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.
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.
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| Jason Plato celebrating his race one with the Haribo bear! Picture Credit: Marc Waller |
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.
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| Two out of three: Shedden goes into Silverstone leading the championship standings. Picture credit: Marc Waller |
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