Jason
Plato and Gordon Shedden
shared the wins in
today’s three
exhilarating Dunlop MSA
British Touring Car
Championship races at
Northamptonshire’s
Rockingham circuit. Two
of the wins went the way
of Scotsman Shedden who
has now taken over the
championship lead as the
title race stays in the
county for its
penultimate three races
of the season at
Silverstone in a
fortnight (6/7 October).
Plato
had taken pole position
with a new qualifying
lap record on Saturday
in his MG KX Momentum
Racing MG6. He duly went
on to dominate today’s
first race, held in dry
conditions, and set a
new race lap record en
route. Pirtek Racing’s
Andrew Jordan and Honda
Yuasa Racing Team star
Shedden were second and
third in their Honda
Civics.
But then conditions
changed dramatically as
heavy rain settled in
for the rest of the day,
this enabling Shedden
and Neal to take a pair
of dream 1-2 results for
their team in both the
second and third races.
Plato finished behind
them on each occasion in
third.
As
a result Shedden leaves
Rockingham with a
three-point lead over
Neal. Plato is a further
29 behind with a maximum
of 134 still available
from the season’s final
six races – three each
at Silverstone in two
weeks and Brands Hatch,
Kent a fortnight later
(Sun 21 Oct).
Dalgety
Bay’s Shedden, who has
now won eight times in
2012, commented: “I’m
delighted – it seems
ages since we won a race
so to score a pair of
1-2s is just great for
everyone in our team.
The rain certainly
helped us today as Jason
had been looking very
strong if it had stayed
dry. Importantly we’ve
maintained a decent gap
to him as we’re
expecting him to have
the upper hand at
Silverstone.”
Worcestershire’s Neal,
the reigning Champion
who has driven this
weekend in pain from a
broken hand, said: “I’m
just pleased to get
through the weekend.
Gordon was unstoppable
in those conditions but
a pair of seconds and a
sixth are probably
better than I thought
was possible. We’re
expecting Silverstone to
be tough but this really
helps thinking ahead to
Brands Hatch.”
Oxford’s
Plato added: “We’ve
managed to hold the gap
to the Honda drivers,
even take a little
nibble out of them, at
what is one of the
strongest circuits for
their car so I’m
satisfied with that.
Silverstone is going to
be all-important, though
– ultimately I want us
to go to the final round
so there’s a proper
showdown for the people
watching.”
Meanwhile
Honda/Dynamics and the
Honda Yuasa Racing Team
continue to dominate the
Manufacturer/Constructor
and outright HiQ Teams
championships
respectively. Jordan has
moved further clear at
the top of the
Independent Drivers
Championship. And his
Pirtek Racing squad has
also regained the
Independent Teams Trophy
lead.
Elsewhere
several drivers were
punished by officials
for on-track
indiscretions today.
Race 1: Jeff Smith,
fined £500 and three
penalty points on his
competition licence
following an incident
with Aron Smith. Race 1:
Matt Neal, verbal
warning following an
incident with Rob
Austin. Race 2, Jason
Plato, verbal warning
for performing practice
starts.
2012
Dunlop BTCC Drivers’
Points after
Rockingham (round 8
of 10):
1. Gordon Shedden, 336
2. Matt Neal, 333
3.
Jason Plato, 304
4.
Andrew Jordan, 287
5.
Robert Collard, 247
6. Tom Onslow-Cole, 228
Manufacturers/Constructors’
Points:
1.
Honda/Dynamics, 767
2.
MG/888, 579
HiQ Teams’
Points:
1.
Honda Yuasa Racing Team,
644
2.
eBay Motors, 490
3. Pirtek Racing, 414
4. Redstone Racing, 374
5.
MG KX Momentum Racing,
367
6.
Team ES Racing.com, 182
Independent
Drivers’ Points:
1. Andrew Jordan, 352
2.
Robert Collard, 294
3. Mat Jackson, 285
4.
Tom Onslow-Cole, 281
5.
Frank Wrathall, 196
6.
Nick Foster, 189
Independent
Teams’ Points:
1. Pirtek Racing, 385
2. eBay Motors, 377
3. Redstone Racing, 359
4. Team ES Racing.com,
247
5.
Dynojet, 125
6.
Speedworks Motorsport,
203
*All
points remain
provisional
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