It was Lea Wood who led early on in
his BINZ Racing Vectra, having been promoted to pole position by the reverse
grid draw. Tom Onslow-Cole who started from third, had got into second place
off the line ahead of Dave Newsham. Frank Wrathall was fighting hard for track position
with Matt Neal and contact between the two saw Neal off the track – and at the
back of the field. How would this affect the joint championship’s leaders reign
of the lead?
Mat Jackson was up to fourth with Gordon Shedden in fifth, whilst Newsham had regained his second place position by the second lap of the race. Rob Collard had made a welcome return to the field, and was battling now with Andy Neate for positions midfield. Jackson was flying in the Redstone Racing Focus, and sneaked into third position through the Bomb Hole ahead of Tom Onslow-Cole’s eBay Motors BMW.
Lea Wood was still leading in his Vectra, with a sister Vectra of Dave Newsham following close behind. The pair were now starting to pull away from the rest of the field. Later on, on the same lap, Newsham took the lead from Wood going through Montreal. Meanwhile Shedden and Jackson – who took a wider than normal line – were fighting for third, with Tom Onslow-Cole also closing in on the action.
Andy Neate had an unfortunate spin at Coram, resulting in a loss of track position, whilst his Triple Eight team mate Jason Plato made a move on race two winner Andrew Jordan for sixth through Hamilton.
After an unsightly coming together with Tony Gilham, Dan Welch was left driving over the grass, whilst Tony Gilham’s car had major damage to the front of his Thorney Motorsport Insignia, which resulted in his retirement from the race.Up at the top, the top ten gaggle of cars were now closing in on the leaders – could anyone challenge the front-runners in the latter stages of the race?
Mat Jackson was up to fourth with Gordon Shedden in fifth, whilst Newsham had regained his second place position by the second lap of the race. Rob Collard had made a welcome return to the field, and was battling now with Andy Neate for positions midfield. Jackson was flying in the Redstone Racing Focus, and sneaked into third position through the Bomb Hole ahead of Tom Onslow-Cole’s eBay Motors BMW.
Lea Wood was still leading in his Vectra, with a sister Vectra of Dave Newsham following close behind. The pair were now starting to pull away from the rest of the field. Later on, on the same lap, Newsham took the lead from Wood going through Montreal. Meanwhile Shedden and Jackson – who took a wider than normal line – were fighting for third, with Tom Onslow-Cole also closing in on the action.
Andy Neate had an unfortunate spin at Coram, resulting in a loss of track position, whilst his Triple Eight team mate Jason Plato made a move on race two winner Andrew Jordan for sixth through Hamilton.
After an unsightly coming together with Tony Gilham, Dan Welch was left driving over the grass, whilst Tony Gilham’s car had major damage to the front of his Thorney Motorsport Insignia, which resulted in his retirement from the race.Up at the top, the top ten gaggle of cars were now closing in on the leaders – could anyone challenge the front-runners in the latter stages of the race?
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| Damage to the Thorney Motorsport's NGTC Insignia, forced Tony Gilham to retire from the race. Picture Credit: Marc Waller. |
Mat Jackson had been suffering from
oversteer in his NGTC Focus all weekend, and he fell from his podium place to
seventh behind Jason Plato. Matt Neal was lining up in twelfth behind Rob
Collard and Rob Austin, with Neal making his move soon after. Austin was
cautious of Collard, who retired shortly after with steering damage after some
contact with the BMW.
Dave Newsham had a 2.3 second lead
with three laps to go of the race, whilst behind him there was heartache for
the BINZ Racing team. A gearbox issue with the Vectra diminished any possible
chances of a podium finishing position for Lea Wood, which would have been his
career best result had the Vectra held on. Onslow-Cole inherited the second
place position, with Gordon Shedden close behind in third.
Whilst Matt Neal and Rob Collard were battling over extra championship points with one lap to go, upfront, Newsham was starting his final lap – three miles away from his first ever victory. The nerves could be felt from outside the car, as the team – including team principal Chris James who had retired early on in the race- anxiously looked on from the pit wall.
Their nervous turned to emotion and celebration, as Newsham crossed the line in first place, followed behind by Tom Onslow-Cole, who equalled his season best result of second and Gordon Shedden in third. In doing this, Newsham became the seventh different winner of the BTCC in 2012. It was announced later on in the day, that Gordon Shedden had been excluded from the race results due to an over boost issue on his Honda Racing Civic, thus promoting Jason Plato to a third podium finishing position of the day and Mat Jackson finishing a heroic fourth in his Ford. Team mate Aron Smith also achieved his career best finish of sixth – a valiant effort for the Irishman in his first full season in the championship. Matt Neal recovered well after his earlier incident to finish eighth overall after his team mate’s exclusion.
Whilst Matt Neal and Rob Collard were battling over extra championship points with one lap to go, upfront, Newsham was starting his final lap – three miles away from his first ever victory. The nerves could be felt from outside the car, as the team – including team principal Chris James who had retired early on in the race- anxiously looked on from the pit wall.
Their nervous turned to emotion and celebration, as Newsham crossed the line in first place, followed behind by Tom Onslow-Cole, who equalled his season best result of second and Gordon Shedden in third. In doing this, Newsham became the seventh different winner of the BTCC in 2012. It was announced later on in the day, that Gordon Shedden had been excluded from the race results due to an over boost issue on his Honda Racing Civic, thus promoting Jason Plato to a third podium finishing position of the day and Mat Jackson finishing a heroic fourth in his Ford. Team mate Aron Smith also achieved his career best finish of sixth – a valiant effort for the Irishman in his first full season in the championship. Matt Neal recovered well after his earlier incident to finish eighth overall after his team mate’s exclusion.
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| Celebrations; Newsham was all smiles on the podium after his race three victory. Picture Credit: Marc Waller. |
With Shedden’s disqualification,
Matt Neal retains his lead of the championship standings with 255 points,
closely followed behind by the Scotsman with 247. Jason Plato has closed the
gap, and is now two points behind Gordon in third. Andrew Jordan has extended
his lead of the Independent’s Championship from Rob Collard, both on 265 and
217 points respectively.
Final Results:
1) Dave Newsham
2) Tom Onslow-Cole
3) Jason Plato
4) Mat Jackson
5) Andrew Jordan
6) Aron Smith
7) Frank Wrathall
8) Matt Neal
9) Rob Collard
10) Adam Morgan
11) Jeff Smith
12) Dan Welch
13) Nick Foster
14) Ollie Jackson
15) Andy Neate
Fastest Lap: Dave Newsham - Lap 2 - 1.59.283
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