A catch-up from Silverstone...

The home of British motorsport was the battle ground for the penultimate three rounds of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. Jason Plato took his KX Momentum M6 to two wins, to put him second in the championship standings going into the final round at Brands Hatch. The Honda duo, who had predicted that their Civic wouldn’t run well at Silverstone, couldn’t believe their luck, as reigning champion Neal ended the day without earning a single point.

     Qualifying saw Jason Plato take pole position, whilst the Hondas languished down the field. Neal could only manage tenth, with team mate and championship leader Gordon Shedden in nineteenth.
     The fog lifted in perfect time ready for the first of the day’s three races to get underway, in which Jason Plato led the race from the start, before Mat Jackson took the lead mid-way through the race. The Redstone Racing NGTC Focus looked set to take its ever on-track victory, but heartache for the team saw Mat pull over on the track with a throttle problem, handing the lead back to Plato with only a handful of laps remaining. It wasn’t all bad news for the Motorbase outlet, with Aron Smith taking his first ever BTCC podium in third place, with Dave Newsham adding another second place podium to the ES Racing’s 2012 tally.

Plato came up trumps in the first race of the day, with Newsham
and Smith - stepping onto the podium for the first time by his side.
Picture Credit: Marc Waller

The first race wasn’t all plain sailing; Tom Onslow-Cole didn’t make it to his eighth place grid slot due to a driveshaft failure. However, a hasty change from the eBay Motors team allowed Onslow-Cole to start from the pit lane – he recovered well from this to cross the line in tenth. There was drama on the opening laps too, as Chris James had a coming together with Team HARD’s Howard Fuller – back out for the penultimate round with the independent team – forcing James to retire from the race with suspension damage. More casualties included Andrew Jordan, who had a tangle with Triple Eight racer Andy Neate, leaving Jordan furiously lingering in the Becketts gravel trap. Having served a drive through penalty for a false start moments before, Tony Gilham also spun off the track whilst trying to catch up with the safety car. Matt Neal was also forced to retire from the race with a turbo problem with his Honda Racing civic.
     Race two brought more dramas to the track at Silverstone, as the afternoon sun shone down. Having won the first race of the day, Jason Plato made another storming start and led for the majority of the race. Mat Jackson, who started seventeenth after his disappointing retirement in the first race, was storming through the field, and looking to make it to the front of the grid. Disaster for Plato saw him slow on the circuit and with Jackson relieving eBay driver Rob Collard for second, took the lead with the race drawing to a close. Another disastrous race for Matt Neal saw him hastily retreat from his Honda, after a fire broke out on the passenger side. Neal was able to get out of the car safely, and helped the marshals in their attempt to put out the flames.

Up in flames - Matt Neal escaped without injury from this fiery incident.
Picture Credit: Marc Waller

But the glory of race two went to Mat Jackson, who crossed the line ahead of his rivals for the first ever time in the Redstone Racing NGTC Ford Focus. Designed and built by hand by the Motorbase team, the victory was well received throughout, with the team celebrating their achievement for all to see. Dave Newsham took a second podium of the day by finishing in third, with the eBay Motors BMW of Rob Collard in second.

Celebration: Motorbase team principal David Bartrum was
over the moon with Jackson's victory!
Picture Credit: Marc Waller

Race three began with Nick Foster in pole position, and after his race two woes, Jason Plato sat in twentieth looking to make is way through the field. Heartbreak for the independent drivers Rob Austin and Dan Welch, who were battling for second place early on in the race – as they made contact with each other at Copse corner, which made them both lose a lot of time. They came together again at Luffield, with Welch having to settle for fifteenth and Rob, who finished on track in ninth, excluded from the race after investigations had taken place. Matt Neal and Lea Wood also made contact with each other coming out of Brooklands, which left the Honda with nowhere to go but the barriers – leaving the weekend, and possibly his championship, in tatters.
     The star of the show was undoubtedly Jason Plato, who crossed the line ahead of Mat Jackson – who drove from tenth with 45k of ballast on board to take a second podium for the team.  A great weekend for Rob Collard saw him also take his second podium – ending the day in third.
     With the championship going down the wire in two weeks’ time at Brands Hatch, Gordon Shedden currently still holds the lead by fifteen points with Jason Plato looming in second place. Matt Neal will go into Brands Hatch third in the standings – and thirty-one points behind his team mate. Although, with sixty points up for grabs at Brands, it’s all to play for as the season draws to a close…

BTCC: Rockingham Round-Up...

Rockingham Motor Speedway was the setting for rounds twenty two, twenty three and twenty four of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – where Jason Plato and Gordon Shedden shared the wins between them.

     Jason Plato started on pole position and dominated the day’s first race, as the rain clouds loomed over head. Despite the first race being a somewhat quiet affair, there were incidents on track that led to penalties post-occurrence. Jeff Smith was handed a £500 along with three penalty points on his license after an incident with Redstone Racing’s Aron Smith saw the Irishman left stranded in the gravel at the Tarzan hairpin. Plato dominated the field in his KX Momentum MG6, and took the win for the Triple Eight team, followed by Pirtek’s Andrew Jordan and Scotsman Gordon Shedden.

Jason Plato celebrating his race one with the Haribo bear!
Picture Credit: Marc Waller

The heavens opened on the circuit before the second race of the day, which saw the Hondas revel in the wet conditions, with Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal taking a 1-2 finish for the Honda Racing team. The damp environment was unkind to the MGs, with Andy Neate retiring early on in the session after a tangle with Dave Newsham and Jeff Smith.  Jason Plato managed to hold on third, but was unable to rule the race as was seen earlier on in the day. Mat Jackson was the first of the independent winners in the NGTC Redstone Racing Focus, taking fourth despite no wet running data on the car.
     Adam Morgan took advantage of the reverse grid draw and started the third and final race of the day at Rockingham on pole position. A dramatic start to the race saw Jeff Smith catch some standing water at the first corner, resulting in a heavy impact with the wall – bringing out the safety car as the track was cleared. Leader Adam Morgan, Mat Jackson and eBay Motors racer Tom Onslow-Cole were too caught out by the conditions, and spun during the early stages of the race.
     A heart-stopping moment for Gordon Shedden saw him take his Honda Racing Civic into a slide going into the first turn banking. Luckily for the Scotsman, Shedden was able to save the Civic from incident, and continued his battle for the lead.
     A mirror-image result in the final race saw Shedden, Neal and Plato all sharing the podium, as the championship standings were altered. Scotsman Shedden would lead the championship by three points to team mate Neal going into the penultimate round at Silverstone, with Plato catching the duo in third.
     Elsewhere on the grid, Howard Fuller – the debutant BTCC racer with Team HARD at Rockingham – had a brilliant start to his tin top career, bringing the HARD Honda home in three point scoring positions throughout the day.

Two out of three: Shedden goes into Silverstone
leading the championship standings.
Picture credit: Marc Waller