Silverstone National Circuit always throws up some great racing and a strong round for MG and this year sticking to tradition it done both. The BTCC Silverstone round was thrilling and dramatic in many ways:
Race 1 saw Colin Turkington get ahead of Jason Plato off the line and lead for a lap but the pace of MG came too much and soon enough Plato pulled off the move at Brooklands that saw him overtake for the lead and it didn’t come as a surprise to many. Going into race 1 with a 55 point lead in the championship he wasn’t going to fight Plato and sustain damage in the first and calmest race of the day. The other battle in the race saw Sam Tordoff in the sister MG hold off Aron Smith and Alain Menu to come home in 4th place whilst Silverstone specialist Mat Jackson.
Race 2 followed a similar pattern to one in terms of Turkington getting ahead and then Plato pulling an identical move to regain the lead. This time Alain Menu joined them on the podium after a great mid race battle with Mat Jackson. The big story of race 2 isn’t something that’s written about a lot in modern BTCC because Alan Gow and his team have made the sport so safe. However this was a rare occasion as we saw a big crash which saw the race abandoned. EBay Motors BMW driver Rob Collard was able to walk away unharmed. From what the footage shows Gordon Shedden had a little bit of contact with Jack Clarke who then slowed and hit Collard who then spun several times. Luckily the shape of the car was pretty intact and Collard went to hospital with a concussion and surely today he will be very sore but no broken bones. So of course we wish Collard all the best and can’t wait to see him racing at his best in Brands Hatch.
Race 3 will go down as one of the best races of the season I’m sure. After an early safety car the race really got going, Mat Jackson and Aron Smith had a good lead at the front of the pack and the battle for third was where the action was. At the end of lap 19 Turkington couldn’t possibly stay behind Fabrizio Giovanardi any longer because Menu and Plato were starting to get aggressive behind him and soon enough he was going to be stuck and losing places to Plato. Race 1 and 2 Turkington drove his own race and was sensible with the championship in mind, however in race 3 it was time to take risks much to the stress of his team, his family and his fans who were all watching through their fingers as they came down to Brooklands side by side. It was the closest point they could be so when Plato bumped the back of Turkington he was lucky to hold onto the car but in the process bumped into Giovanardi sending him wide and down into 11th place. Once the mayhem of lap 20 was done Turkington was able to pull away a bit and drive like he wanted into a brilliant third podium of the day.
So we leave Silverstone with Turkington having a 50 point lead over Plato and having wrapped up the Independent team and Drivers’ championship and now just the big one left… What will happen at Brands Hatch? I have no idea but it will be great racing as we wave goodbye to a season that’s seen 10 winners, so far!
‘As we all thought, it’s going down to the wire!’ – Colin Turkington
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