FANS TURN OUT IN FORCE FOR MEDIA DAY

MOTOR racing fans descended on Rockingham yesterday  to catch a sneak preview of the new driver line-ups for the 2008 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship.

More than 1500 members of the public took advantage of seeing some high-speed action free of charge at the Northamptonshire circuit for the BTCC’s traditional curtain-raiser to its new season.

The stars and their cars were out in force for the official 2008 BTCC Media Day including reigning champion Fabrizio Giovanardi and title challengers Jason Plato and Matt Neal.

BTCC fans were able to soak up some behind the scenes atmosphere and visit the paddock to check out the new wheels on the grid and to collect autographs and photographs of their favourite drivers. The new 2008 season cars took to the track in the afternoon, as the teams put their highly tuned 290bhp engines through their paces for the first time this year.

Director of Sales & Marketing at Rockingham, Charlotte Orton, said: “Again the response from the media, teams and members of the public for this event was fantastic. Despite the blustery conditions, the fans still turned out in force to watch the drivers and the cars in action before the championships returns to Rockingham on April 12/13.”

More than 120 members of the media attended the event to catch all the pre-season gossip, interview the teams and their drivers as well as gain valuable footage and photographs of the cars in action.

Pupils from Gretton Primary School were given a special behind the scene garage tours of Arkas Racing, Robertshaw Racing and John Guest Racing after being invited to attend as VIP guests of Rockingham. They met some of the BTCC’s drivers, including Mike and Andrew Jordan, Harry Vaulkhard, Matt Allison, Alan Taylor and Martyn Bell as well as got a close look at the race cars.

Also a number of children from local schools also visited to gain inspiration for their touring car posters as part of the school competition launched by Rockingham to win a chance to get a visit from a BTCC driver.

The BTCC season gets underway later this month and Rockingham plays host to rounds four, five and six of Britain’s premier motor racing series on Sunday, April 13.

Tickets are currently on sale and can be booked via the ticket hotline on 0870 2310846 or on-line at rockingham.co.uk/btcc - the official Rockingham website.