BTCC Season 2025 – Thruxton – preview
Good morning everybody and welcome to our preview of this weekend’s round 4 in the Dunlop Kwik Fit British touring car championship at Thruxton circuit in Hampshire. Thruxton is the quickest circuit in the championship, and this comes from a largely oval circuit with a chicane and a couple of shorter turns. At 2. 356 miles in length, the circuit is located approximately 30 miles north of Southampton.
Thruxton was originally constructed in 1942 as an RAF airfield which was home to both the RAF and US air forces and was a key centre for the launch of the D-Day landings. The circuit which follows the line of the old airfield’s perimeter road, was established back in 1968 and is a staple of the BTCC calendar. So fast is the circuit that it requires its own special Goodyear tyre which must be used here due to the speed and loads generated.
We come into Thruxton on the back of a disappointing outing at Snetterton where for some reason, none of the rear wheel drive cars were ever quite on the pace with Aiden and Charles’ BMW’s were no different. It was difficult to put a finger on it as the cars had been quicker in 2024, but that, of course, was with the now historic hybrid systems. You may recall that the hybrid systems were removed in favour of the new renewable fuel for this season.
We have certainly had some epic tussles this season with plenty of good points scoring races with a win and a second place, so we are still well up for honours every race weekend. According to the weather forecast, this weekend looks to be a tale of 2 days.
Saturday has the real threat of some showers during the day to spice things up, but Sunday is looking dry, bright and warmer, but both days suggest a strong gusty wind which will be an enormous challenge on such a high speed open circuit.
Both Charles and Aiden have plenty of experience around the circuit and the team is hoping for a strong showing as they enjoyed at Brands Hatch 4 weeks ago. The BMW team is currently sitting in 3rd place in the Manufacturers/Constructers table, 100 points ahead of Toyota in 4th and only 30 points behind the top team so far, Hyundai.
In the Driver’s Championship, Charles is 9th and Aiden 12th, but we still have another 70% of the season to go so there is plenty of time for things to change!
We will bring you our usual coverage of every session from Thruxton, starting after free practise one on Saturday morning. We’ll see you then.