Bennett Takes Maiden BTCC Win
17, 250 spectators turned out today to witness the spectacular racing of Rounds 21 and 22 of the www.theAA.com MSA British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone Circuit.

Sprint Race
Phil Bennett drove a faultless race this afternoon in his ballast free Vauxhall Astra Coupe to win. The Birmingham-based driver claimed his inaugural first victory of his BTCC career with a time of 23:26.548. The Team Egg Sport driver had the advantage of a clear track for most of the race, until catching up with the back markers on Lap 7. Bennett, who returned from sitting out the previous two rounds, was delighted with his first win of the season and commented:

“Today, I put every effort into winning the race. It has been a long time coming and the longer you wait the harder you try and that is when you start making mistakes. In this game it is the mental attitude that is just as important as the racing itself. The car was really spot-on. I got all the right lines and it all came together well. I am really happy but also a little shocked.”

Meanwhile, Vauxhall Motorsport drivers Yvan Muller and Jason Plato were once again thrilling the crowds with their driving skills, which have become synonymous with the duo and the Championship this year.

Muller who qualified in second did not have the best of starts after missing sight of the green flag and then losing a gear at Copse. As the field bunched up in the first corner Plato took advantage of the situation and moved up into second place. However, he then went sideways at Priory leaving the door open for Muller who went through. Undeterred, the Oxford-based driver kept the pressure on his team-mate and passed him at Bridge only to be re-passed once again at Priory. Holding these positions for the remainder of the race Plato went on to concentrate on keeping Team Egg Sport driver James Thompson off the podium.

Plato commented: “I realised that I was not getting anywhere battling it out with Muller as James was catching us up and it may have been costly. So I decided to back off a little and give Yvan some room. Obviously it wasn’t ideal but I didn’t want to lose my third place finish.”

Peugeot’s Steve Soper once again drove a strong race but was forced to return to the pit to change a deflating rear left tyre, which had been the cause of an earlier spin. His team-mate Dan Eaves had a clean race and finished in fifth while Soper had to be content with tenth.

Newcomers MG Sport and Racing had an eventful first race. Anthony Reid finished 12th overall, whilst team-mate Warren Hughes, who had been fighting with understeer, unfortunately ended his first BTCC race in the gravel trap after getting tangled up with Mark Blair’s Alfa Romeo 147.

In the BTC Production Class, a delighted HTML Roger Moen graced the top-step of the rostrum. The Norwegian was pleased with the result despite dropping two places at the start. Simon Graves, in his Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell’s Honda Accord, raced to first position as GR Motorsport’s Mat Jackson took up second, leaving Moen in third place. However, Jackson went off and Moen then re-took the lead from Graves at Maggots.

Graves then ran wide and dropped two positions and Tom Boardman, the youngest ever Touring Car entrant, was promoted to second position from where he displayed a unique skill of defensive driving. However, the faster HTML Peugeot of Simon Harrison, which started the race at the back of the grid after problems in qualifying, was on a charge and was now chasing Boardman’s back bumper.

Unfortunately, as Touring driver Phil Bennett made his way through the back markers he temporarily interrupted Boardman’s and Harrison’s fight for position, splitting the two apart. Boardman was forced onto the grass and Harrison profited and went through.

Moen, Harrison and Boardman held their positions until the chequered flag and produced the first 1-2-3 finish respectively for the Manufacturer.

Race accolade has to go to Simon Harrison who fought his way through the pack from 18th position to finish second.

He commented: “I had no choice but to go for it, otherwise my Championship hopes would have suffered badly. I knew that there was a lot of work to be done but I managed it and also managed to pick up fastest lap, which earns me another valuable point.”

A delighted Boardman also added:- “I feel excellent, my heart is racing and it is fantastic to be up on the podium, especially after all the hard work that has gone into solving fuel problems with the car. Now we have got rid of that I can push myself even harder and hopefully taste more Champagne.”

The good luck did not extend to Tech-Speed’s Paul O’Neill, who qualified in second, as he suffered mapping problems with his engine and was forced to retire.

Feature Race
The racing was incident packed from the start when Muller and Plato made the most of the rolling start to force the Egg Sport Astra of Bennett into third position on the approach to Becketts. Muller narrowly nudged ahead of Plato on the entrance into Abbey and began to set the pace of the race. His work was short lived as the Safety car was deployed following an incident in the Production pack, which forced the Production front-runners out of the race on the first corner.

Contact between HTML’s Roger Moen, Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell’s Simon Graves and GR Motorsport’s Mat Jackson resulted in all three cars going off at Becketts. The damage was too severe for any to rejoin and the Safety car picked up the remaining field for the next five Laps.

The new race distance was set at thirty five laps. Both Plato and Muller made strong starts but the lighter Egg Sport Astra car of Phil Bennett was hot on their tail and looking to capitalise at the first opportunity. Capitalise he did when Plato ran wide and Muller locked up, letting Bennett through to reclaim his pole position lead.

Bennett later suffered a mechanical problem and ran wide. A broken component with the transmission was later to blame and he was unable to continue.

Further down the field, the Lexus IS200 of Total Motorsport Racing was going as well as it has gone all season and was challenging for fifth position all the way. Brazilian driver Tommy Erdos eventually brought the car home in sixth position.

Team boss Tim Blake said: “The car went a lot better than I thought it would. We had electrical problems in free practice but we made changes to the car after the Sprint Race and the car was stronger than we anticipated in the Feature Race. The pit stop was good and we’ve got a very definite direction now for Donington”.

The Pit Stop window was looming and the JSM Alfa Romeo of Mark Blair was first in on Lap 12 and returned to the track with a pit stop time of just under nine seconds.

The Peugeot 406 Coupe of Dan Eaves was challenging the Vauxhall Astras and was in fourth position before coming in to pit. The Peugeot team took just 7.5 seconds for the Pit Stop and Eaves looked threatening as he rejoined the field. The quickest stop of the day however was on Yvan Muller’s car which took the Vauxhall mechanics just under six seconds to complete. Newcomers MG Sport and Racing were not so fortunate when their first ever BTCC pit stop resulted in lost time for Anthony Reid. A front wheel-nut jammed on Reid’s car, which cost last year’s BTCC runner-up time and position.

The MGs looked impressive and certainly surprised a lot of people by their competitiveness, which have very little testing under their belt. Warren Hughes was pushing Steve Soper all the way and found himself in the lead, during the pit stop activity. When Hughes did come in to pit, the MG Sport and Racing Team wasted no time in sending him back out and the Sunderland-based driver rejoined the grid in fifth position behind Dan Eaves.

Hughes later said: “The team has done an amazing job to achieve this level of competitiveness in time for our first race. Over the weekend, everyone has worked so hard to perfect the set up of the car and I’m sure, given more time, we will be able to improve further. I really enjoyed my first BTCC race and it was a great finish.”

Team Egg Sport’s James Thompson had begun to cut into the lead of new race leaders Muller and Plato but wear on the tyres slowed the Yorkshireman down ten laps before the end and he was unable to make any further impression. Plato was still lying in second position but was lapping quicker than Muller. The battle came to a head on the last lap when Plato made contact with Muller, completely snapping the track-rod of the Frenchman’s left front wheel. Muller lost the lead but limped home in a very frustrated third position. Thompson went through to claim second but it was Jason Plato who went on to take the controversial win.

Plato explained: “I could see that Yvan was struggling a bit with the brakes and I think my lap times were quicker towards the end. I took the inside line at Priory and I felt that Yvan closed the door on me a little bit. The result was contact but it was no more than a racing incident. The whole race was fantastic and great for spectators”.

Muller disagreed: “I didn’t close the door on Jason! I had the race wrapped up and then he came out of nowhere. He pushed me off and there was too much damage to my car for me to do anything.”

In the Production Class, Tom Boardman led the field after the first lap incident and was building a considerable gap between himself and second-placed Paul O’Neill of Tech-Speed Motorsport. O’Neill’s engine problems in the Sprint Race had clearly been rectified and the Peugeot driver was defending his position well from third-placed Gavin Pyper.

The man on the charge though was Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell’s James Kaye in his Honda Accord. Kaye made a clean move on Pyper to snatch third before reeling in the Peugeot 306 of Paul O’Neill. The third Peugeot of Simon Harrison was also now threatening and a thrilling battle developed between the three. Kaye and O’Neill went side by side going into Abbey with Harrison on both their tails. The more experienced James Kaye nudged ahead to take second and Harrison forced O’Neill wide and snatched third.

The race looked to be sewn up by Tom Boardman who was now nearly three seconds ahead, having driven the race of his life. But the youngster was dealt a cruel blow on the last lap when smoke began to billow from his bonnet. His engine had blown and his race was over – he lost a well-deserved win.

James Kaye went on to take victory, Simon Harrison in second and a delighted Paul O’Neill took third in a race, which had spectators enthralled from start to finish.

Kaye said: “My car wasn’t the quickest out there but probably the most reliable. I thought Paul O’Neill drove really well and it was a struggle to pass him. I feel for Tom Boardman because he really deserved to win this race but I’m delighted with the result and it keeps the Championship alive.”

HTML’s Simon Harrison has extended his lead in the BTC Production Drivers’ Championship to 202 points, 17 points clear of Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell’s James Kaye.

Note: Following a Stewards’ enquiry into the Plato/Muller incident on Lap 35 of the Feature Race, Jason Plato incurred a 30 second time penalty which placed him in third position. This decreases his lead over Muller to 5 points. Plato tally is now 281 over Muller’s 276.