The third meeting of the 2022 KwikFit BTCC season sees the first of two visits to Thruxton. Restrictions at the circuit mean that there limited days of motorsport each year are permitted, and BTCC has again taken two of them this year.
A quick glance of the site and it is easily identified that this track began life as an airfield, with the circuit following what was essentially the airfield perimeter track. The site is also the location of the BARC HQ.
(thruxtonracing.co.uk)
Like many race circuits Thruxton was originally a wartime airfield. Commissioned in 1941 the airfield was host to both the RAF and USAF and played a major part in the D-Day landings as a base for troop carrying aircraft and gliders. Declared surplus to requirements in 1946, motorsport started in 1950 with motor bikes on a track comprising both the runways and perimeter roads.
Cars joined the bikes in 1952 for only one year as the deteriorating wartime tarmac was breaking up badly. Amazingly, bikes continued racing until 1965, but by then plans were under way to redevelop the site and motor racing returned on a new track in 1968. The new layout ignored the old runways and followed the lines of the perimeter road with the inclusion of the chicane and further round the track three tight corners in succession: Campbell, Cobb and Segrave, commonly referred to as the Complex.
Even with these tight corners Thruxton is the fastest race circuit in the UK, with Formula Renaults averaging well over 100mph in race conditions. Thruxton soon gained a reputation as a real drivers circuit with its seemingly never ending high speed corners around the back of the track where success required total commitment.
Thruxton's fame grew from the Easter Monday Formula 2 meetings where Formula 1 drivers of the day battled with up and coming talent. Household names like Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart and Jochen Rindt all thrilled the crowds in the early races. Since then Thruxton has seen all our recent Formula 1 drivers race regularly at the track at some time in their career.
In 1993 Damon Hill, Formula 1 World Champion, drove a demonstration run in the Williams FW15C, recording an incredible 57.6 second lap of the 2.4 mile circuit, an average speed of 147.25mph.
It is now the high speed rounds of the British Touring car championship and Superbikes that regularly bring in capacity crowds. If you follow these series you may have seen Thruxton on the television or even lapped the circuit on the Playstation Touring Car game, but as always there is nothing like doing it for real.
Thruxton first appeared as a BTCC [BSCC] circuit for the 1968 season, winners that day were Chris Craft (Class A), Graham Janzen (Class B), Frank Gardner (Class C) and Brian Muir (Class D). Since the cars began to run under NGTC regulations, the track has seen a good return for FWD cars, particularly Hondas. From the 2011 season onwards, there have now been 39 winners; of these only 7 wins have been taken by RWD cars, and of these four were in race-3 reverse grids. At the same time, 19 wins have been taken by Hondas, with Cook both picking up seven of those wins followed by Shedden with six. Overall, including pre-NGTC regs, Shedden has seven wins when you include his 2006 win in an Integra.
Coverage is once again provided by ITV. Qualifying is scheduled to be on the ITV Hub at
www.itv.com/btcc with the coverage starting at 15:15, with the Sunday coverage start time to on ITV4 being 11:00, the first BTCC race is at 11:40. The full timetable is:
| Time | Activity | Championship | Laps |
| Saturday 28th May | | | |
| 09.00 – 09.30 | Qualifying | The Quaife MINI CHALLENGE Trophy | |
| 09.40 – 09.50 | Free Practic | e Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship | |
| 09.55 – 10.35 | Free Practice | Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship | |
| 10.45 – 11.05 | Qualifying | Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT5 Challenge | |
| 11.15 – 11.35 | Qualifying | ROKiT F4 British Championship | |
| 11.45 – 12.15 | Qualifying | Porsche Visit Cayman Islands Sprint Challenge Great Britain | |
| 12.25 – 13.05 | Free Practice | Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship | |
| 13.05 – 13.45 | Lunch Break | | |
| 13.45 – 14.00 | Free Practice | Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship | |
| 14.10 | Race | The Quaife MINI CHALLENGE Trophy | 20 mins |
| 14.45 | Race | Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT5 Challenge | 20 mins |
| 15.20 – 15.50 | Qualifying | Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship | |
| 16.05 | Race | ROKiT F4 British Championship | 20 mins |
| 16.40 – 16.55 | Qualifying | Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship | |
| 17.05 | Race | Porsche Visit Cayman Islands Sprint Challenge Great Britain | 16 |
| 17.45 | Race | The Quaife MINI CHALLENGE Trophy | 20 mins |
| Sunday 29th May | | | |
| 10.00 – 10.30 | BTCC Pit Lane Walkabout / Autograph Session | | |
| 10.50 | Race | Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship | 20 mins |
| 11.25 | BTCC Pit Lane Opens | | |
| 11.40 | Race | Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship | 16 |
| 12.20 | Race | ROKiT F4 British Championship | 20 mins |
| 12.55 | Race | The Quaife MINI CHALLENGE Trophy | 20 mins |
| 13.25 – 13.45 | Marshals’ / Lunch break | | |
| 13.45 | Race | Porsche Visit Cayman Islands Sprint Challenge Great Britain | 16 |
| 14.25 | BTCC Pit Lane Opens | | |
| 14.40 | Race | Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship | 16 |
| 15.20 | Race | Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT5 Challenge | 20 mins |
| 15.55 | Race | Michelin Ginetta Junior Championship | 20 mins |
| 16.30 | Race | ROKiT F4 British Championship | 20 mins |
| 17.05 | BTCC Pit Lane Opens | | |
| 17.20 | Race | Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship | 16 |
Early weather forecast shows that Saturday is forecast to be 17deg with a 25% chance of rain.
Sunday 16deg and 65% chance of rain in the afternoon.
