Rob Collard, despite being 36k
heavier after his race one victory made a superb start off the line, with team
mate Onslow-Cole in the clutches of Shedden after a slower start. Both held
their original positions, whilst further down the field, more chaos was about
to unfold.
After putting a wheel on the still slightly damp grass, Chris James spun his ES Racing Vauxhall Vectra across the track, into the paths of Dan Welch’s Proton and the Vauxhall of Lea Wood. James ended his race in the gravel of the first corner, with Dan Welch too retiring.
The safety car came out to clear the track, and was the race was restarted on lap seven. Collard made another excellent start, with Shedden in third place and already making a gap between himself and Redstone racer Aron Smith.
Paul O’Neill who’d had a good
re-start, was being pressured by Mat Jackson for fourth place, and the NGTC
Ford snuck up the inside of the Toyota approaching the final hairpin. It was a
case of NGTC vs. S2000 Ford Focus, as both Smith and Jackson were now racing
each other on the circuit.
The BMWs of Collard and Onslow-Cole were now a second ahead of the Scotsman Gordon Shedden, who was hoping to get further up the grid to please the home crowds. Further down the field, the MGs of Andy Neate and Jason Plato – who had started from the back of the grid due their race one foibles – were now up to fourteenth and twelfth place respectively. Plato would ideally be looking for a top ten finish, in order to have a chance of a decent result from the reverse grid draw.
Rob Collard now had a 1.48 second lead over his team mate Tom Onslow-Cole, with eBay Motors’ third driver Nick Foster in a battle for fifth position with Mat Jackson. Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan, who both had a reasonably quiet race one, were lying in seventh and eighth respectively.
Adam Morgan retired his Toyota Avensis on lap seventeen of the race, the Toyota suffering from a brake failure. With Mat Jackson’s Ford suffering from horrible understeer issues, he was still under pressure from Nick Foster’s BMW, whilst Jason Plato was in the slipstream of Jeff Smith looking to gain another position to move him the field. Smith took Newsham’s tenth position, which ultimately allowed Jason Plato to sneak through, resulting in a drag race along the start/finish straight, handing Jason eleventh place.
After a tap from Foster at the hairpin, Jackson lost out to the BMW, Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan, with Mat having to settle for ninth, whilst still struggling with major oversteer on his Focus. For Mat, however, his problems were about to go from bad to worse. An exhaust issue had resulted in the fumes going inside the car, leaving Mat with nothing to do but open the door on the straights to let in some fresh air. Naturally, the team pulled in Jackson on lap twenty-four and sent him to the medical centre to be checked over.
Jackson’s retirement led to the top ten gaggle of cars moving up the field, allowing Plato to just make it into tenth, with a couple of laps left remaining. Andrew Jordan was looking racy on the final lap and made a move on Matt Neal for seventh. A mistake by Neal saw him slide on the gravel, but fortunately managed to recover to stay eighth.
But it was Rob Collard who took the
chequered flag, making it two out of two for eBay Motors in Scotland with Tom
Onslow-Cole also made a double 1-2 finish for the team. Gordon Shedden, cheered
on my London 2012 Olympic Gold medallist Chris Hoy who was at the Knockhill
Circuit with Honda Yuasa Racing – finished with a second third place in his
Honda Civic. Paul O’Neill finished in a superb fourth position for Speedworks
Motorsport, with Jason Plato ending the race in eleventh, with Dave Newsham
re-taking his position on the final lap. Frank Wrathall was unable to start the
race after his engine calamities in race one.
In terms of the championship after
race two, Shedden led the standings by five points to team mate Matt Neal, with
Jason Plato now minus 26 points in third with Andrew Jordan close behind in
fourth.
Final Results:
After putting a wheel on the still slightly damp grass, Chris James spun his ES Racing Vauxhall Vectra across the track, into the paths of Dan Welch’s Proton and the Vauxhall of Lea Wood. James ended his race in the gravel of the first corner, with Dan Welch too retiring.
The safety car came out to clear the track, and was the race was restarted on lap seven. Collard made another excellent start, with Shedden in third place and already making a gap between himself and Redstone racer Aron Smith.
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| Chaos: Chris James, Lea Wood and Dan Welch were caught up in the first lap incident during the second race. Picture Credit: Marc Waller. |
The BMWs of Collard and Onslow-Cole were now a second ahead of the Scotsman Gordon Shedden, who was hoping to get further up the grid to please the home crowds. Further down the field, the MGs of Andy Neate and Jason Plato – who had started from the back of the grid due their race one foibles – were now up to fourteenth and twelfth place respectively. Plato would ideally be looking for a top ten finish, in order to have a chance of a decent result from the reverse grid draw.
Rob Collard now had a 1.48 second lead over his team mate Tom Onslow-Cole, with eBay Motors’ third driver Nick Foster in a battle for fifth position with Mat Jackson. Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan, who both had a reasonably quiet race one, were lying in seventh and eighth respectively.
Adam Morgan retired his Toyota Avensis on lap seventeen of the race, the Toyota suffering from a brake failure. With Mat Jackson’s Ford suffering from horrible understeer issues, he was still under pressure from Nick Foster’s BMW, whilst Jason Plato was in the slipstream of Jeff Smith looking to gain another position to move him the field. Smith took Newsham’s tenth position, which ultimately allowed Jason Plato to sneak through, resulting in a drag race along the start/finish straight, handing Jason eleventh place.
After a tap from Foster at the hairpin, Jackson lost out to the BMW, Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan, with Mat having to settle for ninth, whilst still struggling with major oversteer on his Focus. For Mat, however, his problems were about to go from bad to worse. An exhaust issue had resulted in the fumes going inside the car, leaving Mat with nothing to do but open the door on the straights to let in some fresh air. Naturally, the team pulled in Jackson on lap twenty-four and sent him to the medical centre to be checked over.
Jackson’s retirement led to the top ten gaggle of cars moving up the field, allowing Plato to just make it into tenth, with a couple of laps left remaining. Andrew Jordan was looking racy on the final lap and made a move on Matt Neal for seventh. A mistake by Neal saw him slide on the gravel, but fortunately managed to recover to stay eighth.
 |
| A delighted Rob Collard took his second win of the day in a second team 1-2 for eBay Motors. Picture Credit: Marc Waller |
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| Golden Moments: Honda Yuasa Racing were joined by London 2012 Gold Medallist Sir Chris Hoy for the weekend's racing. |
Final Results:
- Rob Collard
- Tom Onslow-Cole
- Gordon Shedden
- Paul O'Neill
- Nick Foster
- Aron Smith
- Andrew Jordan
- Matt Neal
- Jeff Smith
- Dave Newsham
- Jason Plato
- Andy Neate
- Lea Wood
- Robb Holland
- Mat Jackson
Fastest lap: Rob Collard - Lap 9 - 53.085
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