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The heat was on for the first British Touring Car Championship race of the day on the Brands Hatch GP circuit with not a cloud in the blue sky as the cars lined up on the grid.
Silverline Chevrolet’s Jason Plato, who had dominated Saturday’s qualifying session to take pole, lead the 15 lap race from start to finish. In spite of a number of incidents and retirements during the race it was safety car free.
Plato was unchallenged into the first corner with him team mate Alex MacDowall overtaking James Nash to slot in behind Plato. Honda Racing’s Matt Neal also got a good start, moving from sixth into third. These three drivers were unchallenged in the opening laps as Nash, Mat Jackson, Gordon Shedden and Paul O’Neill fought for fourth.
As the race entered middle distance disaster struck for Neal who punctured a front left tyre. It was a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time for 888 Racing’s Nash who was caught out trying to avoid the stricken car allowing Jackson to slip through. Laps later Neal’s team mate Shedden was also caught out by a puncture to the front left and forced to pit. In the mid pack a battle between Rob Collard and Frank Wrathall saw the latter driver spin off and make light contact with the barriers.
At the end of the 15 laps Plato took the chequered flag, followed by Jackson who got past MacDowall in the dying laps of the race. In his BTCC debut for 888 Racing, Ollie Jackson finished just outside the points in 11th after starting in 15th. After a strong performance in Saturday qualifying which saw him take second, Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan did not participate in the race after an engine change caused issues that could not be resolved in time.
Race 1 Results
P/ No/ CL/ Driver/ Car/ Laps/ Gap/ Best/
1 1 Jason Plato Chevrolet Cruze 15 -- 1m32.832s
2 7 I Mat Jackson Ford Focus ST 15 +2.121s 1m33.282s
3 20 Alex MacDowall Chevrolet Cruze 15 +3.091s 1m32.853s
4 14 I James Nash Vauxhall Vectra 15 +3.818s 1m33.336s
5 4 I Tom Onslow-Cole Ford Focus 15 +4.574s 1m33.190s
6 29 I Paul O'Neill Chevrolet Cruze 15 +5.019s 1m33.193s
7 5 I Tom Chilton Global Ford Focus 15 +5.841s 1m33.539s
8 8 I Robert Collard BMW 320si E90 15 +12.720s 1m33.528s
9 44 I Andy Neate Global Ford Focus 15 +13/174s 1m33.605s
10 18 I Nick Foster BMW 320si E90 15 +22.015s 1m33.819s
12 6 I Michael Caine Ford Focus ST 15 +31.462s 1m34.126s
13 13 I Rob Austin Audi A4 15 +32.885s 1m34.706s
14 28 I John George Chevrolet Cruze 15 +33.368s 1m34.588s
15 34 I Tony Gilham BMW 320i E46 15 +35.338s 1m34.939s
16 66 I Liam Griffin Ford Focus ST 15 +36.263s 1m34.824s
17 31 I Chris Swanwick Audi A4 15 +55.514s 1m36.609s
18 2 Matt Neal Honda Civic 15 +57.918s 1m33.079s
19 52 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic 15 +1m11.024s 1m33.313s
20 78 I Chris James Chevrolet Lacetti 15 +1m12.716s 1m37.307s
21 50 I Tony Hughes Toyota Avensis 15 +1m16.324s 1m37.744s
22 99 I Martin Byford VW Golf MK5 14 +1 Lap 1m34.169s
Not Classified
- 22 I Tom Boardman SEAT Leon 14 +1 Lap 1m33.353s
- 11 I Frank Wrathall Toyota Avensis 13 +2 Laps 1m33.360s
- 43 I Lea Wood Honda Integra 9 +6 Laps 1m35.418s
- 17 I David Newsham SEAT Leon 8 +7 Laps 1m33.892s
- 42 I Daniel Welch Proton Gen-2 6 +9 Laps 1m33.376s
- 55 I Jeff Smith Vauxhall Vectra 3 +12 Laps 1m34.234s
Outside conditions in excess of 24 degrees and track temperature in excess of 37. Sunny and literally not a cloud in the sky. By Chelsea Woods
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