Pitstop practice order of the morning

With dark clouds looming overhead, a number of Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship teams have been brushing up on their pitstop routines at Oulton Park this morning.

Team RAC and Motorbase Performance went head-to-head in adjacent pit bays, repeatedly running through the all-important process. With the track damp from overnight rainfall, but nothing more than a few threatening clouds up above the Cheshire circuit this morning, the weather could play a major role in today’s race action.

The front-running teams in the 2007 BTCC are all running S2000 specification cars, complete with their five-bolt wheels. A mid-race downpour would see the teams change these wheels mid-race for the very first time, making a slick operation essential.

A smooth four-wheel stop can be completed in under 25 seconds. It was the Motorbase Performance crew who seemed to have the edge in this particular battle of the bolts, but the one to watch could well be Mike Jordan in his BTCC-spec Honda Integra. With just a single nut on each wheel, the Team Eurotech driver, who starts seventh on the grid for the day’s first race, should benefit from a dry to wet (or vice versa) switch.

But at this very moment, the sun is shining, so all the efforts might just be in vain!