Airwaves BMW are the next team in the championship with both of their drives occupying the 5th and 6th positions in the standings. Steven Kane is the only driver so far this season to have stepped up onto the podium in each round of the season and that is one of the reasons why he is up there in the championship above his team-mate Jackson. By his own admission, Jackson will be disappointed with his start to the season and that he’s not further up the table but a good solid finish to the season could easily see him come into contention come the latter rounds.

The British Touring Car Championship always gives close racing and variety and this is shown with four different makes of car in the top five with Honda, Chevrolet, Ford and BMW.

O’Neill will be one of the drivers which will be pleased, if not ecstatic, with his performances so far which sees him currently occupy the 7th spot. O’Neill has already set foot on the podium on two occasions this season and has finished in the points in every race that he has completed so far this season. Paul could quite easily be closer to the top of the standings in his BTC-spec Honda Integra, but mechanical problems at Oulton Park which forced him to sit out the first two race has hampered his progress.

Rob Collard makes up the third BMW in the top ten in his West Surrey Racing BMW 320si but it’s not where he would like to be. Accidents have affected Rob so far this season in a car which won the championship last season at the hands of Colin Turkington but he’ll be looking to improve in the second half of the championship. Rob’s pace has looked good so far with three podiums and two fastest laps but retirements and finishes outside of the points has meant that Rob lies down in 8th position on 67 points, over 50 points behind the leader, Matt Neal.

Rounding out the top ten is Andrew Jordan in the first of the NGTC-S2000 Vectra’s. Jordan and his Pirtek Racing team made the decision early on to go for the NGTC turbo engine, which was introduced this season ahead of the full NGTC specifications coming out in 2011. The season has certainly been a steep learning curve for the team who have been working closely with Swindon Engines (the engine suppliers) learning more and more about the engine and car every day. Jordan must certainly think that the team are heading in the right direction as they secured the first ever win for an NGTC engine along with the first win of his career last time out at Croft.

The next round of the season takes place on the 8th of August at Snetterton for Round 6 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. But if you can’t wait till then the drivers take to the track for the official test at Snetterton on the 22nd of July. You can catch all the action LIVE from trackside using the @BTCCCrazyLive Twitter feed.

To view the current championship standings click here.

James Mappin is the editor-in-chief covering the British Touring Car Championship. You can contact him at james@btcccrazy.co.uk, on twitter @BTCCCrazy or on his personal twitter account @jamesmappin.