Touring Cars come to Snetterton

By Phil Daley BBC Norfolk

Colin Turkington goes into the BTCC at Snetterton 25 points clear of his nearest opposition

The British Touring Car Championship spins into Snetterton Racing Circuit for the sixth round of the season on Saturday, 1 August, 2009.

Colin Turkington comes to the Norfolk track 25 points clear of Matt Neal who is second in the Championship.

"Snetterton is a great track, both myself and the BMW have quite a good history here," said Colin.

The top eight teams came to Norfolk on Tuesday, 7 July, 2009, for two days of testing.

RAC driver Colin Turkington has been in scintillating form ahead of round six at Snetterton.

The 27-year-old from County Down, Northern Ireland, has won four of the last seven races - catapulting him into pole position in the championship, some 25 points clear of second placed Matt Neal, but he's under no illusion that his rivals will give him an easy time.

"There is never more than a hair between any of us and I think I'll have to watch the Chevrolets at Snetterton, they'll suit the longer straights," said Colin.

The teams were allowed two days testing at the Norfolk track in an attempt to fully prepare for the next round of racing, but what exactly do they test for?

"We're trying to dial the car in for this circuit," said Colin.

"Each circuit that we go to needs something different from the car. We'll be making changes throughout the day and try a few things we wouldn't be able to do in a normal race weekend," he added.

Testing

On Tuesday, 7 July, 2009, reigning champion Fabrizio Giovanardi topped the times in an official tyre test for the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship at Snetterton in his Vauxhall.

Official test results - Snetterton

TESTING 1. Fabrizio Giovanardi (VX Racing Vauxhall Vectra), 1m13.138s 2. James Thompson (Team Dynamics Honda Civic), +0.018s 3. Andrew Jordan (VX Racing Vauxhall Vectra), +0.083s 4. Colin Turkington (Team RAC BMW 320si), +0.258s 5. Robert Collard (Airwaves BMW 320si), +0.274s

The Italian driver set the fastest lap of the day in the morning session, completing 24 laps.

Championship leader Colin Turkington secured the fourth fastest spot in his Team RAC BMW 320si, while his team mate Stephen Jelly slammed sideways into the barriers after he lost control under braking at around 130mph for the daunting Riches Corner.

Despite Colin Turkington's 25 point lead going into the races at Snetterton, he is well aware that things can change very quickly.

"The Vauxhall team, the Chevrolets and the Airwaves BMW's are the main competition," said Colin.

The sixth round of the British Touring Car Championship takes place at Snetterton Race Circuit on Saturday, 1 - Sunday, 2 August, 2009.

Snetterton

But what is so special about the Norfolk circuit?

The first race meeting at Snetterton was arranged in 1951 by the Aston Martin Owners Club. The track had been cobbled together from a network of runways, which formed the wartime base of the 96th US Air Force Bomber Group.

Now owned by MotorSport Vision, who took over the track in 2004, Snetterton has become renowned for its long straights and high-speed corners.

The 1.952 mile track (3.1232 km), takes drivers around eight corners and each complete lap will take the touring car drivers around one minute 20 seconds, depending on how many shunts they get along the way.

"It is very quick - especially the last section of the track, Corum is a very quick corner," said Colin.

"Slow speed corners are almost more important than high speed - especially turn two, it's such a tight corner and you really need to get a good exit there to get a good run down the straight," he added.

For more information go to the BTCC website and for more details on Snetterton Race Circuit, go to the MotorSport Vision website.