The second half of the 2021 KwikFit BTCC season begins at the same venue as the first half, and again when the lights go out at Thruxton the grid will look a bit different to when we last saw the cars racing there with Paul Rivett scheduled to complete his second round standing in for Andy Neate.
Thruxton is the second of two visits on the calendar for 2021. Restrictions at the circuit mean that only 12 days of motorsport each year are permitted, and BTCC has taken two of them this year.
A quick glance of the site and it is easily identified that this track began life as an airfield, with the circuit following what was essentially the airfield perimeter track. The site is also the location of the BARC HQ.
(thruxtonracing.co.uk)
Like many race circuits Thruxton was originally a wartime airfield. Commissioned in 1941 the airfield was host to both the RAF and USAF and played a major part in the D-Day landings as a base for troop carrying aircraft and gliders. Declared surplus to requirements in 1946, motorsport started in 1950 with motor bikes on a track comprising both the runways and perimeter roads.
Cars joined the bikes in 1952 for only one year as the deteriorating wartime tarmac was breaking up badly. Amazingly, bikes continued racing until 1965, but by then plans were under way to redevelop the site and motor racing returned on a new track in 1968. The new layout ignored the old runways and followed the lines of the perimeter road with the inclusion of the chicane and further round the track three tight corners in succession: Campbell, Cobb and Segrave, commonly referred to as the Complex.
Even with these tight corners Thruxton is the fastest race circuit in the UK, with Formula Renaults averaging well over 100mph in race conditions. Thruxton soon gained a reputation as a real drivers circuit with its seemingly never ending high speed corners around the back of the track where success required total commitment.
Thruxton's fame grew from the Easter Monday Formula 2 meetings where Formula 1 drivers of the day battled with up and coming talent. Household names like Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart and Jochen Rindt all thrilled the crowds in the early races. Since then Thruxton has seen all our recent Formula 1 drivers race regularly at the track at some time in their career.
In 1993 Damon Hill, Formula 1 World Champion, drove a demonstration run in the Williams FW15C, recording an incredible 57.6 second lap of the 2.4 mile circuit, an average speed of 147.25mph.
It is now the high speed rounds of the British Touring car championship and Superbikes that regularly bring in capacity crowds. If you follow these series you may have seen Thruxton on the television or even lapped the circuit on the Playstation Touring Car game, but as always there is nothing like doing it for real.
Thruxton first appeared as a BTCC [BSCC] circuit for the 1968 season, winners that day were Chris Craft (Class A), Graham Janzen (Class B), Frank Gardner (Class C) and Brian Muir (Class D). Since the cars began to run under NGTC regulations, the track has seen a good return for FWD cars, particularly Hondas. From the 2011 season onward, there have now been 36 winners; of these only 6 wins have been taken by RWD cars, and of these three were in race-3 reverse grids. At the same time, 18 wins have been taken by Hondas, with Shedden and Cook both picking up six wins followed by Neal with five. In the first round, Cook took two wins and Hill took a trio of podiums – both drivers will be hoping to repeat their success on return to the venue.
Coverage is once again provided by ITV. Qualifying is scheduled to be on the ITV Hub at
www.itv.com/btcc with the session starting at 14:45, with the Sunday coverage start time to be confirmed on ITV4, the first BTCC race is at 11:40. The full timetable can be found at -
https://www.barc.net/wp-content/uplo...C-Thruxton.pdf
Early weather forecast shows that Saturday is forecast to be 14deg with a 45% chance of rain.
Sunday 15deg and 55% chance of rain, a passing shower or two.
