Rockingham BTCC: Jordan takes championship lead after race-one win
Andrew Jordan now leads the British Touring Car Championship title race after scoring his fifth win of the year in race one at Rockingham
The Eurotech Honda driver made a storming start to surge from row two of the grid to lead by driving around the outside of Jason Plato's polesitting MG6 at the Deene Hairpin.
Jordan immediately began to pull away as Plato fought to fend off Gordon Shedden's Dynamics Honda around the first lap, while two separate incidents at Gracelands took out five cars in the midfield and meant the safety car was deployed for five laps while marshals cleared the wreckage.
Jordan aced the restart and rebuilt his lead as Plato defended again from Shedden while erstwhile points leader Matt Neal spun his Honda at Brook chicane just before the restart and tumbled from fifth to the back end of the order.
Reigning champion Shedden finally broke through Plato's defences exiting the Brook chicane on lap eight to take second, but he would not hold on.
Mat Jackson had already charged his Motorbase Focus up from 12th on the grid to sixth on the opening lap and was quickly past Plato too after the restart.
He grabbed second from Shedden when the Honda ran wide at Deene with five laps left and set off after Jordan, but he could not bridge the gap despite being quicker in the closing stages.
Rob Austin recovered from a poor opening lap to complete the podium. He fell from third on the grid to ninth on the first lap, but his Audi got stronger as the race wore on and he charged back through the order, outdragging Shedden's Honda out of the final corner to nick third spot on the line.
Plato's unwieldy MG held on to fifth, ahead of the WSR BMWs of Colin Turkington and Rob Collard, while the Speedworks Toyota of Dave Newsham just held off Jack Goff's Team HARD Vauxhall Insignia to finish eighth, with Frank Wrathall (Dynojet Toyota) and Nick Foster (WSR BMW) in tow.
Neal recovered to grab two points for 14th place in his Honda, behind Smiths Jeff (Honda) and Aron (Ford), while Ollie Jackson's Toyota demoted front row starter Sam Tordoff's MG to a pointless 16th on the final lap.
Jack Sears Trophy leader Lea Wood's gamble on a green flag lap pitstop for slick tyres on his Vauxhall Vectra paid off. He overhauled the wet-shod Ford Focus of David Nye for S2000 class honours on the last lap.
Results - 19 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Andrew Jordan Eurotech Honda 33m42.513s 2. Mat Jackson Motorbase Ford +3.379s 3. Rob Austin Austin Audi +9.071s 4. Gordon Shedden Honda +9.271s 5. Jason Plato MG +14.803s 6. Colin Turkington WSR BMW +19.462s 7. Rob Collard WSR BMW +22.542s 8. Dave Newsham Speedworks Toyota +23.939s 9. Jack Goff Hard Vauxhall +24.395s 10. Frank Wrathall Dynojet Toyota +25.319s 11. Nick Foster WSR BMW +26.175s 12. Jeff Smith Eurotech Honda +29.083s 13. Aron Smith Motorbase Ford +29.358s 14. Matt Neal Honda +34.337s 15. Ollie Jackson Speedworks Toyota +41.183s 16. Sam Tordoff MG +42.843s 17. Howard Fuller Hard Volkswagen +43.372s 18. Andy Wilmot Hard Volkswagen +43.956s 19. Warren Scott BMR Volkswagen +1m19.408s 20. Lea Wood Wood Vauxhall +1m33.175s 21. David Nye Welch Ford +1m35.335s Retirements: Tom Onslow-Cole Motorbase Ford 1 lap Will Bratt Austin Audi 0 laps Daniel Welch Welch Proton 0 laps Adam Morgan Ciceley Toyota 0 laps Liam Griffin Motorbase Ford 0 laps Andy Neate IP Tech Chevrolet 0 laps
Rockingham BTCC: Jason Plato leads all-MG front row
Rockingham BTCC: Rob Austin secures maiden victory
How the BTCC's new hybrid era aced its first test
Expectations were high for the start of the British Touring Car Championship’s hybrid power era, and despite nerves and problems to solve prior to its debut the new rules gained widespread approval. Here’s how the first test at Donington Park was passed and the thorough examinations that are to follow
The Ford BTCC superteam combining two reigning TOCA champions
Reigning BTCC champion Ash Sutton and Porsche Carrera Cup GB victor Dan Cammish form a potent line-up at the Motorbase-run NAPA Racing team as the series adopts hybrid power. With Sutton bringing the key components of his title-winning Laser Tools Racing set-up, and Cammish eager to prove a point on his return, their dynamic is set to be one of the season's major talking points
The stalwart tin-top boss still shaping careers more than 40 years on
Veteran team manager Marvin Humphries and former Tech-Speed team boss has worked not only with stars of the British Touring Car Championship, but legends including Gil de Ferran, Hans Stuck and Tom Sneva in a long and varied career that has spanned five decades across tin-tops, single-seaters and sportscars
The grassroots rise that shaped an understated BTCC star
Having started out in club-level competitions alongside his own university engineering studies, Josh Cook's journey to becoming an established frontrunner in the British Touring Car Championship is atypical. But it's these experiences that have moulded the 30-year-old into a humble star, respected throughout the paddock
Ranking the top 10 BTCC drivers of 2021
A refresh in equipment and some returning faces helped contribute to a supremely competitive 2021 British Touring Car Championship campaign. Ash Sutton was crowned a three-time champion, successfully defending his 2020 title, but faced stiff competition in the final year before the switch to hybrid. Autosport picks out the best performers
Why the BTCC's ballast increase couldn't stop champion Sutton
Ballast will be gone from the BTCC next year as hybrid power enters the scene, but for its final season the maximum was increased from 60kg to 75kg. Despite having to carry that nearly all season, Ash Sutton was always the favourite to pocket a third title - the 27-year-old getting his reward for a season of speed tempered by savvy to nail his opportunities
The much-loved tin-top superstar bowing out at 59
OPINION: It's not often that a driver achieves widespread affection for their personality, as well as their on-track performances. One such individual is Gabriele Tarquini, who will soon bring the curtain down on a remarkable career that has yielded touring car titles on the European and global stage - and, famously, in Britain too
The making of the BTCC's newest superstar
Ash Sutton is on the verge of being crowned a three-time British Touring Car Champion; he seems to have it all. But life hasn't always been straightforward for this superstar of touring cars, as Marcus Simmons has been finding out