The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship meeting at Silverstone this weekend is set to the busiest of the season so far, as an unprecedented six championships will compete on its support bill.
Alongside hosting the penultimate weekend of the BTCC’s resident support series, the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup, Ginetta Junior Championship, AirAsia Renault Clio Cup UK and Porsche Carrera Cup GB, the Home of British Motorsport will also play host to the final rounds of two guest championships, the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge and Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship.
As the season comes to a close, here’s a round-up of how the championship battles are shaping up across the series heading into Silverstone:
Ginetta Junior Championship
Just like its bigger brother, the other Ginetta championship on the package also has a fierce three-way championship battle. Charlie Robertson has seized the advantage in recent meetings, with two wins at Knockhill and two seconds at Rockingham, however a controversial clash with Sennan Fielding at Rockingham has fired the latter up to chase him down
Fielding and Irishman Niall Murray both lie within thirty points of Robertson and due to the unpredictable, close-fought nature of the Junior series, the destination from the championship is far from clear.
Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup
After a tricky weekend last time out at Rockingham, season-long championship leader Tom Sharp has seen his points lead slashed to just 15 points heading to Silverstone. Carl Breeze is his closest rival after a stunning fourteen podiums in the last sixteen races, while a double win at Rockingham means Tom Ingram has firmly made it a three way title scrap, with just sixty points separating the three.
In the G50 class meanwhile, runaway leader Mark Davies could wrap up the title at Silverstone, with a pair of wins enough to secure him the crown.
Paul Rivett Is The In-Form Man In The Clios
AirAsia Renault Clio Cup UK
The Clio championship battle looks like it’s going to go down to the wire after former double champion Paul Rivett closed the gap to points leader Jack Goff to just fifteen points with a pair of wins at Rockingham
Rivett heads into the final four races of the year as the man in form, having won the last four races in a row, but Goff remains favourite for the title after an incredibly consistent season, having finished every race so far in the top five.
Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship
The final rounds will see reigning Formula Ford champion Scott Malvern and category veteran Josh Webster battle it out for the championship. Malvern holds a fourteen point lead (incl. dropped scores) after a triple podium last time out at Donington Park.
A pair of second places will be enough to secure Malvern the title no matter what, but with a competitive 32-car field taking to the grid at Silverstone and a fired up Webster chasing him down, it definitely isn’t going to be that easy.
James Birch Heads To Silverstone As The Porsche GT3 Cup Championship Leader
Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge
James Birch holds a 22-point championship lead heading into the final rounds after a stunning season, having taken nine podiums, including five wins, in the ten races to date. A pair of podiums will be enough to claim the title, but he will have competition from Steven Liquorish, the only other driver still in with a shot of the crown.
Justin Sherwood heads to Silverstone as the man on form, having taken three wins from the last four races, but with a 76 point deficit to Birch, he is unable to secure the crown, but can certainly get in the thick of the championship scrap during the races.
Porsche Carrera Cup GB
Michael Meadows heads to Silverstone with a chance of wrapping up the 2012 title after his stunning run of thirteen podiums in the sixteen races so far. A pair of second place’s, or a win and a third, will be enough to secure Meadows the title, no matter what closest rival Ben Barker does, though the latter will be one to watch out for having won the last four races in a row.
On the other classes, Ahmad Al Harthy and Will Goff look likely to wrap up the Pro-Am 1 and Pro-Am 2 titles respectively at the penultimate meeting.
With an incredible twelve races to enjoy from the support package across the weekend and fierce title battles to be played out in each, fans are sure for an enjoyable weekend at Silverstone. For those that won’t be watching it trackside, The Checkered Flag will be providing extensive coverage of all the series across the weekend.
Photo Credits: Jakob Ebrey Photography and Porsche
