When the entry list was confirmed at the official Dunlop MSA
British Touring Car Championship Media Day back in March, many fans expected
this season to be fiercely competitive with a record 31 car grid for the
upcoming season, with 7 of those being piloted by current and former BTCC
champions from across the years, and the series has duly delivered as we enter
the summer break after 15 thrill packed races.
So far the most impressive driver in my
view is the championship leader Colin Turkington; the Northern Irishman has
taken an impressive 9 podium finishes out of a possible 15 so far this season,
converting 6 of those podium finishes into race wins. When you consider that
this is his second season in the eBay Motor's BMW 125i since his return after a
four year gap, it has shown how he has gone from strength to strength, as has
the car which has become more consistent with each race, and also helped team
mate Rob Collard to 5th in the points as things stand. Turkington has always
been a quality driver since he first made a name for himself in the BTCC, but
even by his standards he has had a fantastic first half of the 2014 season,
and, depending on consistency, he certainly has the ability to clinch his
second drivers title, as long as he and the team pick up from where they left
off at a very positive weekend at Croft.
Another driver that has been impressive so
far this season in my eyes is one of the series newcomers Tom Ingram, driving
the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis. The current Ginetta GT Supercup
champion had been tipped for a move up to the BTCC since dominating in the
Ginetta support series, starting with the Ginetta Junior Championship in 2010,
and made the dream a reality for the 2014 season. He also admitted before the
season started that his main target was to finish consistently in the top
10 over the course of the season, a feat which Speedworks have struggled to
achieve since their debut in 2011, and one that has only been accomplished by
Paul O'Neill during a guest drive for the team at Knockhill in 2012. However,
Tom has proved his critics wrong and has indeed managed to finish regularly in
the top 10, getting the best out of the car which at last is showing its true
potential. With more consistent top 10 finishes, I believe Tom will be able to
go on and achieve great things, and has the potential to be a future champion
of the BTCC.
On the opposite end of the scale, there
have also been drivers which have been disappointing so far this season.
Despite all the hype in the pre-season, I feel a bit let down by the lack of
performance from former champions Alain Menu and Fabrizio Giovanardi. Menu has
been out of a full drive in the BTCC since 2000, where he drove for Ford in
their Mondeo during the Supertourer era, and as a result the switch to NGTC
will be a huge change from what he had been used to driving. Still, Menu has
been progressing steadily, but perhaps not at the pace as he was expecting, and
has had good chances of a strong finish, only for them to be dashed away for
numerous reasons, meaning that he will be more determined for strong results in
the latter part of the season, especially when he has a strong car underneath
him in the BMR Volkswagen CC. On the flipside, Fabrizio Giovanardi has not been
progressing as consistently thus far this season, and has been inconsistent in
terms of qualifying and race results, which is quite disappointing, especially
as he has been out of the series for less time than Menu. Arguably he too has
to get used to NGTC machinery, but it also has to be said that the Airwaves
Focus is not the strongest car on the grid, but hopefully 'Gio' will be able to
get the best out of the Ford and push for strong results in the second half of
the season.
It is not just the returning duo that have
been disappointing this season. Triple champion Matt Neal has also had a fairly
poor season as things stand, and has been caught up in numerous incidents which
is unlike him, meaning he too has been inconsistent in his race results.
However, Neal has also been inconsistent in qualifying, where he has found
himself starting in the middle of the pack and struggling to get near the top
of the time sheets. Team Dynamics do have a new car for Neal and team mate
Shedden, but both drivers admitted that the Civic Tourer is not much different
to the hatchback model they ran for the previous two seasons, so it is hard to
find a reason why Neal has been struggling whereas his team mate has fared
better, especially when he performed so well when behind the wheel of the
hatchback Civic model.
Looking ahead to the second half of the
season, the drivers I believe we should be keeping an eye on are Turkington for
definite, especially as he is the championship leader and has been dominant so
far this season, it will be interesting to see if he and the eBay Motors squad
can keep the momentum going into the later stages of the BTCC season. I also
think that Menu and Giovanardi could improve in the second half, which will
make for interesting viewing towards the end of the season, as well as Ingram
who will be looking to build on a strong start. Another man who can never be
discounted is Triple Eight's Jason Plato, who will always have a part to play
when the championship comes to its climax towards the last few rounds, and he
is also one of the most consistent drivers on the grid so will be looking to
get the better of Turkington when the series returns at Snetterton in three
weeks time.
One thing is for certain, with 31 drivers
all battling for race wins and podiums, there is a long way to go as far as the
championship is concerned, and no driver can ever be ruled out or ignored when
it comes to touring car racing; it's unpredictability is what makes the series
so exciting and what draws the fans in.
Photo Credit: Alan Faulkner
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