VX Racing bank on results at Rockingham oval

The VX Racing team travel to Corby, Northamptonshire this weekend for the penultimate round of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship at the Rockingham Circuit. The team and its trio of drivers, Fabrizio Giovanardi, Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan are hoping to take the battle to the rear wheel drive BMW’s this weekend as the race for championship titles heats up.

Reigning Champion Giovanardi, who has an 11 point deficit to title leader Colin Turkington, will be looking to close the gap in the driver’s championship at the Rockingham Circuit. With only six races left to the season, Neal and Jordan, will also both be hunting for victory and points at the ‘Rock’, but have vowed to play a supporting role to Italian Giovanardi, if needed. The VX Racing team are still in the thick of the fight for all three 2009 BTCC titles and barring any points penalties in the remaining rounds, the team has already mathematically secured the Manufacturers/Constructors title.

Droitwitch racer Neal, who will make his 400th BTCC race start this weekend, is seeking a turnaround in his fortunes for the last two race weekends of the season. Neal says, “I have to be realistic and I’m fairly open minded about the rest of the season. I’m looking for the best results for myself and the team, and helping Fabrizio along the way, as well as enjoying the rest of the season with Vauxhall.

“Rockingham is a good, technical, circuit and is the place where I took my first win with the Vectra, so will hold a special place because of that. I reckon we should be pretty strong at this track, but you never know until you get there. Notching up 400 races I guess is quite an achievement and certainly shows I have a catalogue of experience, but it makes me feel pretty old!”

After a lone podium at Silverstone two weeks ago, Giovanardi is still optimistic of his drivers championship hopes, “It’s getting very close to the end of the season, but we still have six races left, so there is nothing for certain. But, I’m only here to win, so that’s what I have to do. Rockingham is always fast, produces good races and I just need it all to go my way, not like at Silverstone.” Giovanardi commented.

The youngest driver in the BTCC, Jordan, 20, is looking forward to the challenge of the Rockingham oval. Jordan added, “We’ll need to find more straight line speed for Rockingham as it has the long, flat out section on the banking. I think the track should suit the front wheel drive cars and with it having quite a few overtaking opportunities, as well as the tight, twisty mid-section, there’s sure to be plenty of excitement in the races. I just need to be in the middle of it all and have some better races than we had at Silverstone.”

Two practice sessions, followed by a 30 minute qualifying session will take place on Saturday. The first of three races will take place on Sunday morning at 11:20am, followed by two further races during the afternoon.