Rockingham Speedway always produces good racing and this weekend’s BTCC was no exception as the championship got a new leader and a rising star proved himself in the heat of the battle.
Qualifying took on a familiar pattern as Mat Jackson continued his good form from Knockhill and with no ballast put his Motorbase Ford on pole position followed by BMR’s Aron Smith who was also ballast free going into the weekend. Championship contenders Plato, Shedden, Neal and Turkington lined up in fifth, sevenths, sixth and ninth respectively.
Race one started off with plenty of drama as contact for Jason Plato left him with damage to the rear the car and in the pit lane and two laps down but thanks to the quick BMR mechanics he was able to get back out and set a lap time fast enough for 12th on the grid for race 2. The flying Gordon Shedden made his way through the field and up into second taking full advantage of Plato’s issues. All the drama was behind the leader Mat Jackson who drove a great race despite his tyres only just lasting the course of the race, any longer and a puncture would have taken away his victory. The battle for third place was between Aron Smith and Jack Goff fighting for the entire race and Smith managed to hold on for an earned podium whilst the race ended in disaster for Matt Neal who did get a puncture on the last lap of the race.
For race two it was a swap for the number one and two drivers from race 1, Flash stormed into the lead and pulled out a gap whilst Jackson got another strong second place and was unchallenged during the course of the race. third was a different story however as a fantastic battle took place between Adam Morgan and Josh Cook who both worked their way up from lower positions on the grid. It was Josh Cook who took the glory of a first podium will an impressive drive. Contender, Neal managed to recover to claim a fifth place and Turkington struggled to finish eighth.
Race 3 will be remembered for the unbelievable fight between the experienced Plato and the young gun Tom Ingram, the two put it a performance that will be remembered as a classic BTCC race in years to come, the young driver Ingram was brave and strong not letting Plato getting away with tricks and passing him many times and fighting back before a relieved Plato took the chequered to get the win and put himself back in championship contention. Both drivers thoroughly enjoyed the race and double champion Plato had nothing but praise for Ingram post-race. Turkington managed to get a podium in the final race to just about keep in the title hunt going into the final rounds.
Gordon Shedden now leads the title race with Plato just six points behind and the BTCC’s next stop is the famous Silverstone track where it’s all or nothing for the drivers hoping to have a chance going into the final round of the 2015 championship race.
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