Muller will reach 150 BTCC starts at Silverstone
Reigning Green Flag British Touring Car Champion Yvan Muller and HarrierZeuros Independents Trophy racer James Kaye will celebrate their 150th and 200th championship race starts at Silverstone this weekend, 8/9 May.
The two drivers’ careers could have hardly been more different, however. Since joining the BTCC with Audi in 1998, Muller already holds the fifth highest number of race wins – 26 – in BTCC history. Kaye, who has raced in the championship since 1992, has won the BTCC’s Independents and Production class titles, but is yet to win a race outright.
Muller picks out his first victory for Vauxhall – the team with which last year he won his first BTCC title – in 1999 as his favourite all-time moment so far.
Muller at Thruxton where he took his 26th BTCC race win “It was Brands Hatch and I did a really good manoeuvre past Anthony Reid and Laurent Aiello going into the first corner to take the lead. It was very good, not just because it was the first win with Vauxhall but also because it was a big struggle against a lot of strong competition,” Muller told tocatour.com.
“I suppose other good memories are finishing second with Audi at a very wet Knockhill in ’98 – perhaps I should have won, but I think I came from tenth on the grid to overtake a lot of championship leaders and Audi was still developing its front-wheel-drive system.
A familiar sight: Muller on the BTCC podium “Two meetings last year were also very good for me. Obviously, Oulton Park where I won the title for the first time, but also Donington Park. It’s never been my best circuit and I had no free practice (due to suspension) and no qualifying (car problems), but still I got a third and a win.”
Muller has also been at the centre of several controversial moments in BTCC history: his spat with fellow Vauxhall driver Jason Plato in 2001, shoving team-mate James Thompson off the track in 2002 and last year a paddock bust-up with MG driver Anthony Reid.
“It’s fair to say, of course, that in 150 races I have had a few bad moments,” added Muller. “Above all, though, I feel very privileged to be doing what I do – to be racing at a very high level, doing well and making a career from it.”
