VX Racing hoping to shine at Oulton Park

VX Racing will be looking to shine as the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) arrives at the Oulton Park track in Cheshire this weekend. The team is looking to keep hold of its lead in all three of the championship standings , after four strong podiums at Donington courtesy of drivers Matt Neal, Fabrizio Giovanardi and Andrew Jordan, kept the team ahead of the competition in the third of the ten round championship.

At Donington Neal, currently leading the driver’s standings, extended the gap over rival Turkington from seven to 13 points and has so far scored an impressive seven out of nine podium results this season. The double BTCC champion is racking up the points in his quest for title glory, but admits a win would be welcome this weekend,

He says, “The aim for the weekend is to qualify well and focus on three strong scores in the races. I’m definitely aiming for victory, but I’d say there are at least ten cars who could win this weekend and so it is going to be tough. The track will suit the BMW’s with its long straights and up hill drags, and you can never discount Fabrizio as he is really fired up at the moment. Brakes are likely to be an issue here, especially carrying the extra ballast in the car. The fast corners and heavy braking will push them to the limit.”

Reigning champion Giovanardi currently lies third in the driver’s standings and after a frustrating outing at Donington, the fiery Italian is hunting for points at his favourite circuit this time out. “I’m third in the drivers’ standings, which isn’t where I want to be, but it’s a close battle and it wouldn’t take much to be rivalling Matt on points. The goal for Oulton is the same as always, which is to win. I enjoy this circuit, so I’m looking forward to it. We were unfortunate to start from the back of the grid at Donington and that really hurt us last time. I need to be taking pole again and starting from the front with it, then there’s a good chance we can stay in the hunt.”

Jordan became the youngest ever BTCC pole sitter at Donington Park just over two weeks ago and his qualifying performance was followed up with his highest placed finish in BTCC to date. The youngster who celebrated his 20th birthday last weekend, commented, “I have good memories of Oulton Park from last season where I scored my first ever podium in the BTCC. It’s a fast flowing track and I’m not carrying any weight like Matt and Fabrizio, so with a bit of luck on our side I think we can have a good weekend. I’m looking for pole again this weekend and hopefully my first win but the field is strong and in particular my team mates, so I’m cautiously optimistic.”

The BTCC meeting on Sunday 27 July 2008 saw a crowd of 35,000 attend - a record not only for the circuit but the highest crowd at any venue of the BTCC for a decade. To catch all of the action live, tune into ITV4 on Sunday for coverage of all three races from 11:30am until 6:30pm.