BTCC: Snetterton preview: Night Raiders Ready to Light up Snetterton
5 July 2000
BTCC stars prepare for midnight rendezvous - at 140mph When darkness descends over Norfolk on Saturday (July 8) evening, the skies will be illuminated by the stars of the Auto Trader British Touring Car Championship. For Britain's premier motor racing series is taking to the track at night for rounds 15 and 16 at Snetterton. The historic inaugural night race meeting at the track near Norwich last year was a huge hit with motorsport fans treating their families to a great day out. The format of fairground fun plus on-track action remains the same this year and a capacity mid-summer crowd is expected to enjoy the headlight-blazing, bumper-to-bumper action as well as live music, Le Mans-style Ferris wheel, sideshows and barbecues. As the evening temperatures begin to cool, the BTCC title battle will hot up. The points table is topped by a trio of Ford Mondeos but all three will be carrying ballast after their respective successes at Croft in the previous rounds, making Honda's Tom Kristensen one of the favourites this weekend. Of all the BTCC contenders, the Dane has the most recent experience of racing at night - he scored his second victory at the famous Le Mans 24 Hours last month - and he's driving for the team that won the inaugural night race last year. Kristensen - winner of round 10 at Oulton Park - is seventh in the table going to Snetterton and needs further victories to close in on series leader Alain Menu. Two good results this weekend could catapult him to fourth and put him right back in title contention. Says the Dane: "I'm very optimistic about Snetterton. The Honda Accord is going well at the moment and I think we can be very strong this weekend, especially as all the Fords will be carrying extra weight. We won the night race last year and we'll be strong again this year. "I'm not sure if my Le Mans experience will make much difference in the dark - everybody in the series drives with their eyes closed anyway, including myself! At Le Mans you settle into a nice rhythm, in the BTCC it's always a hell of a fight from the word go and the cars are all over the place - I'm really looking forward to it." Vauxhall had a hard time at Croft with Jason Plato's and Vincent Radermecker's cars wrecked in high-speed racing accidents and Yvan Muller mysteriously off the pace all weekend. The team is facing a race against time to repair the two damaged Vectras and it is touch and go whether all three cars will appear at Snetterton. But if they do make the grid, Vauxhall will be hoping for a more competitive performance with all three cars reaching the finish. The action on the track will be some of the best of the year. The BTCC cars will reach speeds in excess of 140mph on the sixth gear Revett Straight, the fastest straight in the championship, and then will brake for the second-gear Esses before they enter the floodlit section of the course. This is tricky enough in daylight, so at night the crowds can quite literally expect the sparks to fly. One man who learned all about the tricks of night racing last year is reigning Michelin Cup for Independents champion Matt Neal. The Team Dynamics Max Power Racing star, who won outright a round of the series last year, has hit top form ahead of Snetterton's two races, finishing on the podium for the first time in a year at Croft. Although that result has given him his first success ballast of the year, he believes his Nissan Primera could cause an upset or two this weekend. Says Neal: "Night racing can be a bit fraught at times. Last year I didn't think I had a scratch on my car at the end of the race, but there wasn't one straight panel - there was a bit of skullduggery going on out there! "I'm quite excited about the racing this weekend. The engine is performing well now and that's allowing me to really push. I really do think another win is a possibility, I'll still have to have a bit of luck on my side though. I'm not concerned about the extra weight. It's going to make a little bit of difference but I'll probably forget about it to be honest." Back in the fray this weekend will be Scotland's Colin Blair, the Independent runner who was forced out of the action at Croft following a heavy crash in testing. His PRO Motorsport Nissan Primera will be fully repaired and ready to race - the only problems Blair faces now are that he has never competed at Snetterton, or at night, before. The Class B competitors could have a major influence on the outcome of Saturday's two races. In the dark it will be more difficult for the Super Touring drivers to judge the pace of the less-powerful Class B machines and this could lead to several of the front-runners being caught out during lapping manoeuvres. Alan Morrison, who regained the lead of Class B at Croft in his Touring Car VIP Club Peugeot 306, won in the dark at Snetterton last year in a single-make saloon championship and knows what to expect. He says: "I think the Super Touring guys are going to have to give us a bit more grace this weekend. If we're having our own race and one of the quicker cars comes along, we won't really know who's who just from the headlights. We'll have to have our wits about us as well though." BTCC spectators at Snetterton also will be able to witness an exciting package of support racing action, including: Slick 50 Formula Ford Zetec; Ford Credit Fiesta Zetec; Autobytel Lotus; Formula Renault 2000; and Elf Clio Renaultsport UK Cup championships. The BTCC contenders are testing at Snetterton on Friday, July 7. Qualifying takes place on Saturday (July 8) afternoon, with Round 15 (Sprint Race, 17 laps, 33.18 miles) starting at 9.05pm and round 16 (Feature Race, 34 laps, 66.37 miles) scheduled to begin at midnight. Snetterton ticket hotline: 01953 887303.