Silverstone BTCC: Andy Priaulx wins for WSR BMW
Andy Priaulx claimed the second win of his return British Touring Car Championship campaign with an assured drive in race two at Silverstone
BMW's three-time world champion suffered a rollbar failure in qualifying and the WSR man essentially aborted race one, focusing instead on setting a fast laptime and starting as high up the grid for the sequel as possible.
It paid dividends with a third-placed start that Priaulx turned into second by Copse, before hounding race-one winner Mat Jackson relentlessly over the opening laps.
The Motorbase Ford Focus driver held firm for the first third of the race, but eventually the 75kg he was carrying proved too much and the ballast-free 125i M Sport hit the front on lap eight.
That proved to be the race-winning pass, but it was a controversial move that involved Priaulx going all four wheels off the track and driving round the outside of Jackson on the run out of Copse.
As Priaulx eased clear to win, Jackson's attention duly turned to keeping Jack Goff's MG and the Team BMR Volkswagen CC of Aron Smith at bay for second.
He resisted initially, but shortly after mid-distance ran wide at Brooklands with a front-left puncture and had to pit for a replacement, promoting Goff and Smith to second and third.
Behind, championship leader Gordon Shedden claimed fourth after Andrew Jordan suffered a similar fate to Jackson.
The MG driver put in a measured defensive drive to stay ahead of Shedden's Honda for the entire race - until his front-left tyre let go on the final lap, dropping him to 19th.
Shedden's team-mate Matt Neal made it two Civic Type-Rs in the top five, just keeping a charging Sam Tordoff at bay.
Jason Plato came through to seventh after his Team BMR outfit changed the engine in his VW CC following race one - while team-mate Colin Turkington held on to eighth despite struggling massively with his soft tyres in the closing stages.
The punctures for Jackson and Jordan meant Rob Collard and James Cole completed the top 10 and will form the front row for race three after the reverse-grid draw.
RESULTS - 22 LAPS:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andy Priaulx | WSR | BMW | 21m48.624s |
| 2 | Jack Goff | MG | MG | 1.802s |
| 3 | Aron Taylor-Smith | Team BMR | Volkswagen | 2.791s |
| 4 | Gordon Shedden | Honda | Honda | 7.547s |
| 5 | Matt Neal | Honda | Honda | 7.803s |
| 6 | Sam Tordoff | WSR | BMW | 7.962s |
| 7 | Jason Plato | Team BMR | Volkswagen | 8.454s |
| 8 | Colin Turkington | Team BMR | Volkswagen | 13.402s |
| 9 | Rob Collard | WSR | BMW | 13.848s |
| 10 | James Cole | Motorbase | Ford | 14.109s |
| 11 | Adam Morgan | Ciceley Racing | Mercedes | 15.616s |
| 12 | Tom Ingram | Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota | 21.098s |
| 13 | Aiden Moffat | Aiden Moffat Racing | Mercedes | 21.732s |
| 14 | Josh Cook | Power Maxed | Chevrolet | 22.006s |
| 15 | Martin Depper | Eurotech | Honda | 23.476s |
| 16 | Jeff Smith | Eurotech | Honda | 24.610s |
| 17 | Mike Bushell | AmD | Ford | 24.872s |
| 18 | Daniel Welch | Welch Motorsport | Proton | 25.699s |
| 19 | Andrew Jordan | MG | MG | 32.219s |
| 20 | Tony Gilham | Team Hard | Toyota | 38.268s |
| 21 | Alex Martin | Team Parker | Ford | 39.920s |
| 22 | Simon Belcher | Handy Motorsport | Toyota | 41.045s |
| 23 | Derek Palmer Jr. | Infiniti | Infiniti | 44.462s |
| 24 | Mat Jackson | Motorbase | Ford | 55.679s |
| 25 | Hunter Abbott | Rob Austin Racing | Audi | 1 Lap |
| 26 | Stewart Lines | Houseman Racing | Toyota | 2 Laps |
| - | Nicolas Hamilton | AmD | Audi | Retirement |
| - | Rob Austin | Rob Austin Racing | Audi | Retirement |
| - | Dave Newsham | Power Maxed | Chevrolet | Retirement |
RACE THREE STARTING GRID:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Cole | Motorbase | Ford |
| 2 | Rob Collard | WSR | BMW |
| 3 | Colin Turkington | Team BMR | Volkswagen |
| 4 | Jason Plato | Team BMR | Volkswagen |
| 5 | Sam Tordoff | WSR | BMW |
| 6 | Matt Neal | Honda | Honda |
| 7 | Gordon Shedden | Honda | Honda |
| 8 | Aron Taylor-Smith | Team BMR | Volkswagen |
| 9 | Jack Goff | MG | MG |
| 10 | Andy Priaulx | WSR | BMW |
| 11 | Adam Morgan | Ciceley Racing | Mercedes |
| 12 | Tom Ingram | Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota |
| 13 | Aiden Moffat | Aiden Moffat Racing | Mercedes |
| 14 | Josh Cook | Power Maxed | Chevrolet |
| 15 | Martin Depper | Eurotech | Honda |
| 16 | Jeff Smith | Eurotech | Honda |
| 17 | Mike Bushell | AmD | Ford |
| 18 | Daniel Welch | Welch Motorsport | Proton |
| 19 | Andrew Jordan | MG | MG |
| 20 | Tony Gilham | Team Hard | Toyota |
| 21 | Alex Martin | Team Parker | Ford |
| 22 | Simon Belcher | Handy Motorsport | Toyota |
| 23 | Mat Jackson | Motorbase | Ford |
| 24 | Hunter Abbott | Rob Austin Racing | Audi |
| 25 | Stewart Lines | Houseman Racing | Toyota |
| 26 | Nicolas Hamilton | AmD | Audi |
| 27 | Rob Austin | Rob Austin Racing | Audi |
| 28 | Dave Newsham | Power Maxed | Chevrolet |
| 29 | Derek Palmer Jr. | Infiniti | Infiniti |
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