Motorsport

Ricky Collard said he was caught by surprise as he secured a front-row start for the first BTCC race of the weekend at Silverstone for Team BMW.

Title chaser Tom Ingram vows “maximum attack” in the final two BTCC meetings of 2018, held at traditionally Toyota-friendly circuits.

Tom Ingram said an outpouring of support ‘motivated’ him to fight back and claim the BTCC points lead at Snetterton.

Matt Simpson said that he now has ‘belief’ in himself after claiming his first BTCC pole position at Oulton Park.

Colin Turkington said he feels ‘more confidence’ in the BMW despite car problems costing him in the BTCC opener at Brands Hatch.

WSR boss Dick Bennetts highlighted how strong BMW’s reliabilty was in 2017, key to development for its latest BTCC season.

Team BMW boss Dick Bennetts praised the work done by Ricky Collard after a recent BTCC test in the team’s 125i.

Rob Austin was delighted to end the 2017 BTCC season with a victory at Brands Hatch, saying that the team ‘deserved more’ over the course of the year.

Colin Turkington said that he was ‘gutted’ to miss out on a third BTCC title, while WSR clinched the Manufacturers’ crown.

Rob Huff will return to the BTCC this weekend at Silverstone, replacing Tom Chilton at PMR who will be absent on medical grounds.

Ashley Sutton said it has been ‘a breath of fresh air’ having team-mate Jason Plato back on form after the pair shared victories in the opening two BTCC races from Knockhill.

Rob Collard said that red flag interruptions during qualifying helped him recover a problematic session, as he claimed fourth on the gird for the opening BTCC race at Knockhill.

Colin Turkington grabbed bragging rights for Team BMW by topping a closely-fought second BTCC free practice session at Knockhill.

Ashley Sutton said that the ‘rhythm’ he has found in the Team BMR Subaru Levorg GT has been key to his own success after clinching two more BTCC victories at Snetterton.

Gordon Shedden takes an 11-point lead into the BTCC summer break, releived to emerge from a ‘hard-fought’ visit to Croft with a solid points haul.