Schumacher BTCC Rd1 – Report

Round 1 of the 2017 Schumacher BTCC was held at the slightly revised Aldershot racing circuit. The fast chicane as you come on to the main straight has been slightly changed, meaning all drivers would have to start from scratch to find the fast and consistent lines. There were drivers in attendance on Saturday for some practice and to get their cars set up to their liking and to master the chicane. On to Sunday and race day, the weather was dry but it was quite windy which seemed to affect the cars as they went round the fast circuit. Due to slightly lower entry numbers for this round, it was decided the qualifying format was round by round and two from four to count towards the final qualifying position.

As for the results, in Touring Modified it was Dave Pitcher on pole, from Alex Gardiner and Ashley Sully-Hicks and after the finals the results would be the same with Dave coming in 1st from Alex and Ashley.

The 13.5 boosted class would see Tim Hancock on pole from Jay Westwood and Damian Giddins and again the final top 3 would be a copy of the qualifying result with Tim, Jay and Damian coming in 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively.

In the 13.5 blinky class Matt Quinlisk would line up on pole ahead of Jamie Vassallo and Jason Butterfield. The finals brought a bit of a mix-up with Matt still in front but Ben Cane coming in 2nd and Jamie Vassallo dropping one place to 3rd.

Finally and in the 17.5 blinky class, drawing the largest number of entries, Glenn Westwood would dominate qualifying all day and take TQ in all 4 rounds ahead of Richard Brown and Joe Jenyavanija. After the finals Glenn was still on top with Joe Jenyavanija coming in 2nd and David Clift 3rd.

The next round will be at Bedworth on Sunday 28th May. Entries still available on what will be the last event at the current club.

Source: Schumacher [racing-cars.com]