Donington Park BTCC: Colin Turkington gives Team BMR VW another win
British Touring Car champion Colin Turkington made it two wins for Team BMR in as many races at Donington Park
Turkington got ahead of poleman Gordon Shedden at the start to lead the opening lap but was tagged into a slide by the Honda driver at Redgate next time round.
The two banged wheels as they navigated the Craner Curves, causing Shedden to drop behind Andrew Jordan and hit the MG as he straightened up for the Old Hairpin.
Further back a clash between Alex Martin and Warren Scott at the bottom of the Craner Curves necessitated a safety car, and when racing resumed Turkington moved clear immediately as Jordan sought to look after his soft tyres, which had hurt several drivers in the opening encounter.
The MG driver was largely successful in his endeavour, holding a podium spot for the majority of the race, but Shedden replicated team-mate Matt Neal's decline from race one and tumbled down the order as the Civic Type-R again appeared to take more out of the soft Dunlops than the others.
While the 2012 champion fell to 14th, Jordan did his best to keep Adam Morgan's Ciceley Mercedes, Rob Collard's WSR BMW and race-one winner Jason Plato's BMR VW at bay for second.
Morgan started third but dropped back at the start, though once he cleared Jack Goff, who bravely and briefly got his MG ahead with an around-the-outside pass down the Craner Curves, he started attacking Jordan with earnest.
Morgan got inside Jordan on the back straight in the closing stages, with Neal making it three-abreast on the outside, and Neal took to the gravel after bouncing off the kerb and making contact with Morgan, pushing him wide.
Neal maintained his momentum and attacked Jordan over the line, diving past at Redgate and easing clear in his ballast-free Civic to claim second.
Behind, Morgan regrouped and on the penultimate lap tagged Jordan at McLeans, sending the MG sideways and allowing Rob Collard to nip ahead into third.
But Morgan outdragged the WSR BMW and dived by at the chicane, with Jordan following Morgan past Collard (via the gravel) to grab fourth.
Collard also fell behind Plato, who struggled with 75kg of ballast after dominating the opener, but just held off the charging Josh Cook in the Power Maxed Racing Chevrolet Cruze. Cook then drew reverse-grid pole for race three.
Goff eventually crossed the line eighth as both MGs held on despite running the soft tyres, while Collard's team-mates Sam Tordoff and Andy Priaulx completed the top 10.
Infiniti's Derek Palmer Jr failed to take part and is likely to miss the finale after his Q50's engine suffered a terminal main bearing failure.
His team-mate Richard Hawken, making his BTCC debut this weekend, finished last of the runners in 24th.
RESULTS - 18 LAPS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Colin Turkington | Team BMR | Volkswagen | 22m58.065s |
2 | Matt Neal | Honda | Honda | 2.501s |
3 | Adam Morgan | Ciceley Racing | Mercedes | 8.832s |
4 | Andrew Jordan | MG | MG | 10.484s |
5 | Jason Plato | Team BMR | Volkswagen | 10.693s |
6 | Rob Collard | WSR | BMW | 10.982s |
7 | Josh Cook | Power Maxed | Chevrolet | 10.991s |
8 | Jack Goff | MG | MG | 12.002s |
9 | Sam Tordoff | WSR | BMW | 12.150s |
10 | Andy Priaulx | WSR | BMW | 12.320s |
11 | Dave Newsham | Power Maxed | Chevrolet | 13.666s |
12 | Aron Taylor-Smith | Team BMR | Volkswagen | 14.514s |
13 | Tom Ingram | Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota | 14.695s |
14 | Gordon Shedden | Honda | Honda | 17.086s |
15 | Jeff Smith | Eurotech | Honda | 17.387s |
16 | Aiden Moffat | Aiden Moffat Racing | Mercedes | 19.452s |
17 | Hunter Abbott | Rob Austin Racing | Audi | 25.108s |
18 | Rob Austin | Rob Austin Racing | Audi | 25.210s |
19 | Martin Depper | Eurotech | Honda | 26.380s |
20 | Kieran Gallagher | Team Hard | Toyota | 37.303s |
21 | Simon Belcher | Handy Motorsport | Toyota | 54.977s |
22 | Stewart Lines | Houseman Racing | Toyota | 58.907s |
23 | Alex Martin | Team Parker | Ford | 1m06.987s |
24 | Richard Hawken | Infiniti | Infiniti | 1m15.832s |
- | Mike Bushell | AmD | Ford | Not classified |
- | Daniel Welch | Welch Motorsport | Proton | Retirement |
- | Warren Scott | Team BMR | Volkswagen | Retirement |
- | Andy Wilmot | Welch Motorsport | Proton | Not started |
- | Derek Palmer Jr. | Infiniti | Infiniti | Not started |
RACE THREE GRID:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Josh Cook | Power Maxed | Chevrolet |
2 | Rob Collard | WSR | BMW |
3 | Jason Plato | Team BMR | Volkswagen |
4 | Andrew Jordan | MG | MG |
5 | Adam Morgan | Ciceley Racing | Mercedes |
6 | Matt Neal | Honda | Honda |
7 | Colin Turkington | Team BMR | Volkswagen |
8 | Jack Goff | MG | MG |
9 | Sam Tordoff | WSR | BMW |
10 | Andy Priaulx | WSR | BMW |
11 | Dave Newsham | Power Maxed | Chevrolet |
12 | Aron Taylor-Smith | Team BMR | Volkswagen |
13 | Tom Ingram | Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota |
14 | Gordon Shedden | Honda | Honda |
15 | Jeff Smith | Eurotech | Honda |
16 | Aiden Moffat | Aiden Moffat Racing | Mercedes |
17 | Hunter Abbott | Rob Austin Racing | Audi |
18 | Rob Austin | Rob Austin Racing | Audi |
19 | Martin Depper | Eurotech | Honda |
20 | Kieran Gallagher | Team Hard | Toyota |
21 | Simon Belcher | Handy Motorsport | Toyota |
22 | Stewart Lines | Houseman Racing | Toyota |
23 | Alex Martin | Team Parker | Ford |
24 | Richard Hawken | Infiniti | Infiniti |
25 | Mike Bushell | AmD | Ford |
26 | Daniel Welch | Welch Motorsport | Proton |
27 | Warren Scott | Team BMR | Volkswagen |
28 | Derek Palmer Jr. | Infiniti | Infiniti |
29 | Andy Wilmot | Welch Motorsport | Proton |
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