NORTH Hampshire British Touring Car Championship drivers Rob Collard and Nick Foster, along with West Surrey teammate Colin Turkington, have high hopes of some excellent results at Croft this weekend.

The north of England circuit has been a happy hunting ground for the BMW drivers in the past, with Collard and Foster picking up five top-10 results between them last year.

Odiham’s Foster had three top-10 finishes in what was his stand-out meeting of the year.

He also picked up a second place the year before and is again ready to step onto the podium.

Foster said: “Historically, Croft is good for rear-wheel-drive cars and I will look to get into the top six in qualifying. This will give me a chance of getting a podium finish.

“I will be aiming high as the car is significantly better now than it was last year.”

Hook’s Collard, who moved up to fifth overall in the championship, will be keen to build on his double podium finish in the last meeting at Oulton Park.

Collard said: “They have given us a longer first gear for Croft to stop us making such good starts, but I still think it will be a good circuit for the e-bay Motors BMWs.

“It is a very abrasive circuit and one where the BMW, being rear wheel drive, will look after its tyres better, so I am looking forward to going there.”

For Collard’s son Ricky, it is very much a journey into the unknown as the Falcon Motorsport driver has never raced at the circuit.

He is currently second in the scholarship class of the Formula Ford Championship.

Ginetta Junior driver Jack Rawles, backed by Basingstoke Skip Hire, is looking forward to Croft and said: “Croft is a great circuit and is like going back in time to the 1960s.

“It is fast, flowing and there is no room for error, or you’ll end up in the fields!

“It is going to be tough for me because for four teams it is their local track and they do a lot of testing there.”

All Sunday’s racing will be shown live on ITV4 from 11am to 6pm.