Chris Stockton believes he can produce his best results of the season so far when the Dunlop MSA British Touring car Championship races at his local circuit of Oulton Park in Cheshire on 24 June. Stockton, from nearby Malpas, competes in a fully race-tuned Lexus for his own BTC Racing team. The 38-year-old, formerly a top-level National Hunt jockey and married to British three-day event team member Polly Stockton, is chomping at the bit to show what he can do in his home event.
He said: “Oulton is where I learnt how to drive racing cars and where I had my first win. And I have to say that if you’re going to learn then Oulton is a great place to do it because it has everything: fast and narrow sections, blind brows, off-camber corners, trees and shadows that can mean it’s still damp in places first thing in the morning. It’s a massive challenge – a real driver’s circuit.“Nothing against the crowds, but I wouldn’t mind a bit of drizzle on race day. The rain can be a great leveller and at the moment we’re not quite on the pace of the very top teams. But I always enjoy driving in the rain and a wet track would enable us to get in among the big hitters.”
Stockton is eager to build on the breakthrough points finish he achieved in the most recent rounds, when he took a tenth-place finish at Croft. He crossed the line to a huge cheer from his crew on the pit wall.
He said: “Tenth place at Croft last time out was great for everyone in the team and I could have been sixth had a certain driver in an orange BMW not helped me off the track. We have put everything into our team and have come on so much since we first took the step up into the BTCC at the end of last season. To score a point at this level for a team the size of ours is a big deal and we’re getting stronger all the time.
“At Oulton we should take another step forward in performance with the car – we will be switching to a new brake pad supplier which should gain us up to ten metres in some corners. That brings us closer to the pack at the front and that’s when you can start to gauge any deficiencies.”
For obvious reasons, Stockton wants to do well at his home circuit. He will arrive there fresh from a visit to Germany to watch Polly compete in an international event and she will be at Oulton to cheer him on. Stockton added: “We’re really proud to be going to our local circuit with our team competing in the BTCC – it’s the pinnacle of British motor sport and one of the best-known series anywhere in the world.
“We’ll have almost a hundred corporate guests from the region coming to this one. It’s going to be busier for me, that’s for sure, although my main role as ever will be concentrating on my driving and working with the engineers, going through the telemetry to improve the car. Saying all that, there’s nothing like a bit of local track knowledge to help you on your way…”
