BTCC Brands Hatch: Rounds 1-3

[BDunnell]

Thought it a good idea to start a thread for the opening BTCC meeting of the year.

Not the best start to qualifying, with Turkington, Goff and Griffin involved in a coming-together after just minutes. Track temperatures are clearly going to be a big problem both today and tomorrow.

[christophulus]

Temperatures peaking at about 3C tomorrow so could be quite an experience.

[BDunnell]

Final qualifying results:

1 77 I Andrew Jordan Honda Civic 48.387 15 +0.000 89.87
2 01 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic 48.483 16 +0.096 89.69
3 99 Jason Plato MG6 48.571 15 +0.184 89.53
4 02 Matt Neal Honda Civic 48.614 17 +0.227 89.45
5 88 Sam Tordoff MG6 48.726 15 +0.339 89.24
6 17 I Dave Newsham Toyota Avensis 48.827 15 +0.440 89.06
7 13 I Rob Austin Audi A4 48.844 15 +0.457 89.03
8 55 I Jeff Smith Honda Civic 48.914 15 +0.527 88.90
9 18 I Nick Foster BMW 125i M Sport 49.201 16 +0.814 88.38
10 33 I Adam Morgan Toyota Avensis 49.203 17 +0.816 88.38
11 48 I Ollie Jackson Toyota Avensis 49.239 14 +0.852 88.31
12 07 I Mat Jackson Ford Focus 49.248 15 +0.861 88.30
13 05 I Robert Collard BMW 125i M Sport 49.319 17 +0.932 88.17
14 08 I Aron Smith Ford Focus 49.553 15 +1.166 87.75
15 14 I Will Bratt Audi A4 49.737 17 +1.350 87.43
16 43 I Lea Wood Vauxhall Vectra 50.011 15 +1.624 86.95
17 06 I Tom Onslow-Cole VW Passat CC 50.231 19 +1.844 86.57
18 15 I James Kaye VW Golf MK5 51.198 13 +2.811 84.93
19 66 I Liam Griffin Ford Focus 51.330 14 +2.943 84.71
20 90 I Joe Girling Chevrolet Cruze 51.415 15 +3.028 84.57
21 39 I Warren Scott SEAT Leon 51.439 17 +3.052 84.53
22 20 I James Cole Vauxhall Insignia VXR-R 51.453 13 +3.066 84.51
23 12 I David Nye Ford Focus 51.616 23 +3.229 84.24
24 10 I Daniel Welch Proton Gen-2 55.179 13 +6.792 78.80
25 29 I Colin Turkington BMW 125i M Sport 1
26 31 I Jack Goff Vauxhall Insignia VXR-R 0
27 11 I Frank Wrathall Toyota Avensis 22

The top four aren't much of a surprise; Tordoff is off to an excellent start with MG, and it was good work from Nick Foster to out-qualify Collard (for the first time?) and get his best ever BTCC qualifying position. The Motorbase NGTC Fords have struggled badly all day. By contrast, I'm impressed with Onslow-Cole's efforts in the VW. Having not turned a wheel before arriving at the circuit, setting a meaningful time is an achievement.

[christophulus]

Think Jordan might get a slap on the wrist for that move. Good race but what happened to the Hondas? Bit noisy in our house so missed the commentary.

[JasonPotato]

It was a good race with some decent action. If it carries on like this it'll be a great season.
So glad Toby has had the chop, his replacement is far better! The commentary is actually worth listening to now.

[BDunnell]

Yes, I was really impressed with the quality of the racing — good and clean — until Jordan's last-corner attack on Plato, which was never on. At least they managed still to cross the line first and second. A good run from Rob Austin until his soft tyres went away. The other stand-outs for me were Wrathall, coming from the back to fifth, and Turkington likewise to eighth. Otherwise, not a good race for the BMWs, nor the Motorbase Fords. Plus, who would have thought Team HARD would get both Goff's Insignia and Onslow-Cole's Passat into the points? That's some achievement after so little running.

christopholus, the Hondas both hit trouble at the same time. At the first corner, Shedden got into a massive slide but recovered, while Neal picked up some bodywork damage on the right rear (didn't see how) which led to the tyre being fouled and a lot of smoke. Neal was clearly struggling, and when Tordoff passed him going into Clearways there was a bit of contact. Neal then shut the door on Shedden as they entered the straight, forcing Shedden onto the grass next to the pit wall, where his car picked up a lot of grass in the air intake. The next lap, both were in the pits.

I agree with the remark about the commentary. David Addison is excellent — sensible, articulate, accurate, and with a good rapport with Tim Harvey. ITV should have gone for him last year, without a doubt.

[christophulus]

Thanks for the recap. Commentary was excellent (the bits I heard over kids/dogs running about), a very good appointment. Austin was on soft tyres wasn't he? Bit worrying if they won't last a cold race distance. Suppose they were OK for Turkington though, he made it to 8th.

[BDunnell]

Austin was on soft tyres wasn't he? Bit worrying if they won't last a cold race distance. Suppose they were OK for Turkington though, he made it to 8th.

And for Morgan ahead of him in seventh, although it was difficult to gauge how their tyres were standing up as we didn't really see a lot of them. Good for Morgan to get a solid, untroubled result — maybe this is the start of a calmer season for him, during which he can translate his obvious pace into results.

[BDunnell]

Full result of Round 1:

1 99 Jason Plato MG6 27 +0.000 49.023
2 77 I Andrew Jordan Honda Civic 27 +2.168 48.998
3 13 I Rob Austin Audi A4 27 +6.130 48.968
4 88 Sam Tordoff MG6 27 +7.781 49.393
5 55 I Jeff Smith Honda Civic 27 +8.245 49.338
6 11 I Frank Wrathall Toyota Avensis 27 +13.622 49.694
7 33 I Adam Morgan Toyota Avensis 27 +16.948 49.592
8 29 I Colin Turkington BMW 125i M Sport 27 +18.923 49.252
9 08 I Aron Smith Ford Focus 27 +20.253 49.843
10 48 I Ollie Jackson Toyota Avensis 27 +22.114 49.524
11 10 I Daniel Welch Proton Gen-2 27 +23.129 49.412
12 14 I Will Bratt Audi A4 27 +23.501 49.756
13 31 I Jack Goff Vauxhall Insignia VXR-R 27 +27.349 49.937
14 06 I Tom Onslow-Cole VW Passat CC 27 +27.999 50.172
15 15 I James Kaye VW Golf MK5 27 +29.817 50.089
16 43 I Lea Wood Vauxhall Vectra 27 +31.366 50.353
17 66 I Liam Griffin Ford Focus 27 +37.067 50.665
18 12 I David Nye Ford Focus 27 +44.911 50.514
19 01 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic 27 +45.441 49.068
20 07 I Mat Jackson Ford Focus 26 +1 Lap 49.788
21 02 Matt Neal Honda Civic 26 +1 Lap 49.848
22 39 I Warren Scott SEAT Leon 26 +1 Lap 51.166
Not Classified
- 18 I Nick Foster BMW 125i M Sport 4 +23 Laps 53.867
- 05 I Robert Collard BMW 125i M Sport 3 +24 Laps 53.310
- 17 I Dave Newsham Toyota Avensis 2 +25 Laps 52.522
- 20 I James Cole Vauxhall Insignia VXR-R 1 +26 Laps 1:06.071
- 90 I Joe Girling Chevrolet Cruze 0 DNS

[BDunnell]

Plato is driving beautifully today; Shedden did likewise in race two to claim third, and Jeff Smith in taking fourth. Shame the same couldn't be said of Wrathall. As far as I could see, he was definitely to blame for the incidents with Turkington and Austin, and then I thought he took himself out by moving over on Neal at Druids.

Adam Morgan on pole for race three.