The penultimate round of the BTCC at Silverstone certainly didn’t disappoint as the championship is now poised and ready for Brands Hatch as the top four championship and closer together however one man managed to come out on top with a healthy lead for the title showdown.
The drama started early in the weekend as during the first practice session BMR driver and team boss Warren Scott had an accident and found himself in the wall and in the hospital with two fractured vertebrates, he did manage to get to the race track on Sunday to support his three drivers though. Qualifying took a normal routine to previous races as Mat Jackson was able to stretch his legs with no ballast and took pole position from a very impressive Gordon Shedden and Sam Tordoff with Jordan and Dave Newsham followed by Colin Turkington in sixth whilst Jason Plato and Matt Neal were stuck down in tenth and 11th.
Jackson then went on to take a lights to flag victory whilst all drama took place behind him as Tordoff, Jordan and Shedden all battled for position and that ended with Tordoff going wide of the road and losing positions to finish tenth. Jordan took a very well earned second whilst championship leader Shedden took third place. Newsham drove a race of his own in fourth while Turkington held onto fifth with a bit of help from team mate Aron Smith in sixth. Plato was the driver without the result in race one as a small engine problem left him slow followed by a puncture to sink his race.
Race two saw a mixed up grid with Plato and Turkington down in pack in 11th and 12th and Jackson got pole again but this time was joined by the returning Andy Priaulx. Jack Goff was in the mix with the two of them when fighting for the race win but another puncture this time for Jackson meant that he dropped down the order. Priaulx held off the challenge from Goff and pushed him into a battle with Smith who went on to take a fantastic third place podium for the team. Shedden and Jordan battled again but it was taken out their hands when Jordan became the third driver to suffer a puncture and fall down the order. Shedden took fourth from Tordoff and Neal with the BMR’s recovering to seventh and eighth with Collard and Cole rounding out the top ten.
James Cole was drawn on pole for the final race of the day with Collard next to him and Turkington and Plato lying in wait in fourth and fifth. Collard managed to gain the lead at the start whilst Turkington soon took the second place. Turkington had just got passed Collard for the lead of the race when a massive accident took place between Abbott and Welch. Luckily they were both okay but the safety car came out and backed the pack up for a few laps. A battle then took place between Collard and Tordoff and they came home in second and third while Turkington took a classic win out front. Plato managed fourth whilst Shedden took his third top five finish of the weekend to finish fifth.
Three races remain and Flash heads into the title showdown in the best position 23 points ahead of Plato and Turkington, thanks to his win, now only 32 points behind Shedden. It will be Shedden’s to lose at Brands Hatch in two weeks but anything can happen as the rain could come down and give us a final twist at the finale.
Main image:
