TOURING CAR HEROES GOING FOR GOLD
AT NORFOLK’S SNETTERTON CIRCUIT…There is now little less than a week to go before the UK’s premier motor racing championship – the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – resumes its 2012 season at the Snetterton circuit in Norfolk (Sat 11/Sun 12 August), thereby continuing the country’s sizzling summer of sport.
Like the finalists in an Olympic sprint, the BTCC’s star drivers will each want to be fastest out of the blocks as they return to action following a lengthy seven-week break in their calendar.
Snetterton’s BTCC event makes for the Anglia region’s biggest motor racing fixture of the year and it is little wonder that, with swift access from the A11 dual carriageway, a bumper crowd is anticipated. Traditional scorching hot weather also adds to the appeal for fans and families looking to make a carnival weekend of it with their tents and barbeques.
Honda team-mates Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden will arrive at Snetterton striving to maintain their championship lead ahead of their arch MG rival Jason Plato. Memorably 12 months ago the BTCC’s first race on Snetterton’s new ‘300’ track immediately got off to a controversial start when Neal was sent spinning at 120mph after an opening bend clash with Plato…
Meanwhile Attleborough’s Ollie Jackson will be hoping to shine in front of his home crowd in his AmD Tuning.com VW Golf but, with nine different car makes represented on the grid and 11 different drivers having achieved podium results in the season’s opening half, predicting who will come out on top at Snetterton is near impossible.
And while the headlining BTCC will be in race action three times on the Sunday (12 August), there are a further nine races for the supporting Renault Clio Cup, Porsche Carrera Cup GB, Ginetta Junior Championship and Ginetta GT Supercup categories in store for the visiting public during the weekend.