Dunlop heads to high-speed Thruxton with BTCC

Round three of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship will take place at Thruxton this weekend (28-29 April), with three races on Hampshire’s high-speed circuit. Thruxton is the fastest track on the calendar for the teams and drivers of Britain’s premier motor racing championship with cars running bumper-to-bumper at close to 150mph. Once again, title-sponsor Dunlop will supply the rubber for what will be another exciting round of action, while support races come from the Ginetta Junior, Ginetta GT Supercup, Porsche Carrera Cup and Renault Clio Cup grids.

The opening six races of 2012 have produced five different winners – Jason Plato (MG KX Momentum Racing MG), Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa Racing Team Honda Civics), Robert Collard (eBay Motors BMW) and Mat Jackson (Redstone Racing Ford Focus). Plato arrives at Thruxton leading the standings but only by a slender margin from reigning champion Neal, Andrew Jordan in his Pirtek Racing Honda, Collard, Shedden and Jackson.

Meanwhile Collard is among the local heroes; he and team-mate Nick Foster hail from near Hook, Hampshire. Fleet-based Welch Motorsport will be eager to impress with its Proton Persona driven by Daniel Welch on home ground. In all nine different makes – Audi, BMW, Ford, Honda, MG, Proton, Toyota, Vauxhall and VW – are represented on the grid, meaning plenty of variety for the race day spectators to choose a favourite.