2024 BTCC Knockhill | 6 talking points

Turkington continues Saturday pace...

A disappointing season in terms of points means that four-time champion Colin Turkington has been heading into the weekends with more hybrid power available when compared to his rivals, and it’s shown in his pace when it comes to qualifying. The Northern Irishman had put his BMW 330e M Sport on pole twice already going into Knockhill, and topped the time sheets in all three sessions at Knockhill to take his second consecutive pole start, and the 30^th of his career.

For the title protagonists, it was a less positive story. The only driver in the top five in points (and therefore above Turkington) to make it into the Quick Six was Josh Cook, who would place his Toyota Corolla into fifth place. Championship leader Tom Ingram failed to make it out of Q1, qualifying down in 15^th place, while rivals Jake Hill, Ash Sutton and Dan Cammish were stuck in Q2, lining up for race one in seventh, 12^th and eighth respectively.

...and converts again

It was déjà vu all over again at the front of the field for race one, as Colin Turkington produced a near carbon copy of how his Croft Sunday started. Leaping off the front spot towards the first corner, Turkington was never challenged throughout the 24-lap encounter. Such was Turkington’s dominance; he came home over eight seconds clear of the chasing pack.

Said pack was headed by the Toyota of Josh Cook, who worked his way up the field with precision, capped off by an outstanding manoeuvre around the outside of Adam Morgan’s BMW from the exit of the hairpin and completing the move before turning into Duffus Dip. Morgan held on to third, completing a BMW 1-3, while Aron Taylor-Smith had to settle for fourth, having held second for 18 laps.

Taylor-Smith would drop from second to fourth in one move at the chicane, as Cook and Morgan worked their way past the Vauxhall. Jake Hill completed the top five, banking valuable points, finishing one place ahead of rival Ash Sutton. Both drivers would have hoped for a few more points as championship leader Tom Ingram retired following contact with the Toyota of local hero Aiden Moffat.

Hill and Rowbottom switch the softs on

Tyre strategy once again played a part in the classifications at Knockhill, although not quite to the same dramatic effect it had at Croft. Opting to run the harder medium tyres in race one, Jake Hill was free to bolt on soft tyres in race two, as was the NAPA-backed Ford Focus of Daniel Rowbottom, whilst the remainder of the top ten were forced to run with the slower medium tyres.

The pace difference was plain to see, as Hill carved his way to the top of the field – although encountered little challenge from his BMW stable-mates Adam Morgan or Colin Turkington. Rowbottom followed just a short while further down the road, but his progress looked like it may have been hampered by a five second time penalty for a jump start. However, such was the pace of the softer rubber that Rowbottom had pulled a five second gap out on Turkington in third, negating the penalty and meaning he would retain second position on the road.

Turkington would be the “best of the rest” on the medium rubber, coming home three seconds clear of Josh Cook in fourth. Ash Sutton rounded out the top five, improving one position on his race one result, while the drive of the race had to go to Tom Ingram, who recovered to tenth after starting 20^th having failed to finish earlier in the morning.

Huff keeps Ingram at bay

Starting from pole as a result of the reverse grid draw, Rob Huff was determined to double his win tally in the final race of the day. With Tom Ingram starting in third, and desperate to make amends for his difficult morning, it was never going to be easy for the former World Champion. Huff showed his class throughout the race, having to defend heavily for two extended periods following a mid-race safety car for a stricken barrier.

There would be no getting past the Toyota, and soon Ingram found himself having to defend from his own team-mate Tom Chilton, who clearly didn’t get the memo about Ingram attempting to claim as many points back as possible. Meanwhile, Ash Sutton continued to rack up points on his steady, but not headline grabbing Sunday, finishing in fourth after a thrilling six car fight throughout the race.

It would be this battle that would eventually end Josh Cook’s race early, with the Toyota driver ending up clattering into the foam barrier at the chicane after a rollercoaster ride across the infield thanks to contact from a number of rivals. A tap from Sutton at the hairpin got Cook loose, before Adam Morgan sent him across the infield at Duffus Dip. Eventually returning to the circuit in front of Jake Hill’s BMW, there was nowhere Hill could go and Cook speared off and out of the race. Cook would not hide his frustration with the four-time champion, and explicitly pointed out that if Sutton was needing help at the end of the season, he’d have to look elsewhere…

Ingram’s damage limitation charge

Entering the Scottish weekend with a 21-point margin over the rest of the field, Ingram would have been hoping for a safe but steady weekend’s worth of points to consolidate that lead. What he wouldn’t have wanted, however, was watching the last few laps of race one from the pitlane after retiring as a result of contact with Adam Morgan.

A charge from the back in race two saw Ingram clamber back up into the top ten, setting himself up to be able to profit from a potential reverse grid draw. Luck was in Ingram’s favour, as the biggest possible shuffling of the grid was drawn, seeing the top 12 reversed. While it wasn’t pole position, Ingram would start from 3rd, in prime position to challenge for the win. We’ve previously discussed the duel with Rob Huff, but it’s worth mentioning again as it was everything the BTCC should be. Good clean racing with no-one punting each other out of the way – something those a little further down the road could do with watching.

Ingram retains points lead as title race hots up

The damage limitation from Tom Ingram was just enough, as the Hyundai driver would leave Knockhill still at the top of the points standings. His lead, however, has been cut from 21 down to just three over the Laser Tools Racing BMW of Jake Hill. Ash Sutton remains in third, and despite three solid results, has only closed nine points on the leader, sitting 20 points back from the summit. Dan Cammish remains in fourth, but has lost a point on the leader, now 42 points away, while Colin Turkington profited from Cook’s misfortune in race three to move up into fifth. The race one winner now sits 54 points off Ingram’s tally, with Cook a further two points back in sixth.

NAPA Racing UK and Ford continue to have a stranglehold on the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ standings respectively, despite still only claiming the one victory in 2024 so far in the Thruxton reverse grid race back in June. BMW have more than halved the deficit in the Manufacturers’ standings, now just 17 points behind the Blue Oval, while NAPA Racing UK has extended its lead to 72 over the Team Bristol Street Motors Hyundai i30s.

With a strong fourth place in race one, it’s unsurprising to see that Aron Taylor-Smith has extended his lead in the Independents’ Drivers’ championship to 46 points over his team-mate, and the team continues to cruise to the top of the Teams’ standings, now 66 points clear of Restart Racing. Ironically, Mikey Doble leaves Knockhill with exactly the same margin over Ronan Pearson as he did entering the weekend, with the pair scoring 33 points each towards their totals, leaving the gap still at 69 points with 180 still on the table.

The championship now prepares to return to Donington Park for the second time of the year, taking in the Melbourne Loop of the Grand Prix circuit once again. Last year’s trip saw wins for Sutton’s Ford, Ingram’s Hyundai and Rory Butcher’s Toyota, showing that it really could be anyone’s game in two weeks’ time…