BTCC Shoot‑Out: Tin‑top Stars Target Goodwood Glory

With the countdown to the 2016 Festival of Speed now in its final stages, the BTCC boys are gearing up to continue their season-long rivalries up the 1.16-mile Goodwood hillclimb.

Nine of the championship’s top names will go head-to-head in seven of the most recognisable cars on the grid, with each of them desperate to hold the bragging rights going in to the second half of the BTCC calendar.

Former champion Andrew Jordan, who won for the Motorbase Ford team at Thruxton earlier in the season, and is Goodwood Road & Racing’s official track tester, is relishing the challenge.

“For the first time in years the BTCC and FOS don't clash,” he says. “And that means we can come and join in the fun. Obviously it's a huge event and with the BTCC being the premier race series in the UK it's great to have a variety of cars running up the hill. We are all stupidly competitive so, yes, it's a fun weekend but we'll all want to win the Shoot-Out. I may even have a look for some supersoft tyres, not that I'm taking it seriously.”

West Surrey Racing’s Sam Tordoff currently leads the Drivers’ Championship by a solitary point, and while that would be incentive enough to take the victory, there is an added reason for him needing to get his BMW 125i M-Sport to the top of the time sheets.

“It’s BMW’s centenary year and simply put, I have to win,” he says. “Everyone who’s everyone from BMW’s illustrious history will be there so I have to do them proud. I also absolutely must beat Honda and Subaru. They’re our rivals in the Manufacturers’ championship and we’ve got the lead over them at the moment, so we have to keep the bragging rights going in to the rest of the season.”

Honda’s three-time champion Matt Neal is equally prepared to give it his all, and has targeted the BMW’s and Subaru’s rear-wheel-drive advantage as a reason to push his Civic Type-R to its absolute limits up the hill.

“Everyone looks at any Goodwood event as a blue-riband event, it’s one you always want to impress at,” Neal says. “We’re definitely going in with our sleeves rolled up. We’ve got to give it to the RWD boys, they’ll have the traction off the line so we’ll have to get stuck in and try to put them back in their place.”

Neal’s team-mate and reigning BTCC Champion, Gordon Shedden, is a little more relaxed ahead of the event, but admits it will offer a chance to see the true raw pace of some of his rivals.

“It’s going to be a good bit of fun, especially with no ballast to see where we all stand,” admits Shedden. “It’ll obviously be brilliant to beat our rivals, but it’s just going to be a good laugh, a good bit of fun.”

Five of the nine competitors in the Shoot-Out will be making their debuts at FoS, and each one is desperate to make a good impression in front of the Goodwood crowd.

“I’ve never been before but that’s no excuse,” reveals WIX Racing Mercedes driver Adam Morgan. “A few of the others have driven up the hill before so it’d be nice to beat those who already have experience. We’re going for a laugh but we definitely want to win.”

“I’ve always wanted the opportunity to have a go at Goodwood and I’m going to make sure I make the most of it,” says leading BTCC rookie Ash Sutton. “It’s going to be an interesting one; Josh and I get on really well but the team-mate competition is always there, you always want to beat them first.”