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Jason Plato continued his domination over the British Touring Car Championship field in race two at Brands Hatch.
In another safety car free race, the Silverline Chevrolet driver led the 15 laps from start to finish. This performance elevated the defending BTCC Champion into the lead of the 2011 Championship.
Plato led the field into the first corner and immediately began to build margin. His nearest Championship rivals and Honda Racing Team mates, Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden, began their charge through the field after punctures in the first race saw them both start towards the rear of the grid. These efforts soon saw them in points paying positions.
After being overtaken by Mat Jackson off the line, Alex MacDowall found himself facing pressure from Team Aon’s Tom Onslow-Cole who was able to overtake him for third. WSR’s Rob Collard was forced to pit after being given a mechanical black flag for a loose rear bumper. Dave Newsham and Chris Swanwick were also forced to tour the pit lane for exceeding track boundaries.
The biggest incident of the race came when MacDowall speared off track with smoke billowing from his Silverline Chevrolet, dropping oil on the track and promoting Paul O’Neill to 4th. While Plato continued to build margin at the front of the pack Jackson found himself under increasing pressure from Onslow-Cole. This battle allowed O’Neill to catch them. In spite of their battling in the dying laps they took the chequered flag in this order. This saw Plato on the top step of the podium, Jackson on the second step with another independent win and Onslow-Cole take his first podium of 2011.
Race 2/
P/ No/ CL/ Driver/ Car/ Laps/ Gap/ Best/
1 1 Jason Plato Chevrolet Cruze 15 -- 1m32.619s
2 7 I Mat Jackson Ford Focus ST 15 +1.791s 1m33.262s
3 4 I Tom Onslow-Cole Ford Focus 15 +2.565s 1m33.197s
4 29 I Paul O'Neill Chevrolet Cruze 15 +3.087s 1m33.279s
5 5 I Tom Chilton Global Ford Focus 15 +5.709s 1m33.348s
6 14 I James Nash Vauxhall Vectra 15 +6.916s 1m33.325s
7 2 Matt Neal Honda Civic 15 +9.760s 1m33.489s
8 52 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic 15 +10.994s 1m33.032s
9 44 I Andy Neate Global Ford Focus 15 +11.153s 1m33.862s
10 18 I Nick Foster BMW 320si E90 15 +11.584s 1m33.769s
11 22 I Tom Boardman SEAT Leon 15 +12.079s 1m33.828s
12 6 I Michael Caine Ford Focus ST 15 +15.473s 1m33.481s
13 11 I Frank Wrathall Toyota Avensis 15 +15.789s 1m34.237s
14 13 I Rob Austin Audi A4 15 +21.563s 1m34.118s
15 99 I Martin Byford VW Golf MK5 15 +22.757s 1m33.949s
16 77 I Andrew Jordan Vauxhall Vectra 15 +23.190s 1m34.194s
17 17 I David Newsham SEAT Leon 15 +27.707s 1m34.842s
19 66 I Liam Griffin Ford Focus ST 15 +35.161s 1m34.777s
20 28 I John George Chevrolet Cruze 15 +35.652s 1m34.167s
21 43 I Lea Wood Honda Integra 15 +39.891s 1m35.044s
22 8 I Robert Collard BMW 320si E90 15 +44.205s 1m34.245s
23 34 I Tony Gilham BMW 320i E46 15 +55.481s 1m34.901s
24 55 I Jeff Smith Vauxhall Vectra 15 +1m00.926s 1m34.367s
25 78 I Chris James Chevrolet Lacetti 15 +1m09.100s 1m36.718s
26 50 I Tony Hughes Toyota Avensis 15 +1m09.428s 1m36.669s
27 31 I Chris Swanwick Audi A4 15 +1m24.327s 1m36.601s
Not Classified
- 42 I Daniel Welch Proton Gen-2 13 +2 Laps 1m34.112s
Dropping oil on track
It was Onslow-Cole’s first podium of the year. By Chelsea Woods - Photo by Marc Waller
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