Two times BTCC champion James Thompson did the honours in deciding which driver would be starting from pole on the reverse grid for the final race of the day at Rockingham.
10th place finisher Rob Collard was on pole, joined by Rob Austin in the Audi and Jeff Smith’s Vauxhall Vectra. With the clouds rolling in, and light rain in the air – what would race three bring in the hunt for the championship?
Changing conditions saw the rain disperse and all drivers started the race on slicks. Team ES Racing’s Chris James was in the pit lane for the start of the race but later rejoined the track. Team Aon’s misfortunes continued too, as Andy Neate was not on the grid for the start of the race.
A bad start for Smith saw him fall back out on track, whereas Rob Austin was flying and soon took the lead from Collard in the early stages. Paul O’Neill ran wide at the Deene hairpin and consequently lost track position despite getting back on to the circuit.
Meanwhile, both Honda Racing drivers Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden were jostling for position, whilst Nick Foster made a move on stick on Jason Plato to move him up the grid. James Nash took second place from Rob Collard, getting a better exit out of the chicane, proving that the rear-wheeled drive BMW hadn’t got it’s tyres up to temperature in the opening laps.
An incident free beginning of the race saw O’Neill jump to fourth ahead of Jeff Smith, whilst Plato was splitting the Hondas of Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal. Rob Austin proved to be the quickest man out on track, taking the fastest lap of the race so far on lap three. However, Triple 8’s Nash was catching the Audi, and soon took the lead from Austin at the chicane.
In the middle of the pack, contact with Nick Foster resulted in Shedden going wide and losing track position, whilst Matt Neal took a place from Plato for much needed championship points. Amidst all of this, Wrathall took tenth place from Gordon Shedden in a feisty move in his NGTC Toyota Avensis – soon taking a place from Nick Foster for ninth.
A miserable weekend for Team Aon saw Tom Onslow-Cole pit mid-way through the race, while his team-mate Chilton was battling in 17th – the only Aon Ford out on track for the remaining laps of race tree.
Jason Plato set the fastest lap time on lap five of the race, and was now making a move stick on Jeff Smith for fifth place. Up front, James Nash was still leading from Rob Austin, whilst at the tail end of the top ten Shedden and Foster were battling for position whilst Neal took 7th from Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan.
A further fight for Shedden saw MacDowall take 12th place from the Scot, who was now struggling with the success ballast and added weight in his Honda Civic – who later in the lap lost another place to Airwaves Racing’s Mat Jackson.
With O’Neill fighting Collard for third place in the latter stages of the race, the Audi of Rob Austin was also closing in on the Vauxhall of James Nash, the Pershore driver pushing hard for a first win for the NGTC engine. With Nash struggling on tyres, both Collard and O’Neill were also closing in on the leaders. Having lost the place momentarily, Collard took third back from Paul O’Neill, and looked at taking second from Rob Austin in the last lap.
Nothing could stop the youngster, and James Nash went on to take his first long awaited win in the British Touring Car Championship, closely followed by Rob Austin –who took his first podium and Rob Collard in third. O’Neill finished in 4th place in front of Silverline Chevrolet’s Jason Plato. Matt Neal went on to finish in 6th, leaving team-mate Shedden all the way back in 21st – having struggled in the latter stages with both tyres and ballast.
Both Honda drivers Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden are both tied on points with 204 in the Championship hunt, with Jason Plato still in third with 180 – meaning the Silverline Chevrolet’s still not out of the running. A second horrid weekend for Mat Jackson sees him lying fourth in the championship with 159 points.
The next event is in two weeks time at the Brands Hatch GP circuit in Kent. The fight for the title is definitely not over yet.
10th place finisher Rob Collard was on pole, joined by Rob Austin in the Audi and Jeff Smith’s Vauxhall Vectra. With the clouds rolling in, and light rain in the air – what would race three bring in the hunt for the championship?
Changing conditions saw the rain disperse and all drivers started the race on slicks. Team ES Racing’s Chris James was in the pit lane for the start of the race but later rejoined the track. Team Aon’s misfortunes continued too, as Andy Neate was not on the grid for the start of the race.
A bad start for Smith saw him fall back out on track, whereas Rob Austin was flying and soon took the lead from Collard in the early stages. Paul O’Neill ran wide at the Deene hairpin and consequently lost track position despite getting back on to the circuit.
Meanwhile, both Honda Racing drivers Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden were jostling for position, whilst Nick Foster made a move on stick on Jason Plato to move him up the grid. James Nash took second place from Rob Collard, getting a better exit out of the chicane, proving that the rear-wheeled drive BMW hadn’t got it’s tyres up to temperature in the opening laps.
An incident free beginning of the race saw O’Neill jump to fourth ahead of Jeff Smith, whilst Plato was splitting the Hondas of Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal. Rob Austin proved to be the quickest man out on track, taking the fastest lap of the race so far on lap three. However, Triple 8’s Nash was catching the Audi, and soon took the lead from Austin at the chicane.
In the middle of the pack, contact with Nick Foster resulted in Shedden going wide and losing track position, whilst Matt Neal took a place from Plato for much needed championship points. Amidst all of this, Wrathall took tenth place from Gordon Shedden in a feisty move in his NGTC Toyota Avensis – soon taking a place from Nick Foster for ninth.
A miserable weekend for Team Aon saw Tom Onslow-Cole pit mid-way through the race, while his team-mate Chilton was battling in 17th – the only Aon Ford out on track for the remaining laps of race tree.
Jason Plato set the fastest lap time on lap five of the race, and was now making a move stick on Jeff Smith for fifth place. Up front, James Nash was still leading from Rob Austin, whilst at the tail end of the top ten Shedden and Foster were battling for position whilst Neal took 7th from Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan.
A further fight for Shedden saw MacDowall take 12th place from the Scot, who was now struggling with the success ballast and added weight in his Honda Civic – who later in the lap lost another place to Airwaves Racing’s Mat Jackson.
With O’Neill fighting Collard for third place in the latter stages of the race, the Audi of Rob Austin was also closing in on the Vauxhall of James Nash, the Pershore driver pushing hard for a first win for the NGTC engine. With Nash struggling on tyres, both Collard and O’Neill were also closing in on the leaders. Having lost the place momentarily, Collard took third back from Paul O’Neill, and looked at taking second from Rob Austin in the last lap.
Nothing could stop the youngster, and James Nash went on to take his first long awaited win in the British Touring Car Championship, closely followed by Rob Austin –who took his first podium and Rob Collard in third. O’Neill finished in 4th place in front of Silverline Chevrolet’s Jason Plato. Matt Neal went on to finish in 6th, leaving team-mate Shedden all the way back in 21st – having struggled in the latter stages with both tyres and ballast.
Both Honda drivers Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden are both tied on points with 204 in the Championship hunt, with Jason Plato still in third with 180 – meaning the Silverline Chevrolet’s still not out of the running. A second horrid weekend for Mat Jackson sees him lying fourth in the championship with 159 points.
The next event is in two weeks time at the Brands Hatch GP circuit in Kent. The fight for the title is definitely not over yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment