Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher returns to Thruxton circuit brimming with confidence this coming weekend, as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship makes its second visit of the season to the fastest circuit on the calendar (August 17-18).
Looking to get its championship challenge back on track as the BTCC tackles one of its most demanding circuits; the Wrotham-based outfit arrives at the fearsome Hampshire track buoyed by the recent performance of its Ford Focus RS machines. Competitive running on the hard-compound tyre, in particular, has helped to refocus the teamโs resolve to bring the fight to the championship leaders.
Last time out at Snetterton proved to be a rollercoaster of a weekend for the Motorbase-run squad. Ollie Jackson celebrated his maiden independent win at the Norfolk track just over a week ago, on what was his most successful BTCC weekend ever, collecting points in all three races and picking-up three top-ten finishes.
Sadly, after qualifying on the secondโrow, Tom Chiltonโs hopes of claiming an all-but-guaranteed podium were thwarted by a freak puncture in the opening race leaving the Reigate-racer to rue what might have been as he battled his way from the back of the grid to collect points in the weekend closer.
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher endured a challenging visit here earlier in the season, and both Chilton and Jackson are keen to right this wrong this time around, and hopefully recreate some of the teamโs previous successes on the former wartime airfield.
Thruxton has been good to us in the past;โ explained Team Manager Oly Collins. โWe celebrated our first 1-2 as a team here as well as various podium trips and wins. Itโs a fantastic circuit, one which the drivers love when the car is working well.
โLast time out was mixed emotions;โ commented Team Manager Oly Collins. โOllie had his best weekend ever in the BTCC with an Indy win. Sadly Tom, who was cruising to a podium in race 1, was cruelly denied by a freak puncture which ruined his whole weekend. As they say, thatโs motorsport and itโs firmly behind us.
โThruxton will be an interesting one, with all teams going back to the hard tyre all weekend. Weโve learned a lot since our last trip to Thruxton in May so weโre confident of getting some good results. The weather may play a part but we have no control over that. We feel as prepared as ever and will be looking to build Ollieโs good results and changing Tomโs fortune as his speed is definitely there. Heโs just been lacking the luck in recent race weekends.โ
#3 Tom Chilton:
โBecause we were so competitive at Snetterton I didnโt come away as disappointed as youโd think. It was just down to pure bad-luck picking up the puncture when we did.
โGoing into Thruxton where we really struggled on the hard tyre at the beginning of the year, I now think that weโre going to be top-six fastest on the grid for sure. Iโm really confident about that.
โIโm excited about going back there. Itโs one of my favourite circuits, but we didnโt have the optimum set-up last time out. Weโve cracked that now, so Iโm feeling positive. Weโre definitely going to be in the mix this weekend.โ
#48 Ollie Jackson:
โThruxton wasnโt that great for us last time but weโve got a much better handle on the hard tyre now so Iโm looking forward to picking up some strong results. I think if we can keep our noses in the top ten and keep banking the points, then a reverse grid podium or win wonโt be that far away.
โWeโve made big strides in understanding the hard tyre. The car is unrecognisable from when we last went there and weโre not going to struggle this time. The car will be strong, it just comes down to how much faster everyone else is as well.โ
โIt will be interesting to see how it plays out this weekend. The recent test really seemed to mix things up at Snetterton. I think that the grid will look very different from last time we were there.โ
Rounds 19, 20 and 21 of the 2019 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship takes place at Thruxton Race Circuit on August 17/18. Live coverage of Sundayโs (August 18) events will be shown on ITV4, ITV4HD and via the ITVhub from 11:30 โ 18:15; with itv.com/btcc featuring live timing and streaming of Saturdayโs (August 17) qualifying session from 15.20.
