Title still open as Plato wins race one at Brands Hatch
Triple Eight MG’s Jason Plato dominated the first race in torrential conditions at Brands Hatch ahead of Honda Racing Team’s Gordon Shedden, meaning four drivers still have a chance of taking the title.
After an early safety car period to rescue Rob Austin’s stricken Audi A4, Plato drew away to win by more than five seconds from Shedden, with his team-mate Sam Tordoff a distant third.
Motorbase Performance’s Tom Onslow-Cole pipped series leader Andrew Jordan to fourth, after a mistake by the Honda Civic man at Graham Hill on lap seven allowed the Ford Focus to pass.
The result means Jordan has retained his independents’ championship title, and now leads Shedden by 29 points in the overall standings.
Matt Neal was close behind in sixth after charging through from 16th in his Honda Civic, but the battle for the title was narrowed from five men to four after just one corner.
Colin Turkington’s championship hopes were extinguished in a disastrous opening lap for West Surrey Racing. The 2009 champion made contact with team-mate Rob Collard on the exit of Paddock Hill, spun and had a head-on collision with his other team-mate Nick Foster, who could not avoid him. Both cars were eliminated from the race.
Collard recovered to finish seventh ahead of Adam Morgan, Mat Jackson and Aron Smith, who sliced through the field from 25th on the grid in his repaired Ford Focus. The four cars were separated by just over a second and a half at the flag.
There was a hugely popular win in the Jack Sears Trophy for Shaun Hollamby, who took class honours in the AmD Tuning Volkswagen Golf, after Lea Wood spun at Paddock Hill on lap 11. Hollamby finished 15th overall, meaning he also secured his first BTCC point.
The conditions helped contribute to a number of incidents during the race.
Frank Wrathall retired his Dynojet Toyota Avensis in the pits at the end of the first lap, while the safety car was scrambled on lap three when Austin went off at Paddock Hill in his Audi A4.
Jake Hill was spun around by Ollie Jackson at Graham Hill on lap six, the Toyota driver believing he’d been hit by Mat Jackson, while Warren Scott went off at Surtees on the same lap.
After Wood’s spin on lap 11, Aidan Moffat spun out of 15th on the following lap in his Tony Gilham Racing Volkswagen CC, allowing Hollamby into the points.
The second race is scheduled to get under way at 14:22 BST.
