BTCC: My Weekend at Croft
Daniel Lloyd took a historic win for BTC Norlin
Two days of great racing and glorious weather arrived at Croft Circuit at the same time. My local round of the BTCC arrived and I was their to witness a historical moment in an unusual way.
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BTCC is always a great watch, often swept aside by Formula 1 or Super Sunday during the football season, it never fails to entertain.
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I hadn't been to my local round at Croft since 2008 but now I'm no longer 9 and can do more adult things like driving and going places by myself I though it tag along to see what was what.
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Saturday saw practice and qualifying for the main men, before the racing action on Sunday, as well as a smattering of support action across both days, which, as you'd know if you've read the about page, were of an interest to me with Jade Edwards (Clio Cup UK) and Emily Linscott (Ginetta Juniors) both taking to the track.
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My first time at a race event for 10 years was kicked off with some BTCC practice, and as a Jason Plato it wasn't too relaxed as I watched eagerly for him to come past but it didn't happen until the final couple of minutes. An electrical problem prevented running. On a side note, what a noise the Subaru's made, certainly enough to wake you up early on a Saturday morning!
Onto the support races of the day. They are very entertaining in their own right, each with a little quirk that help making them as entertaining as most F1 races you'll see.
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The Formula 4 championship and Ginetta Juniors races are often filled with chaos at different points. Young, rather naive drivers (although extremely talented) aren't afraid to attempt a Danny Ricciardo-esque dive bomb so close racing often becomes a small collision.
Not so young but still happy to try and make a few cheeky overtakes are the Clio Cup drivers. Clio Cup legend Paul Rivett and local lad Max Coates battled closely in both races. Fearless female driver Jade Edwards, fresh from a spectacular roll at Oulton Park, was involved in multiple midfield battles, including a car breaker on day two.
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Also, the opportunity to watch the amazing Nick Hamilton drive. While not the fastest in the field, the fact he is by no means outclassed is testament to the amazing driver he is.
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In terms of winners, it was a top weekend for Red Bull as junior driver Dennis Hauger was never off the podium, picking up a 1st, 3rd and a 1st in the three races. His team-mate for Arden (and fellow Red Bull Junior), Jack Doohan had car issues throughout the weekend, retiring in the first race, but bounced back with a 3rd and a 4th. Current championship leader Kiern Jewiss won the one Hauger didn't as well as picking up two 2nd places.
In Ginetta Juniors, Adam Smalley took two wins as he widened his championship lead, despite a disappointing 6th in race three. Finley Green took that race three win. After Abbi Pulling left the series pre-Oulton Par, Emily Linscott, the remaining female, has been the sole man-beater. She picked up some solid points with a 10th, 17th and 14th to match her points haul from Outon Park.
As I said before, in Clio Cup, Rivett and Coates couldn't be separated. Rivett took a 1st and a 2nd, while Northallerton's Coates took 2nd and possibly the most popular 1st of the weekend. This meant both could take advantage of Jamie Dorlin's horrid weekend. He finished 6th in race one before retiring in race two, losing his championship lead and dropping behind Coates and Rivett respectively to third.
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In the main event, the British Touring Car Championship, Subaru had a wild change of fortunes. A one-two for Ashley Sutton and Plato in qualifying were converted into two victories for Sutton. Plato held his second in race one but pitted and dropped to 14th in race two. Tom Ingram to his Toyota Avensis to a 3rd and 2nd respectively.
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However, in the story of the weekend, race three was a bit mad. My sister (who was not a racing fan) was with me, and was taken by the grey, mint green and pink Honda Civic's of BTC Norlin. With them now set as her favourite, we set of in the search for merch, which had to be ordered from their hospitality. Having been invited in to order we were invited to stay for the race.
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As it happened, the poleless and winless team (their best result a 2nd at Donnington this year as well as only one other podium in six seasons) had driver Daniel Lloyd (in only his second round for the team) drawn out to head the field in the reverse grid. Lloyd, expected by pundits to take a podium at most, only went and battered the field, taking victory by over 5 seconds to the Ford Focus of Tom Chilton and the Vauxhall Astra of Senna Proctor.
A great weekend for Lloyd with an 8th and 9th to add to his win saw him shoot up to 20th overall, becoming the top limited rounds driver. He took fastest lap, the winners trophy as well as the winning independent team driver's trophy and the Jack Sears' Trophy for winning rookie to give is trophy cabinet some weight straight out of the box and make it an incredibly special thing for me to be involved in as I watched alongside friends, family and staff of the team.
