Brands Hatch BTCC: Frank Wrathall takes maiden win in wet finale
| By Kevin Turner |
Sunday, October 21st 2012, 16:49 GMT |
 Frank Wrathall took his first British Touring Car victory in the reversed-grid race in the 2012 finale at Brands Hatch.
Wrathall inherited the lead when polesitter Mat Jackson suffered a throttle problem on his NGTC Motorbase Ford Focus.
The Dynojet Toyota Avensis extended its lead over Matt Neal's Honda Civic to take victory in appalling conditions by nearly seven seconds.
The wet again hindered Jason Plato, who came into the race two points behind Neal in the battle for second in the drivers' table.
Plato's MG started ahead of the Honda and ran third early on, but soon had Neal and team-mate Gordon Shedden right on his tail.
On lap three Plato had a moment at Graham Hill Bend and Neal went through, with Shedden soon following.
As Plato fell back through the field to an eventual eighth, Honda drivers Neal, Shedden and Andrew Jordan (Eurotech) lined up to finish in formation as the Japanese marque secured every BTCC title on offer in 2012.
Aron Smith completed a fine weekend by coming through to finish fifth from row four, while Dave Newsham starred on his way through from row 10 to sixth.
Rob Austin's Audi finished right behind the ES Vectra, while Lea Wood took ninth after a close battle with Plato.
Despite a clash with WSR BMW team-mate Rob Collard, Tom Onslow-Cole recovered to complete the top 10, overcoming the impressive AmD Golf of Ollie Jackson. Results - 15 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Frank Wrathall Dynojet Toyota 26m41.205s
2. Matt Neal Honda + 6.893s
3. Gordon Shedden Honda + 6.980s
4. Andrew Jordan Eurotech Honda + 7.065s
5. Aron Smith Motorbase Ford + 10.454s
6. Dave Newsham ES Vauxhall + 13.776s
7. Rob Austin Austin Audi + 14.190s
8. Jason Plato MG + 18.568s
9. Lea Wood Wood Vauxhall + 18.834s
10. Tom Onslow-Cole WSR BMW + 20.277s
11. Ollie Jackson AmD Volkswagen + 21.974s
12. Will Bratt Austin Audi + 44.770s
13. Nick Foster WSR BMW + 1m04.579s
14. Liam Griffin Motorbase Ford + 1m07.881s
15. Tony Hughes Speedworks Toyota + 1m10.700s
16. Tony Gilham Gilham Vauxhall + 1m16.373s
17. Jeff Smith Eurotech Honda + 1m23.428s
18. Chris James ES Vauxhall + 1m36.544s
19. Rob Collard WSR BMW + 1 lap
Retirements:
Mat Jackson Motorbase Ford 3 laps
Andy Neate MG 2 laps
Daniel Welch Welch Proton 1 lap
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