BRITISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP GOES DOWN TO THE WIRE!
Rounds 23 and 24 of the www.theAA.com MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) took place at Donington Park Circuit today and wins from Vauxhall Motorsport’s Yvan Muller in the BTC Touring category and HTML’s Roger Moen in the BTC Production category, means that both Championships go down to the wire, to be decided at Brands Hatch in two weeks time.

SPRINT RACE
Team Egg Sport’s Phil Bennett drove an impressive race this afternoon, in which an exhilarating start enabled the Kingswinsford-based driver to move up into first position and to go on to claim his second win of the season.

Bennett commented: “The start gave me a bit of a break and I capitalised on it and pulled clear from the field, but it wasn’t all easy, Jason was pushing hard and I just had to keep it nice and tidy so it was far from boring.”

The 15 lap Sprint Race produced the most tightly contested first three laps seen so far this season in the Touring category as Vauxhall Motorsport driver’s Yvan Muller and Jason Plato drove an intense first few laps which finally resulted in Plato finishing in second place ahead of fellow title contender Muller.

It was all go from the start as pole man Plato was edged into the middle of the track by third place Muller, allowing Phil Bennett to take advantage of the tussle and move up into the lead. Muller took second place ahead of Plato, however, an undeterred Plato regained second place at Goddards, when both drivers took the inside line with Plato coming off best. Fourth placed James Thompson made contact with Steve Soper’s Peugeot 406 on his way to the first corner, resulting in the Yorkshireman going wide. He did, however, manage to return to the fray but was forced to retire later in the race with a broken throttle cable.

Once past the first corner, the front-runners were interrupted by Dan Eaves who having seen the titanic battle between the two Vauxhall team-mates decided it was time to move up and promptly put his car into second position. Unfortunately, a combination of oil on the track and contact with Plato resulted in him spinning off, ending what could have been another trip to the rostrum for the Peugeot driver.

With this initial excitement Bennett moved way ahead of the rest of the field where he was to remain for the duration of the race. The Vauxhall pairing settled into a routine and held their one two positions.

MG Sport and Racing showed that despite only starting their third race of the season the pair of MGZS are already competitive. Anthony Reid, 2000 BTCC runner-up executed an impressive drive resulting in a fourth place finish.

In the BTC Production Class, Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell’s driver Simon Graves once again showed his metal and won the Sprint Race in his Honda Accord, while team mate James Kaye finished in third position. Kaye’s result was no doubt a reflection of the full compliment of ballast that he had on board.

A delighted Graves said: “The set up of my car suits the Donington track. It was well balanced. However, I had a bit of a moment at the Hairpin because the track was very slippery and I went sideways, which cost me a few seconds. We were a bit down on power compared to the HTML Peugeots.”

HTML’s driver Roger Moen finished in second position in his Peugeot 306 after an impressive race that saw the Norwegian make his way through the field from seventh place on the grid. The disappointment of the day was for his team-mate Simon Harrison, who was forced to retire with suspension shaft failure.” GA Janspeed’s driver Gavin Pyper held third position but had a disappointing finish when his gear lever snapped on the last lap and limped home in fourth gear.

FEATURE RACE
The rain clouds were looming for the start of Round 24 and teams were left to gamble tyre tactics before taking to the grid. Slicks were the preferred option and led the field for the rolling start. Jason Plato made a tactical manoeuvre when controlling the pace of the start and almost halted the pack when approaching the lights. The tactic worked and Plato accelerated into the lead at the first corner, ahead of team-mate Muller.

The leaders of the pack held grid position for the first lap but James Thompson was pressing Muller hard and passed him when Muller ran wide two laps later. Muller reclaimed position shortly afterwards with the Peugeot 406 of Steve Soper taking advantage of the Vauxhall Astra battle, overtaking Thompson amongst the commotion. Thompson again fought back to put all four Vauxhall Astras back in contention for a clean sweep.

The Astra of Phil Bennett was also on a charge but Muller had to get past him if he was to cut into Plato’s lead. The manoeuvre nearly ended in tears when he tried to overtake Bennett turning into Redgate. Contact was made and Bennett spun into the gravel.

The weather was now changing and track conditions were brinking on dangerously wet so it was no surprise to see both Touring and Production teams make tyre changes. JSM brought Tom Ferrier in first and the nineteen-year-old rejoined the pack moments before the Safety Car was deployed due to an oil spillage at Starkeys. The sequence of events proved enormously advantageous for the JSM team as Ferrier was able to catch the remaining pack behind the Safety Car, secure in the knowledge that all other BTC Tourers had yet to pit. The Safety Car was back in and the race was on but as the other Touring teams filed into the pit lane, the JSM Alfa 147 was leading the field for the first time this year and had built up a ten second advantage over second placed Muller.

The battle for third between Thompson and Soper thrilled the crowds lap after lap. Both cars pulled into the pit lane at the same time but it was the Peugeot team that performed the quicker stop and Soper rejoined the track ahead of the Astra. Jason Plato seemed to develop a problem with his right front wheel and was loosing pace. He regained a position when Steve Soper spun off at Fogarty’s, ending podium dreams for Peugeot.

Newcomers MG Sport and Racing made the costly mistake of missing the pit stop window which TOCA officials penalised by issuing Warren Hughes with a drive through penalty. Hughes’ team-mate, Anthony Reid, however, was flying and catching Jason Plato.

The Safety Car was once again deployed on Lap 26 when the Production car of John B&Q spun out of the race ending up in a precarious position. The deployment of the car robbed JSM of a potential win, as Muller quickly closed the gap on Ferrier. When the race restarted, Ferrier was unable to defend his position and Muller went through with relative ease. Ferrier retired shortly afterwards with an overheated engine.

Muller was now leading the race with Thompson second and a pressured Jason Plato in third. Plato had Anthony Reid filling his mirrors and the Scotsman went through on Lap 30 at the Melbourne Hairpin. Plato came back at Reid coming into the straight but Reid now had another Vauxhall to contend with – the Team Egg Sport Astra of Phil Bennett. Bennett made contact with the MG, forcing both cars out of the race. Reid spun into the gravel and Bennett was left with damage to his left hand front wheel.

The rear wheel drive Lexus IS200 of Total Motorsport was also making progress. The team had been suffering with differential problems all weekend and also made some changes to soften the suspension before the start of the Feature Race. The damp conditions suited the handling of the car and the team claimed the fastest pit stop of 7.6 seconds. As a result, the Lexus finished in fourth place, frustratingly close to their first podium.

Muller went on to claim the win, with Thompson in second and Plato in third.

Muller concluded: “It was a long, hard race. It was quite difficult conditions and there were difficult decisions to make on what tyres to use. It was a tough race but it was a bigger pleasure to win it like this. Everything now depends on Brands Hatch.”

The BTC Production category produced as much, if not more action than it’s bigger brother. HTML’s Roger Moen secured the winning drive with his team-mate Simon Harrison finishing a close second whilst GR Motorsport’s Mat Jackson claimed third.

From the off, a superb contest emerged between BTC Production Drivers’ Championship leader, Harrison, who was on pole, Harrison’s team-mate Moen, Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell’s Simon Graves, Tom Boardman, GA Janspeed’s Gavin Pyper and GR Motorsport’s Mat Jackson.

The battle to reach the front of the field produced yet more frenetic racing. Harrison managed to maintain the lead on the first lap closely followed by Graves and Boardman respectively. Jackson managed to intercept Graves to take second but then Pyper was hot on the tail of his Ford Focus and stole the position.

By the time the dust settled Graves was the frontman ahead of Harrison and Boardman but as the rain descended the field thinned out. Pyper went off on lap eight shortly followed by Howell on lap nine and Graves on lap ten at McLeans. Two laps later the safety car was deployed. Harrison, Jackson and Moen were now the order of the day. The GR Motorsport driver edged ahead of Harrison, only to have a collision with John B&Q as he braked on the exit curve, leaving him no where to go but into B&Q’s rear bumper. Jackson soon recovered but had to fight his way from seventh up to his final third place finish.

The safety car was once again deployed, after which Harrison was suffering from gear box problems and Moen promptly moved up into first place. GA Janspeed’s Colin Blair moved into third place just in front of Jackson and looked set to make it to the rostrum. However, gear box problems forced the Scot to limp home in tenth place.

After his second visit to the podium today, Moen commented: “The track conditions were so changeable because of the weather and you had to concentrate so hard. It was a difficult win but I’m pleased with the result.”

Harrison, who leads with 217 points, five ahead of team-mate Moen said: “ I really needed to win here but my car kept jumping out of second gear and I think something was wrong with the engine. However, second is good. Brands Hatch is a track I love and there will definitely be a show down at the final rounds of the Championship!”