 2021, as well as being a double runner-up at last year's meeting.

Interestingly, the top four contenders for this years championship - Ash Sutton, Tom Ingram, Colin Turkington and Jake Hill - have shared a Knockhill podium together in one combination or another 5 times out of the last 9 races there, meaning we are almost guaranteed to see the title race turn up a notch or two this weekend.

Photo courtesy of British Touring Car Championship (BTCC)

​Elsewhere on the grid, it will be a local heroes' welcome for the four Scottish-born drivers in this years campaign.

Aidan Moffat (One Motorsport with Starline Racing) and Rory Butcher (Toyota GAZOO Racing UK) have both registered top-three finishes this season and will be chasing another, whilst Dexter Patterson (Re. Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD) and Ronan Pearson (Bristol Street Motors with Exceler8) will be looking to add all-important Jack Sears Trophy points to their tallies.

As ever, you can catch all of Saturday's qualifying action live on ITV Sport's YouTube channel from 3:00pm, with all Sunday's live race coverage (including the full support package) broadcast on ITV4 from 11:15am.

Chris Tetreault-Blay
BTCC Journalist @ F1 Journal