DRIVER ANALYSIS
Team Dynamics Honda
Neal looked all at sea on Saturday with uncharacteristic mistakes and a general lack of pace that lead to a less than desirable 17th on the grid. On Sunday, though, he was a new man and recovered his weekend exceptionally well for a last-gasp podium in race two, and another in race three.
Team BMR Subaru Levorg
A pretty average weekend for Sutton as he and the manufacturerbacked Subaru Levorg just didn’t seem to have the pace. He raced very hard in the pack and fought all the way all three events, but he could only manage a series of results between 11th and ninth. That is not what he would have expected before the event.
Power Maxedvauxhall
Collard didn’t have the pace of his team-mate on Saturday but went on to enjoy his best race day of the season on Sunday. He even looked set for a win in race thee after benefiting from the reverse grid draw but a tiny error at Church was all Cammish needed to snatch the lead. Hung on well in difficult conditions.
Team Dynamics Honda
Cammish was quick all weekend and put in a solid qualifying effort for a P3 grid spot. He did all he could in race one to earn second but nearly threw all his hard work away with a terrible start to race two. The reverse grid draw was kind to him and he skilfully won race three in very tricky conditions.
Speedworks Toyota
Ingram had high expectations after his win at Snetterton but an error in qualifying meant he didn’t line up where he felt he should have. He was unlucky to lose a side window in race one and was fighting the aerodynamic loss. In the other events, he raced hard but didn’t break through to the lead pack.
Amdtuning.com Honda
He did a great job with the 42kg of ballast he had on board to qualify in sixth position but, after a decent result in race one, it all went downhill for Butcher as he struggled for pace and lost ground in race two with understeer and his car didn’t even make the start for the final race of the day as its clutch failed.
WSR BMW 330i M Sport
Jordan looked scruffy in qualifying and, although he put in a good time, he will have been disappointed to be outpaced by his team-mate. On Sunday he was back on form – even if the BMWS weren’t in their normal position. Not the results he wanted, but will be happy to have beaten Turkington in all three races.
Motorbase Ford Focus
It was a very anonymous weekend from Chilton with the highlight being 12th in race two. In fairness, he did have to start race one from the pitlane after a turbo boost issue and was recovering well. However he was tripped up in race three. He will be hoping for more next time out.
Amdtuning.com Honda
Tordoff kicked off his weekend very impressively with a pole position on Saturday. Come Sunday, he duly converted it into his first race win of 2019 with an immaculate drive. However, after that it seemed to go wrong for him and he struggled to keep his overheating Amdtuning-run Honda inside the top 10.
WSR BMW 330i M Sport
The BMWS didn’t have the dominant pace they have enjoyed so far this year. Although Turkington did a good job in qualifying he could only manage 11th. He raced hard but ultimately will be disappointed to have his championship lead over Jordan reduced and the gap to the chasing pack cut significantly.
BTC Racing Honda
A solid qualifying was followed by a strong race day. He didn’t have an answer for the pace of the top three in race one, but race two was a yet another impressive drive as he took his third win of the year. A further strong points score in race three helped to substantially close the gap to the championship lead.
BTC Racing Honda
This was a tough for Smiley because, although he got a top 10 result in race one, that was the highlight. While he has proved that he is capable of running at the front in the past, this weekend his teammate displayed what the BTC Honda is capable of and Smiley couldn’t get close to his pace.
Power Maxedvauxhall
It’s difficult to score Plato this weekend because he had great pace and drove well. In race three, when the rain starting coming down, his experience shone. The potential his weekend held was obliterated before race one even began when he lined up incorrectly and earned himself a drivethrough penalty.
Ciceley Mercedes A-class
His best weekend of the season by such a long way it’s silly! Having tempted back former engineer Paul Ridgway, the Mercedes was transformed and Morgan used his new-found pace wisely to leave Thruxton with a substantially improved overall points tally and two podiums.
WSR BMW 330i M Sport
The unballasted BMW was well inside the top 10 in quallifying and capitalised on a good start to take fifth in race one. He was on course for a podium in race two before he was mugged on the last lap, but kept his head in the soggy final race to bring it home in a solid pointspaying position again with seventh.