Croft BTCC: Sam Tordoff dominates race two for WSR BMW
Sam Tordoff made it two wins from two British Touring Car Championship races at Croft for the WSR team with a dominant performance in the second encounter
The BMW man led from lights to flag and never looked under pressure as he eased to a 2.3-second winning margin over a pair of chasing Team BMR Volkswagen CCs.
Jason Plato won that particular fight, having passed race-one winner Andy Priaulx at Tower on the third lap, a move that opened the door for Colin Turkington to take third in the second VW.
Turkington resisted a mid-race attack from Priaulx before closing in on Plato in the latter stages, though a half-hearted look at the hairpin was the nearest he came to an overtake.
Priaulx kept the BMR men honest en route to fourth, while Honda driver Gordon Shedden won out in a fierce fight with the third WSR BMW of Rob Collard for fifth - though Collard has pole for race three in the grid draw.
Shedden passed Rob Austin at Sunny In on lap four and dived by Collard at Tower at three-quarters' distance, before running side-by-side with the 125i M Sport through the Jim Clark Esses.
Having survived that, Shedden resisted intense pressure to the end - with Austin's Audi keeping a watching brief in seventh.
Tom Ingram's Toyota shadowed that fight for almost the entire race, though the soft-tyre shod Avensis slipped back from the tail of the group in the closing stages.
A close battle between Adam Morgan, Jack Goff and Matt Neal helped Ingram to maintain eighth at the flag, with Morgan and Goff completing the top 10 despite contact between Goff and Neal at the Complex on the last lap.
RESULTS - 15 LAPS:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Tordoff | WSR | BMW | 21m48.128s |
| 2 | Jason Plato | Team BMR | Volkswagen | 2.368s |
| 3 | Colin Turkington | Team BMR | Volkswagen | 2.936s |
| 4 | Andy Priaulx | WSR | BMW | 3.548s |
| 5 | Gordon Shedden | Honda | Honda | 8.023s |
| 6 | Rob Collard | WSR | BMW | 8.404s |
| 7 | Rob Austin | Rob Austin Racing | Audi | 8.558s |
| 8 | Tom Ingram | Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota | 13.384s |
| 9 | Adam Morgan | Ciceley Racing | Mercedes | 14.725s |
| 10 | Jack Goff | MG | MG | 15.620s |
| 11 | Matt Neal | Honda | Honda | 16.933s |
| 12 | Hunter Abbott | Rob Austin Racing | Audi | 24.820s |
| 13 | Dave Newsham | Power Maxed | Chevrolet | 26.263s |
| 14 | Andrew Jordan | MG | MG | 26.431s |
| 15 | Warren Scott | Team BMR | Volkswagen | 26.741s |
| 16 | Aron Taylor-Smith | Team BMR | Volkswagen | 27.186s |
| 17 | Alex Martin | Team Parker | Ford | 38.175s |
| 18 | Aiden Moffat | Aiden Moffat Racing | Mercedes | 41.648s |
| 19 | Mike Bushell | AmD | Ford | 41.926s |
| 20 | Daniel Welch | Welch Motorsport | Proton | 45.386s |
| 21 | Simon Belcher | Handy Motorsport | Toyota | 51.553s |
| 22 | Andy Wilmot | Welch Motorsport | Proton | 52.541s |
| 23 | Derek Palmer Jr. | Infiniti | Infiniti | 52.603s |
| 24 | Jeff Smith | Eurotech | Honda | 57.778s |
| 25 | Nicolas Hamilton | AmD | Audi | 1m03.448s |
| 26 | Stewart Lines | Houseman Racing | Toyota | 1m10.823s |
| 27 | Max Coates | Infiniti | Infiniti | 2 Laps |
| - | Martin Depper | Eurotech | Honda | Retirement |
| - | Josh Cook | Power Maxed | Chevrolet | Retirement |
| - | Kieran Gallagher | Team Hard | Toyota | Not started |
RACE THREE GRID:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rob Collard | WSR | BMW |
| 2 | Gordon Shedden | Honda | Honda |
| 3 | Andy Priaulx | WSR | BMW |
| 4 | Colin Turkington | Team BMR | Volkswagen |
| 5 | Jason Plato | Team BMR | Volkswagen |
| 6 | Sam Tordoff | WSR | BMW |
| 7 | Rob Austin | Rob Austin Racing | Audi |
| 8 | Tom Ingram | Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota |
| 9 | Adam Morgan | Ciceley Racing | Mercedes |
| 10 | Jack Goff | MG | MG |
| 11 | Matt Neal | Honda | Honda |
| 12 | Hunter Abbott | Rob Austin Racing | Audi |
| 13 | Dave Newsham | Power Maxed | Chevrolet |
| 14 | Andrew Jordan | MG | MG |
| 15 | Warren Scott | Team BMR | Volkswagen |
| 16 | Aron Taylor-Smith | Team BMR | Volkswagen |
| 17 | Alex Martin | Team Parker | Ford |
| 18 | Aiden Moffat | Aiden Moffat Racing | Mercedes |
| 19 | Mike Bushell | AmD | Ford |
| 20 | Daniel Welch | Welch Motorsport | Proton |
| 21 | Simon Belcher | Handy Motorsport | Toyota |
| 22 | Andy Wilmot | Welch Motorsport | Proton |
| 23 | Derek Palmer Jr. | Infiniti | Infiniti |
| 24 | Jeff Smith | Eurotech | Honda |
| 25 | Nicolas Hamilton | AmD | Audi |
| 26 | Stewart Lines | Houseman Racing | Toyota |
| 27 | Max Coates | Infiniti | Infiniti |
| 28 | Martin Depper | Eurotech | Honda |
| 29 | Josh Cook | Power Maxed | Chevrolet |
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