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Croft preview: Thommo, Rydell look for three

Honda's James Thompson and Ford's Rickard Rydell head for rounds 13 and 14 of the British Touring Car Championship at Croft looking for a hat-trick in the sprint and feature races respectively

Local hero Thompson comes to the North Yorkshire circuit fresh from a Silverstone race victory, and therefore carries the maximum 40 kilos of ballast, while Rydell is ballast-free after a series of four disastrous races that have pushed him down the points.

Thompson is currently eighth in the title-chase after missing several races through injury and looks to be only a long shot in the title reckoning. However, he's keen to add to his win tally on home turf and just let the title battle take care of itself.

"Hopefully my home advantage will more than make up for the 40kg of success ballast," he says. "Having missed four rounds, I just want to win some races and, perhaps, get myself back into contention for the championship."

After racing a rear-wheel drive Audi in last weekend's Oschersleben DTM round (and badly burning a leg), 'Thommo' will need to re-adjust to front-wheel drive - as will his team mate Tom Kristensen, who spent last week guiding his Audi R8 to victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours. From La Sarthe to Darlington...

"It was a fantastic weekend in France," says Kristensen, "but now I must get back to BTCC business. Making the switch back won't be a problem, as I'm used to racing all kinds of different cars. I'm looking forward to another good weekend."

Heading the points at the moment is Ford's Alain Menu, but he hasn't won at Croft since 1997. He currently holds a five-point advantage over his team mate Anthony Reid, who carries 30 kilos of ballast compared to Menu's 20.

Others carrying ballast are Vauxhall's Yvan Muller (40 kilos), Kristensen (20) and Honda's Gabriele Tarquini (30). Muller has emereged as Ford's nearest title-challenger after winning at Silverstone, but football-mad Tarquini, top Honda man in sixth overall, could be distracted by Italy appearing in the Euro 2000 quarter-finals this weekend.

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