For the fifth round of the season, the BTCC reaches the halfway point with a visit to Croft for a late June meeting.
First appearing on the BTCC (then BSCC) calendar in 1968, Croft’s history saw a period of time when there was no tarmac surface, and Rallycross was the main category raced at the venue. 1997 saw a major revamp though, and BTCC returned that year with Alain Menu dominating proceedings. Matt Neal also took an Independent win that day in a period when such occasions were rare.
There is a widely held view that the circuit favours RWD cars. This in part due to the Hairpin and tight changes of direction. The first time that constructor NGTC cars raced there though, Honda took a 1st and 3rd, sandwiching the BMW of Collard. The other two races that day also went to FWD machinery.
2013 saw Turkington take two wins and a second, seeming to underline the view that the circuit favours RWD. A feat he almost matched in 2014. 2015 saw a BMW 1-2-3 in the first race, and RWD cars take all three wins. RWD success continued through the rest of the NGTC era, with FWD cars only seemingly getting results in the 3rd race reverse grid. This was the case when the series visited in 2019, with Jordan taking two wins in his BMW, before the Focus of Chilton managed a R3 win.
In 2020 FWD ruled the roost. Josh Cook took the first two wins in his BTC Honda that day, with Ingram taking the third race in the FWD Toyota. Turkington got the only RWD podium with a race one 3rd.
2021 was a mixed bag of results. Aiden Moffat got a RWD win in race one, and Turkington took race three. Five of the nine podiums went to FWD cars though.
Going into the meeting, Sutton and Lloyd’s points scoring streaks ending now means that Josh Cook is the only driver to have scored in each round this season. When you go back into 2021, he now has scored in 18 consecutive races.
At just over 2.1 miles in length, Croft is one of the longer circuits on the BTCC calendar, with a technical nature and tight corners, particularly the final hairpin that sees cars sometimes 3 or 4 abreast coming onto the start/finish straight. Following the recent resurfacing, Jordan set a new Qualifying lap record in 2019 of 1m21.734s, with Turkington setting a race lap record of 1m21.781s in 2020. The layout seems particularly suited to hybrid gains, and when you also consider that BMWs are in 4th, 5th and 8th – the conditions seem set for early RWD results over the weekend.
The early weather forecast suggests a wet qualifying with rain through the majority of the day, and then Sunday looks clearer.
Final TV broadcast details are still to be confirmed. The current timetable is:
| Time | Activity | Championship | Laps |
| Saturday 25 June | | | |
| 09.30 – 10.10 | Free Practice | Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship | |
| 10.25 – 10.45 | Qualifying | ROKiT F4 British Championship | |
| 10.55 – 11.25 | Qualifying | The Quaife MINI CHALLENGE Trophy | |
| 11.35 – 11.55 | Qualifying | Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT5 Challenge | |
| 12.05 – 12.45 | Free Practice | Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship | |
| 12.45 – 13.45 | Lunch Break | | |
| 13.45 | Race | ROKiT F4 British Championship | 20 mins |
| 14.20 – 14.35 | Free Practice | Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship | |
| 14.45 | Race | The Quaife MINI CHALLENGE Trophy | 20 mins |
| 15.20 – 15.50 | Qualifying | Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship | |
| 16.00 – 16.30 | Qualifying | Porsche Visit Cayman Islands Sprint Challenge Great Britain | |
| 16.40 | Race | Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT5 Challenge | 20 mins |
| 17.15 | Race | ROKiT F4 British Championship | 20 mins |
| 17.50 – 18.05 | Qualifying | Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship | |
| | | | |
| Sunday 26 June | | | |
| 10.30 – 11.05 | Pit Lane Walkabout / Autograph Session | | |
| 11.50 | BTCC Pit Lane Opens | | |
| 12.05 | Race | Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship | 15 |
| 12.45 | Race | Porsche Visit Cayman Islands Sprint Challenge Great Britain | 15 |
| 13.20 | Race | Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship | 20 mins |
| 13.50 | Race | ROKiT F4 British Championship | 20 mins |
| 14.20 | BTCC Pit Lane Opens | | |
| 14.35 | Race | Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship | 15 |
| 15.15 | Race | The Quaife MINI CHALLENGE Trophy | 20 mins |
| 15.45 | Race | Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT5 Challenge | 20 mins |
| 16.15 | Race | Porsche Visit Cayman Islands Sprint Challenge Great Britain | 15 |
| 16.50 | BTCC Pit Lane Opens | | |
| 17.05 | Race | Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship | 15 |
| 17.40 | Race | Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship | 20 mins |