BTCC Donington 2016

BTCC 2016 at Donington

Mark

Last weekend saw the second race outing for the British Touring Car Championship as we saw the class of BTCC 2016 at Donington Park.   The series was there with its normal support races including MSA Formula, the Ginetta series, and the Clio Cup.

 

Saturday was best described as a changeable day at the Leicestershire circuit with the day varying between overcast but dry through rain and even hailstones before a sunny end of the day.  The changing conditions led to changing track conditions, which in turn led to an interesting series of sessions, with the test and qualifying periods all seeing no shortage of yellow and red flags.  The interrupted qualifying session saw newcomer Ashley Sutton lead the times and claim pole for Sunday’s first race, followed by Josh Cook and Mat Jackson.

BTCC Donington Weekend: 16th April 2016

BTCC Donington Weekend: 16th April 2016

 

Sunday was a different day at the circuit, with glorious sunshine first thing and not a cloud in the sky.  Although a few clouds did arrive during the course of the day, it was dry throughout.  The morning race was dramatic, with plenty of competition on the track.  With one lap to go, there was a heavy coming together for Matt Simpson and Daniel Welch, then the Subaru of James Cole catching fire on the circuit near the end of the pit lane.  The race was red flagged, with Mat Jackson taking the win from Josh Cook, and Tom Ingram making up the podium.

 

The second BTCC race of the day was again action packed, although thankfully without any cars catching fire this time.  There was a notable gap on the grid as the car of James Cole had understandably not been repaired in time to race.

BTCC Weekend at Donington Park, April 2016

 

Rob Collard was the winner, followed by Mat Jackson and Aron Smith.

BTCC Weekend at Donington Park, April 2016

 

The final race of the weekend saw Sam Tordoff lead from pole, although he was being chased by the Halfords Yuasa Hondas of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden, who eventually caught and passed him, giving them the top two steps of the podium.  With Matt Neal on the top step, there have been six different winners from the first six races of the season.  Looks like 2016 will be an interesting year for British Touring Cars.

BTCC Weekend at Donington Park, April 2016

Here are a few photos from the weekend.