Oulton Park BTCC: Sam Tordoff gets first WSR victory in race three
Sam Tordoff took his first British Touring Car Championship win since switching to the WSR team with victory in the Oulton Park reverse-grid race
The ex-MG man passed Matt Neal shortly after half-distance and then resisted late pressure from Andrew Jordan to triumph in the final race in Cheshire.
Tordoff dropped to third at the start after running wide while attempting to pass poleman Adam Morgan round the outside at the first corner, allowing Neal's Honda Civic Type-R through to second.
Neal assumed the lead when Morgan was handed a drive-through penalty for a jump start, and pulled out a lead of one second over the chasing BMW.
But a scruffy half a lap at mid-distance put him under pressure and when Neal wobbled through Lodge, Tordoff was able to draw alongside and dive by at Old Hall.
Later that lap Jordan forced his way inside Neal at Lodge, and after they swapped paint through Deer Leap the MG replicated Tordoff's pass into Old Hall.
Jordan chased down Tordoff, who had eked out a slight advantage, but could not challenge on the final lap and Tordoff held on for his third win in the series.
Neal completed the podium ahead of team-mate Gordon Shedden, who resisted race-long pressure from the day's double victor Jason Plato.
Plato was at the head of a train of Team BMR Volkswagen CCs, with Colin Turkington passing Aron Smith to end a difficult weekend in sixth place.
Morgan ended up outside the points in 17th after serving his drive-through penalty at the end of the second lap, while Andy Priaulx's day ended in disappointment again.
After colliding with team-mate Rob Collard in race two, which took them out of fourth and fifth, Priaulx was running 10th for the majority of race three until an unknown mechanical problem forced him into retirement.
RESULTS - 15 LAPS:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Tordoff | WSR | BMW | 22m02.470s |
| 2 | Andrew Jordan | MG | MG | 0.264s |
| 3 | Matt Neal | Honda | Honda | 0.766s |
| 4 | Gordon Shedden | Honda | Honda | 2.997s |
| 5 | Jason Plato | Team BMR | Volkswagen | 3.137s |
| 6 | Colin Turkington | Team BMR | Volkswagen | 3.831s |
| 7 | Aron Taylor-Smith | Team BMR | Volkswagen | 4.381s |
| 8 | Jack Goff | MG | MG | 4.772s |
| 9 | Tom Ingram | Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota | 7.105s |
| 10 | Jeff Smith | Eurotech | Honda | 7.152s |
| 11 | Aiden Moffat | Aiden Moffat Racing | Mercedes | 11.762s |
| 12 | Warren Scott | Team BMR | Volkswagen | 12.121s |
| 13 | Josh Cook | Power Maxed | Chevrolet | 12.531s |
| 14 | Rob Collard | WSR | BMW | 16.099s |
| 15 | Daniel Welch | Welch Motorsport | Proton | 19.046s |
| 16 | Hunter Abbott | Rob Austin Racing | Audi | 20.590s |
| 17 | Adam Morgan | Ciceley Racing | Mercedes | 20.808s |
| 18 | Dave Newsham | Power Maxed | Chevrolet | 22.635s |
| 19 | Derek Palmer Jr. | Infiniti | Infiniti | 33.691s |
| 20 | Stewart Lines | Houseman Racing | Toyota | 35.612s |
| 21 | Simon Belcher | Handy Motorsport | Toyota | 41.301s |
| 22 | Kieran Gallagher | Team Hard | Toyota | 2 Laps |
| - | Rob Austin | Rob Austin Racing | Audi | Retirement |
| - | Mike Bushell | AmD | Ford | Retirement |
| - | Andy Priaulx | WSR | BMW | Retirement |
| - | Alex Martin | Team Parker | Ford | Not classified |
| - | Andy Wilmot | Welch Motorsport | Proton | Retirement |
| - | Martin Depper | Eurotech | Honda | Retirement |
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Plato | 157 |
| 2 | Gordon Shedden | 154 |
| 3 | Matt Neal | 149 |
| 4 | Andrew Jordan | 144 |
| 5 | Colin Turkington | 124 |
| 6 | Adam Morgan | 114 |
| 7 | Sam Tordoff | 111 |
| 8 | Jack Goff | 104 |
| 9 | Aron Taylor-Smith | 93 |
| 10 | Rob Collard | 81 |
| 11 | Andy Priaulx | 75 |
| 12 | Tom Ingram | 67 |
| 13 | Josh Cook | 48 |
| 14 | Rob Austin | 39 |
| 15 | Dave Newsham | 37 |
| 16 | Aiden Moffat | 35 |
| 17 | Martin Depper | 23 |
| 18 | Jeff Smith | 20 |
| 19 | Hunter Abbott | 15 |
| 20 | Warren Scott | 10 |
| 21 | Mike Bushell | 2 |
| 22 | Simon Belcher | 1 |
| 23 | Daniel Welch | 1 |
| 24 | Kieran Gallagher | 1 |
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