Croft BTCC: Colin Turkington dominates race on as BMWs fly

Turkington made an average start from pole but held the lead from Matt Neal's Honda, while the WSR BMW of Rob Collard shot through from row three to challenge Jason Plato for third.

Contact between Collard and the MG spun the BMW around, allowing Turkington and Neal to make a break.

Plato appeared to struggle for pace and Gordon Shedden overtook him for third when the MG ran wide at Tower on lap two.

Shedden closed in on Neal and the two works Hondas then ran in formation to the flag.

Despite running on the soft tyres, Turkington kept his pace up and eventually finished almost 10 seconds clear, while team-mate Nick Foster (also on softs) shot through from 12th. He passed Plato at Hawthorn with four laps to go to take a fine fourth.

Andrew Jordan completed the top six after forcing his way back by a fast-starting Sam Tordoff, who brought his MG home in seventh.

After strong drives through the field, Michael Caine (Motorbase Ford Focus) and the recovering Collard both overcame Tom Onslow-Cole on the final tour to take eighth and ninth.

BTCC debutant Jake Hill won the Jack Sears Trophy for S2000 cars in the Motorbase Focus normally raced by Liam Griffin.

Results - 15 laps:

Pos  Driver            Team/Car             Time/Gap
 1.  Colin Turkington  WSR BMW            21m46.663s
 2.  Matt Neal         Honda                 +9.334s
 3.  Gordon Shedden    Honda                 +9.552s
 4.  Nick Foster       WSR BMW              +12.819s
 5.  Jason Plato       MG                   +18.580s
 6.  Andrew Jordan     Eurotech Honda       +20.810s
 7.  Sam Tordoff       MG                   +27.961s
 8.  Michael Caine     Motorbase Ford       +34.881s
 9.  Rob Collard       WSR BMW              +35.040s
10.  Tom Onslow-Cole   Hard VW              +36.178s
11.  Adam Morgan       Ciceley Toyota       +36.640s
12.  Jeff Smith        Eurotech Honda       +36.943s
13.  Rob Austin        Austin Audi          +38.686s
14.  Aron Smith        Motorbase Ford       +41.608s
15.  Will Bratt        Austin Audi          +45.050s
16.  Jack Goff         Hard Vauxhall        +56.267s
17.  Daniel Welch      Welch Proton         +58.775s
18.  Jake Hill         Motorbase Ford     +1m00.819s
19.  James Cole        Hard Vauxhall      +1m02.934s
20.  Frank Wrathall    Dynojet Toyota     +1m08.478s
21.  David Nye         Welch Ford         +1m10.053s
22.  Lea Wood          Wood Vauxhall      +1m24.724s

Retirements:

     Dave Newsham      Speedworks Toyota      6 laps
     Mat Jackson       Motorbase Ford         5 laps
     Ollie Jackson     Speedworks Toyota      3 laps
     James Kaye        AmD VW                 3 laps
     Joe Girling       Finesse Chevrolet      0 laps
     Warren Scott      BMR SEAT               0 laps