The BTCC Rockingham Event 2017 took place over the bank holiday weekend, and anyone who was at the 2016 event was no doubt hoping for better weather on Saturday than we had seen last year. Thankfully the weather was much better, with a nice day on Saturday and wonderfully blue skies on Sunday. The support events this time included British F4, the Renault Clio Cup, the Ginetta GT4 Supercup and the Ginetta Juniors.
After dominant performance from the Subarus over the last few rounds, it was Tom Ingram who set the pace in the two Free Practice sessions, but qualifying saw the return of the Subaru performance although rather than Ash Sutton or Jason Plato, it was James Cole who topped the times ahead of Jack Goff and Tom Ingram, with the Subaru of Sutton in fourth.
Cole was able to convert the pole position to a win, and with Sutton passing Goff, it was a Subaru 1-2, with Jack Goff holding on for the third spot on the podium. This set the grid for race two, but the ballast carried by Cole saw him drop down the order, with Sutton taking the lead, and the win. Mat Jackson took second, with Colin Turkington in third.
Andrew Jordan took pole in the draw for the third race, ahead of Adam Morgan an Jack Goff. Whilst Jordan and Morgan held on to take those places on the podium, Jason Plato managed to claim third and ensure more points for Team BMR’s Subarus.
The results move Sutton to the top of the table, ahead of Colin Turkington, and with a bad weekend for Gordon Shedden in third, the championship seems to becoming a two horse race. With two more weekends and three rounds each, though, there could yet be surprises to come.
The BTCC moves on to Silverstone in three weeks before the climax back at Brands Hatch where the season started. Meanwhile, here are some photos from Rockingham.
