To mark 60 years of the BTCC, the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed will host a shootout between some of the best teams and drivers the British Touring Car Championship has to offer. Taking place over 12-15 July outside Goodwood House, the BTCC Shootout will headline the Festival’s anniversary celebrations of saloon car racing in Britain, which will also feature a collection of cars spanning six decades of tin-top action.
A similar shootout was held in 2016, when Goodwood’s resident track tester, Andrew Jordan, beat strong competition to take his Ford Focus ST to the top step of the podium.
Jordan will be back in 2018 with the West Surrey Racing-prepared BMW 125i M Sport, and with it the advantage of rear-wheel-drive pace off the line. The BMW was the fastest off the line in 2016 but could not convert it to a win at the top of the Hill.
Returning to the Festival alongside the 2013 BTCC champion will be three-time champion Matt Neal, in the all-new Halfords Yuasa Racing Honda Civic Type-R, and Adam Morgan, in the Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes-Benz A-Class, while Power Maxed Racing will bring their in-form Vauxhall Astra with a yet-to-be-confirmed driver.
Making their Goodwood Festival of Speed debut will be two of the championship’s most popular drivers, in the shape of reigning Independent champion Tom Ingram, with the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis, and Rob Austin, in the Alfa Romeo Giulietta of HMS Racing.
Alongside the BTCC Shootout will be a celebration class of some of the most iconic saloon cars to grace British motor circuits, including the Alfa Romeo 155, Mini Cooper S, Volvo 850 Estate and the car which took Jack Sears to championship glory in 1958, the Austin A105.
Limited tickets for the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed still remain and are can be purchased at Goodwood.com or by calling the Goodwood Ticket Office on 01243 755 055.
[Source: Goodwood; photo: Drew Gibson]
