Right after I had seen the British Superbikes at Silverstone, the following weekend I went and did the same with the BTCC. I was on a mission to make up for a summer that had been distinctly lacking in motorsport activities. Currently the BTCC is my favourite motorsport series because of the action, the huge grids, great personalities and variety of cars and teams. There’s not many championships out there that can tick all of those boxes at the present time.
BTCC Silverstone 2018 began badly as I hadn’t realised the pit walk was so early in the day. One thing BSB does well is put their pit walk around noon, so most fans will get the chance to participate. If you put the pit walk at 9am, then put simply fans will miss out, as I did. Nevertheless, it certainly didn’t ruin the day.
I tried to get into a few different vantage points than I had for the BSB to mix things up, though Luffield was still the pick of the bunch for uninterrupted views and the ability to see a good section of the track. The lack of good spots was a reminder that there are so many better tracks in Britain than Silverstone. Under the trees of Brands, Oulton or Cadwell and the bowl of Donington – they’re all far superior. Old airfields don’t make good locations for race tracks from a spectator perspective, sorry!
Tom Oliphant – Ciceley Motorsport – Mercedes-Benz A-Class, BTCC Silverstone 2018.
As usual for the touring cars, there was plenty of action. Tom Oliphant got sideways into Luffield at the start of race 1 which I just about caught on camera. I don’t like to see too much contact in the BTCC, particularly the deliberate bumps from behind to get past, but a bit of pushing and shoving provides some great entertainment. Rubbin’ is racin’!
Senna Proctor – Power Maxed TAG Racing – Vauxhall Astra, BTCC Silverstone 2018.
I was able to walk around the entire circuit during the course of the day. There are so many races on a BTCC Sunday and the Silverstone National circuit is pretty short. Consequently I got a nice variety of photos depending on where I was. This included almost being blown away at the top of the Silverstone Six stand for the Formula 4 race!
Andy Gordon-Colebrooke – Century Motorsport and Jac Constable – Fix Auto Racing, Ginetta GT4 SuperCup Silverstone 2018.
With Shredded Wheat the title sponsors of the Motorbase Fords, it’s now customary for BTCC fans to collect their free bowl of Shredded Wheat from the promotional truck. Naturally I made sure I didn’t miss out! It’s definitely my favourite livery on the grid and it’s great to see a big, recognisable brand backing the sport. Hopefully they stick around for a few more years.
Tom Wrigley – JTR, Porsche Carrera Cup GB Silverstone 2018.
The podium for the final BTCC race of the day took place on the main straight, with fans allowed onto the track. They call it the “people’s podium” and it’s a nice touch. As I’d missed out on the pit walk this would be a great chance for autographs, and so it proved. Race winner Aidan Moffat and runner up Tom Ingram stuck around long afterwards to meet fans which was really great. Both made time for everyone and had a great attitude. I also met Ricky Collard who had driven the BMW in place of his father that weekend and he was bouncing off the walls! A great opportunity for him and he’ll be full time in the BTCC very soon I’m sure.
At the end of it all, it was another great day out at the BTCC. I’ll likely avoid Silverstone in 2019 though.
The Flickr album for all my photos taken from the BTCC Silverstone 2019 round can be accessed here.
Sam Tordoff – Team GardX Racing with Motorbase – Ford Focus RS and Matt Neal – Halfords Yuasa Racing – Honda Civic Type R, BTCC Silverstone 2018.
Nicolas Hamilton – Jet with WDE Motorsport, Renault UK Clio Cup Silverstone 2018.
Ricky Collard – Team BMW – BMW 125i M Sport, BTCC Silverstone 2018.
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