Race 1 - Results
Matt Neal took his 50 British Touring Car race victory after a dramatic final lap at Thruxton.
The works Honda driver was briefly relegated to fourth on the first lap, before contact between Jason Plato's MG and Gordon Shedden allowed him into second.
Shedden had overtaken poleman Andrew Jordan (Eurotech) at the start and Plato tried the outside line for Campbell to give him the inside for Cobb to overtake Jordan.
That looked like being successful, but such was Plato's speed he nudged the rear of Shedden's Civic. The reigning champion held it, but then swept across the track, causing more contact with Plato that took the Civic off.
Jordan thus retook the lead, chased by Neal and Plato. Only Neal could stay with the Eurotech Honda as Plato started to fall back.
The lead gap hovered around a second and Jordan looked in control - and set to take the championship lead - until a front-left tyre blow-out sent him off on the final lap, relegating him to 11th.
Neal was left to take an easy win, while Plato held off a charging Tom Onslow-Cole to secure second.
Onslow-Cole ran fifth in the early stages before passing Sam Tordoff's MG at the chicane just before half-distance. The Team Hard VW Passat then closed on Plato, but could not find a way by the double champion.
Tordoff took fourth from Eurotech's Jeff Smith. After qualifying sixth, Smith fell to 10th on the opening lap but recovered to complete the top five.
A fast-starting Colin Turkington finished sixth in the lead WSR BMW, holding off a feisty Mat Jackson. The Motorbase Ford driver looked much more competitive in the race than qualifying, passing several cars on his way to seventh from 13th on the grid.
The S2000 class once again proved hard-fought. Joe Girling's Chevrolet Cruze led initially before being overtaken by Lea Wood's Vauxhall Vectra and the AmD VW Golf of James Kaye.
Girling then went off, Kaye overtook Wood, only for the VW to hit technical trouble, and Liam Griffin moved to the front in his Motorbase Ford Focus.
Griffin then kept the NGTC Audi of Rob Austin between himself and Wood for much of the race to secure Jack Sears Trophy honours.
2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Thruxton - Race 1
1 2 Matt Neal (Honda Yuasa Racing) +0.000
2 99 Jason Plato (MG KX Momentum Racing +6.663
3 6 Tom Onslow-Cole (PPCGB / Kraftwerk Racing) +7.522
4 88 Sam Tordoff (MG KX Momentum Racing) +9.579
5 55 Jeff Smith (Pirtek Racing) +10.205
6 29 Colin Turkington (eBay Motors) +14.803
7 7 Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing) +15.454
8 17 Dave Newsham (Speedworks Motorsport) +15.899
9 8 Aron Smith (Airwaves Racing) +16.104
10 33 Adam Morgan (Ciceley Racing) +16.735
11 77 Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing) +19.579
12 31 Jack Goff (RCIB Insurance Racing) +24.298
13 5 Robert Collard (eBay Motors) +25.696
14 10 Daniel Welch (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +30.506
15 11 Frank Wrathall (Dynojet) +31.230
16 48 Ollie Jackson (Speedworks Motorsport) +34.999
17 20 James Cole (RCIB Insurance Racing) +49.959
18 14 Will Bratt (WIX Racing) +50.617
19 13 Rob Austin (WIX Racing) +53.876
20 66 Liam Griffin (Addison Lee Motorbase) +54.676
21 43 Lea Wood (Wheel Heaven / Houseman Racing) +55.845
22 12 David Nye (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +1:01.177
23 90 Joe Girling (M247 Racing with Tech-Speed Motorsport) +1:01.911
24 18 Nick Foster (eBay Motors) +1:06.255
25 1 Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa Racing) +1:20.151
Not Classified
- 39 Warren Scott (Team BMR Restart) +2 Laps
- 15 James Kaye (AmDTuning.com) +8 Laps
"I don't want to be treated as special because I'm not. I just drive a racing car round in circles a bit faster than everyone else." Michael Schumacher
Bookmarks