British Touring Car Championship 2023 - Rounds 13, 14 & 15 - Oulton Park

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Qualifying Result
Ash Sutton
Jake Hill
Ricky Collard

Race 1 Result
Jake Hill
Ash Sutton
Tom Ingram

Race 2 Result
Jake Hill
Ash Sutton
Tom Ingram

Race 3 Result
Colin Turkington
Jake Hill
Adam Morgan

So straight up, what a weekend the BMW's had! Claiming every race win over the day and putting two drivers on the podium for the last race. Even with Turkington's rocky start to the weekend after being disqualified from qualifying after failing the fuel checks afterwards, starting 27th and last on the grid, he worked his magic with a little help from the reverse grid draw and claimed a win which didn't look likely at the start of the day.

Someone who didn't have a great day, sadly, was Aron Taylor-Smith. The day started positively for T.Smith, starting 8th on the grid and celebrating his first fathers day as a parent to baby Oakley, born in April. Sadly, the races didn't go to plan for him. Race one saw him involved in a collision with Dan Rowbottom (if I remember correctly, it's probably wrong cause my memory is shocking recently) and left his car planted in the tyre barrier. Race two saw him manage to climb to 19th but race three saw him fail to finish again. 

(Little note, while I was trying to find out if ATS crashed or had a mechanical failure in race three I saw that it was indeed Dan Rowbottom involved in the race one incident! My memory prevails again! The two have since made amends in a show of good sportsmanship. A certain couple of GT racers should take note of this instead of having a verbal altercation in the British GT paddock like teenagers...)

Once again, the BTCC has provided an action packed day full of overtakes, penalties, pushing, shoving, retirements and drama. Oulton Park gets a bit of stick as it's quite a narrow track and people say it's impossible to overtake there. They should have watched this weekend's races to prove them wrong. Just look at Turkington climbing 18 places in the first race! I personally think it's a lovely, picturesque track. Sure it's a bit of a tough one to get to (or did my sat-nav just dick me over?) but definitely worth it!

One last note and I've said it for every BTCC race this season so far but I swear before I restarted my blog/my entire 20+ years of being a fan of this championship, it wasn't this common to have the exact same results for the first two races of the day?! It's probably just another thing I'm not remembering correctly because I'm too caught up in the hype.

I've also just found out that the championship has gone on summer break already and now I'm sad... But that also means, the next race is in Croft, an hours drive from little old Katie's place and I think I'm going! So ups and downs, just like the world of motorsport.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 20, 2023 at 8:41 PM

    What a great read, thoroughly enjoyed that - not sure who was at fault or what caused the incident between Rowbo and ATS.

    Turks had a very good weekend and as you say, the BTCC proved Oulton can provide overtakes and good racing.

    Darn, I forgot about the break too but Croft will be amazing. You’ll have a fantastic time, well jealous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousJune 20, 2023 at 8:42 PM

      @Grecian1901

      Delete
    2. Motorsport MayJune 25, 2023 at 7:58 PM

      I think it was just a racing incident, ATS was clearly struggling, and Rowbo probably misjudged the gap, it happens but good to see the pair make amends over socials!

      I love Oulton Park even though every time I've been I get lost because I just end up walking around in circles! Says more about my navigation skills...

      I'm so looking forward to Croft though, only been once but it's a great track. Just need to get a grip and sort the tickets out...

      Delete

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