Always ones for a knockout, seven BTCC stars of 2016 are heading to the Goodwood Festival of Speed on June 23-26 to take part in a timed shoot-out up the 1.16-mile hillclimb course. But Lord March needn't order extra hay bales because the touring cars are not going head-to-head, but against-the clock. They'll get stuck into the stopwatch, not one another.
It's come about because, for the first time in years, Britain's premier tin-top race series does not clash with FoS - and seven series stars are taking advantage by signing up to Goodwood for the weekend. Matt Neal, Gordon Shedden, Jason Plato and Andrew Jordan will join Sam Tordoff, Adam Morgan and one of the Triple Eight MG drivers in the winner-takes-all run: Lord March is already banking on it being "hugely popular" and "spectacular". Actually, he might be advised to order those extra hay bales after all...
Not least because Motorbase Ford Focus driver Andrew Jordan admits they're all "stupidly competitive... yes, it's a fun weekend, but we'll all want to win the shootout. I may even have a look for some super-soft tyres - not that I'm taking it seriously..."
There's a fair chance of it being a fascinatingly close-run thing: remember, at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit opener, the top 20 cars were separated by less than a second - and the Goodwood Hill's only marginally smaller than the Kent Indy circuit. We can also factor in the grudges that'll bound to be bubbling by then: Thruxton, Oulton and, the very weekend before, Croft will all have run by the time Goodwood comes around. Bring it on!