The fourth weekend of the British Touring Car Championship takes the series to Thruxton Circuit. With its high speed layout and abrasive surface, it’s the only BTCC circuit where only the Goodyear hard compound tyre will be available.
Located about 30 miles north of Southampton, Thruxton first hosted the BTCC back in 1969. The venue started its life as an airfield in 1941, and was home to both the Royal Air Force and United States Air Force during world war two.
Goodyear will bring the hard compound tyre specification this weekend, which is designed to handle high load demands. This tyre specification delivers performance characteristics to complement with the high vertical & lateral forces generated by the combination of 11 corners that make up the 2.36-mile Thruxton circuit.
The hard tyre has already been used this year at Snetterton alongside the soft and medium, and will return at the next two events at Oulton Park and Croft.
Four-time champion Colin Turkington spoke to Goodyear as a preview to the weekend action at the most demanding circuit on the calendar.
“Thruxton is a difficult one given the high speed and abrasive nature that’s really hard on the tyres,'' explains the 69-time BTCC race winner. “You really feel it in qualifying because you’re out for one or two warm up laps and you have to manage the pace, with only one shot to get a perfect lap during each qualifying run”, Turkington adds.
“That makes Thruxton a unique challenge, given the nature of the circuit, it’s high speed but it’s also bumpy, so you need a car that gives you confidence. The soft and medium Goodyear tyres give a bit more feel, so making sure the setup gets us into a good place confidence wise is key with only the hard available.
“Finding that compliance means we will likely run the car a bit softer at Thruxton,” Turkington continues. “It makes managing the tyre a bit better so we’re competitive at the end of races. Kerbs are also a huge factor, particularly the last chicane where there’s a mega high kerb. That has a big impact on the car and tyre, so some real unique challenges!”
