The British Touring Car Championship headed north of the border to Knockhill for the seventh round of the 2016 season.
Jason Plato, Matt Neal, and Mat Jackson took wins in three thrilling races, whilst Sam Tordoff left the Scottish track top of the championship.
Race One
Best Start
Unlike last race weekend, there was little change in the order between the starting grid and the order after lap one. The highest climbers were Mat Jackson and Rob Collard, who both made up three places each in the opening lap, whilst Dave Newsham, Jake Hill, and Warren Scott each made up two places.
Highest Rookie
There were few surprised faces at the rookie winner of the first race of the weekend. Once again, Ash Sutton took that title, with an eleventh place finish. The next rookie was Michael Epps, who finished 19th and over five seconds after Sutton.
Best Climber
Overall, there was little change throughout the race at the front of the field, with the biggest moves those who started and finished towards the back of the field. Ollie Jackson made up eight places throughout the race, starting at the back of the grid and ending twenty third, whilst Dan Welch made up five places to finish 26th and Hunter Abbott, Stewart Lines, and Mark Howard each made up four places.
Most improved on last round
Ashley Sutton and Martin Depper were the joint “most improved” on their performances in the first race at Snetterton. Depper didn’t finish the Snetterton race, putting him twenty eighth in the classification, and finish fourteen places higher with a fourteenth place in the first race at Knockhill. Sutton also finished fourteen places higher than his twenty fifth place at Snetterton. The next most improved was Aiden Moffat who finished ten places higher at Knockhill than Snetterton.
Race Two
Best Start
With the safety car coming out on the first lap, few people made up more than a single position. As usual, the biggest movers were at the back of the pack, with Jeff Smith making up four places on the opening lap. Hunter Abbott, Aron Smith, and Matt Simpson all made up three places, whilst Rob Collard was the highest positioned driver to make up more than one place on the opening lap.
Highest Rookie
Only two rookies managed to finish the second race of the weekend and, out of those two, Matt Simpson was the highest placed. The Speedworks Motorsport driver finished nineteenth, four places higher than the other finishing rookie, Mark Howard
Best Climber
Jeff Smith also takes the award for the best climber in race two. After starting twenty eighth, he made up thirteen places throughout the race. The next highest climbers were Matt Simpson and Rob Collard, who both made up twelve places over the twenty seven laps
Most improved on last round
With so many people dropping out of the second race at Snetterton on the very first lap, it’s unsurprising that the driver who improved the most compared to their Snetterton performance didn’t actually finish the second Snetterton race. Or even a single lap of that race. Jack Goff finished the Snetterton race on lap one, and was the fifth driver to drop out, putting him twenty seventh in the order. He finished the second Knockhill race seventh though, improving by seven twenty places.
The second best improver also didn’t finish the Snetterton race – Abbot finished seven places higher. The best improvers who did finish the Snetterton race were Andy Jordan and Sam Tordoff, who both finished six places higher than they finished in Snetterton.
Race three
Best Start
Again, there was little movement at the front of the field, with nobody moving up more than one place in the top ten. The highest mover on the opening lap came from the back of the field. Tom Ingram started the race in twenty fifth, but had moved to nineteenth by the end of the first lap. The next highest mover was Martin Depper, who made up five places from the back of the grid.
Highest Rookie
Matt Simpson was again the highest finishing rookie. The Speedworks driver finished seventeenth overall, three places higher than next best rookie Michael Epps. His time of 25:40.640 was just over nine seconds quicker than Epps’ time.
Best Climber
Martin Depper made up the most places throughout the twenty seven lap race. After starting at the very back of the grid, he made up fourteen places to finish sixteenth. Tom Ingram was the next biggest mover, managing to make up thirteen places throughout the race.
Most improved on last round
Going through the position changes, I thought it unlikely that anybody was going to beat race three’s winner in the most improved category. Mat Jackson was one of the eight drivers that didn’t finish the final race at Snetterton, and his win at Knockhill meant he finished twenty two places higher this round than last.
But Sam Tordoff had to trump that. Tordoff was the first driver to fail to finish the Snetterton race and his P2 in race three at Knockhill meant he finished twenty seven places higher!
Of the drivers who actually maned to finish in Snetterton, only four improved on their round eighteen positions. James Cole was the most improved, finishing six places higher, followed by Matt Neal, Jack Goff, and Jason Plato.
Feature Image Credit: Caroline Rhea
