With the 2016 British Touring Car Championship now getting ever more competitive, Team IHG Rewards Club’s Jack Goff is looking ahead to end a winless drought this weekend, as he is the only driver in the top five that has yet to hit the top step of the podium.
With six top five finishes that included a third place result at the final race of the season opener at Brands Hatch Indy, Goff is currently lying fifth overall in the race for the drivers’ title, showing his welcome progress in rear-wheel drive machinery.
The 25-year-old’s BMW is the best of the single-car outfits that run in the BTCC, even with his relative inexperience after a switch from the front-wheel drive MG he piloted last season. Nevertheless, he has bettered his points haul by six points, in comparison with last year’s tally at the halfway point
“It’s been a good first half of the season for me, and the fact that I’m fifth in the championship reflects this,” explained the BRDC Superstar, who felt that he could have been amongst the top three if issues hadn’t played their part.
“With that in mind, I head to Snetterton and beyond with high hopes. I took my first BTCC win there last year and I’ve been stronger at pretty much every circuit this time around. My BMW will carry 39kg of ballast, so that’s not brilliant, but it’s not terrible either, so there’s no good reason why we shouldn’t be very competitive there.”
With straight-line speed being just one of the prerequisites for Snetterton, the “300” variation of the circuit will play to the strengths of the 125i M Sport, which could help Goff in his quest to become another driver to win in rear-wheel drive machinery.
Bennetts himself, has been impressed with the High Wycombe driver’s progression over the first half of the year, and is looking forward to seeing how he fares for the remaining five race weekends.
“Given the circumstances, I think he’s done a very good job to get into fifth place in the championship in his Team IHG® Rewards Club BMW. Jack is well aware that for the rest of the season his job is to push on, continue his impressive progress and take every point he possibly can to help his own challenge in the drivers’ championship and ours in the Manufacturers’/Constructors’ and Teams’ title races.”