K&N Orion-Equipped Cars Enjoy Wins in British Touring Car Championship Opener

3 Apr 2017

Over a third of the British Touring Car Championship field runs the K&N Orion intake system

This past weekend saw the opening 3 rounds of the 2017 British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) at Brands Hatch Racing Circuit in the UK. This ultra-competitive series features manufacturers such as BMW, Toyota, Honda, and Mercedes amongst others, battling out in front of huge crowds over 30 races. K&N has long been involved with many of the teams, supplying air intakes systems for their 350+ brake horsepower 2.0L turbocharged cars. To start 2017, K&N Filters launched their new Orion intake system, which has been designed and developed using the knowledge built up over a numbers of seasons working our Championship winning supported teams.

The K&N 54-5000 Orion intake system is unique in that it is a fully enclosed intake system that can be located just about anywhere. This is helpful in race cars because often times these cars are built from the ground up and not off a previously built vehicle. This can mean that there are no provisions for an intake system. Just an engine in a bare engine bay. The K&N Orion intake system allows for the air box to be mounted in an optimal location with the 85-6004 mounting bracket and it can be plumbed to the air inlet with the 85-6000 flexible hose kit.

K&N Orion-equipped Tom Ingram cam in 1st and 3rd in the first two races of the opening weekend

With over a third of the BTCC grid using the new Orion intake kit for the first time this year, it was no surprise to see it get off to a successful start. Orion-equipped drivers Tom Ingram in the Speedworks Motorsports Toyota Avensis getting the first race win of the year and 3rd going to Adam Morgans’ Mercedes A-Class. Race 2 saw two more podium finishes for the Orion, with Rob Collard in the stunning West Surrey Racing BMW 1 Series taking 2nd and Tom Ingram in 3rd. Race 3 produced a clean sweep of podium places for the Orion, with the win going to Colin Turkington, 2nd place to Andrew Jordan both piloting the BMW 1 series, and 3rd spot for Tom Chilton in the brand new Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra.

Tom Chilton in the Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra took third in the final race of the BTCC opener

In total the weekend saw a total 17 top 10 finishes for Orion equipped cars over the 3 races. If this season follows the lead of the opening series, it is going to be one you won't want to miss. The rest of the season is as follows:

15-16 April - Donington Park

06-07 May - Thruxton

20-21 May - Oulton Park

10-11 June - Croft

29-30 July - Snetterton

12-13 August - Knockhill

26-27 August - Rockingham

16-17 September - Silverstone

30 September-01 October - Brands Hatch GP