The FIA World Touring Car Championship dominance of British drivers, James Thompson and Andy Priaulx, has suffered a set back after the latest round, in Turkey.
Both drivers were loaded with hefty success ballast* from the previous round, which contributed to a disappointing qualifying session on Saturday.
From 13th on the grid Thompson, in the SEAT Léon, went backwards in Sunday’s race one and decided to gamble on slick tyres for the start of the second to try and make up places from 17th place. It did not pay off.
“The track just didn’t dry as we thought it would,” said the two-times British Touring Car Champion, from Harrogate. “In hindsight, perhaps I should have gone for wets, but where I was on the grid, it was a case of weighing up the risks. If it had dried, I’d have looked like a hero, but there it is.
"I’m very disappointed. Istanbul was another track to forget for me – the second one on the trot. From leading the Championship to dropping back to fifth is very frustrating to say the least. I’m still only nine points off the lead, though.”
The lead is still held by Guernsey’s WTCC reigning champion, Priaulx, if only by one point. The 32-year-old suffered abysmal luck at the Istanbul circuit, being pushed off the track in both races. He managed to rejoin in race one, finishing out of the points in 14th, but had to retire from the final race of the day.
Rob Huff, from Cambridge, excelled in the wet, climbing from 15th on the grid to finish sixth in the day's last race.
“A couple of cars went off in front off me on the first two laps, so that helped,” said the Chevrolet driver, who is still on a high after scoring his first WTCC win at the Czech Republic earlier this month. “Apart from that I had a very good car, although the fuel pressure sometimes fell away in certain corners.”
The penultimate meeting on the WTCC calendar will be at Valencia in two weeks' time.
*Success ballast is a WTCC feature designed to ensure close racing. After each round, drivers receive weight penalties according to their championship position and points scored. The maximum weight penalty is 80kg.
The FIA World Touring Car Championship replaced the European Touring Car Championship in 2005.
It is one of only three championships granted full FIA World Championship status, the other two being the Formula 1 World Championship and the World Rally Championship.
The first WTCC Champion was Andy Priaulx. The title was decided in the final round, with Priaulx finishing on 101 points to Dirk Müller’s 86 and Fabrizio Giovanardi’s 81.
The 2005 WTCC saw 12 winners in 20 races.
