|
East Midlands track next stop for UK's top race championship |
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, 01 April 2008 |
|
Two weeks and counting: there is now less than a
fortnight to go before Britain’s premier motor racing championship – the HiQ MSA
British Touring Car Championship – arrives in the East Midlands for its latest
three rounds at the Rockingham circuit on Sunday 13 April.
A huge
raceday crowd is anticipated at the Northants circuit which is also within easy
reach for fans from the neighbouring counties of Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire,
Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Leicestershire. Twelve months ago, more then
33,000 people filed through the gates to see the BTCC in action at the unique
all-seater track.
Rockingham marks the second fixture of the BTCC’s 2008
calendar – the championship’s 50th anniversary year – which got under
way last Sunday’s (30 March) at Brands Hatch, Kent in front of a packed
trackside audience and live ITV4 television cameras. And the ITV4 cameras will
be rolling once more at Rockingham adding to the event’s standing as one of the
region’s most high-profile sporting attractions of the
year.
There will likely be plenty of support for the
Northamptonshire-based SEAT Sport UK squad and its unique diesel-powered Leons
raced by star drivers Jason Plato and Darren Turner.
Plato and
Turner will arrive at Rockingham lying third and seventh in the standings behind
reigning champion Fabrizio Giovanardi (Vauxhall Vectra VXR) and the BMW Dealer
Team UK squad’s rising star Mat Jackson (BMW 320si). In total, some 27 drivers
will be on the three BTCC grids representing popular manufacturers such as Alfa
Romeo, BMW, Chevrolet, Honda, Lexus, SEAT and
Vauxhall.
Rockingham is also expected to witness the BTCC
debut of new squad team48 Motorsport, run by former England footballers Luther
Blissett, John Barnes and Les Ferdinand. The team’s message is clear – to
promote multi-racial participation in motor sport and its name relates to 1948
when the ship SS Empire Windrush carried the first significant group of
Caribbean migrants to the UK. Indeed, drivers Darelle Wilson and Matthew Gore’s
Alfa Romeos will carry the numbers 19 and 48
respectively.
In addition to three BTCC rounds that headline
the bill of action at Rockingham, there are a further seven races for the crowds
to savour on the day from a variety of supporting categories. Adult race day
tickets can still be booked in advance for just £21.00. Admission for children
aged 15 and under is FREE, making the event tremendously popular with
families.
Bookings can be made by calling the
Rockingham ticket hotline 0871 231 0846 or from the circuit’s website http://www.rockingham.co.uk/ .
|
