BTCC Brands Hatch - Rounds 28, 29 & 30

[VkmSpouge]

So it has come down to this. Three drivers with a shot at the title, Colin Turkington, Fabrizio Giovanardi and Jason Plato. The Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit should be good to have the final races of the season on. In practice Tom Chilton and Paul o'Neill looking very impressive and Matt Neal topped the first practice. I think it bodes well for 2010 that the Arena Ford has really come on well in the past few races.

[jonv]

Chilton on pole according to the live timing!

[VkmSpouge]

Qualifying:
1 Tom Chilton 1m33.159
2 Jason Plato 1m33.180
3 Fabrizio Giovanardi 1m33.183
4 Matt Neal 1m33.367
5 Andrew Jordan 1m33.415
6 Mat Jackson 1m33.618
7 Jonathan Adam 1m33.645
8 Rob Collard 1m33.731
9 Paul o'Neill 1m33.752
10 Colin Turkington 1m33.805
11 Stephen Jelley 1m33.855
12 Gordon Shedden 1m33.895
13 Johnny Herbert 1m34.445
14 Dave Pinkney 1m34.537
15 Harry Vaulkhard 1m34.594
16 Anthony Reid 1m34.813
17 Matt Hamilton 1m34.971
18 Martyn Bell 1m35.497
19 John George 1m36.346
20 Martin Johnson 1m36.868
21 Tom Onslow-Cole Time Disallowed

Well done to Tom Chilton and the whole Arena team! A great pole position, they have turned that car from hopeless to challenging at the front, can they get the Focus' maiden win tomorrow? Shame Tom Onslow-Cole did not have some good fortune, he failed the ride height check twice.
Team RAC woeful in qualifying. This was not the time for Colin Turkington to have a bad qualifying session especially when Jason Plato and Fabrizio Giovanardi have done what they needed to do and qualify at the front with their team mates handily placed to stop any progress by Turkington.

[MattL]

Onslow-Cole's Focus failed the ride height test three times, so he could not rejoin the session.

Not at all where Turkington would be wanting to start from...

[Robinho]

did not see that one coming, even if the Focus was getting better in recent rounds to be fastest round Brands GP circuit the car needs to handle fast and slow corners, have a good engine and cope with the elevation changes, so it must becoming a decent all rounder - bodes well for next year.

will be tricky for Turks to hold off Gio and Plato from there

[Allyc85]

Amazing performance by Chilton though hes admitted hes concentrated on qualy pace so we will have to see how the car and tyres cope with a full race distance!

[VkmSpouge]

Race 1 Result:

1 Jason Plato
2 Tom Chilton
3 Fabrizio Giovanardi
4 Andrew Jordan
5 Matt Neal
6 Rob Collard
7 Jonathan Adam
8 Colin Turkington
9 Paul o'Neill
10 Anthony Reid
11 Harry Vaulkhard
12 Mat Jackson
13 Tom Onslow-Cole
14 Stephen Jelley
15 Dave Pinkney
16 John George
17 Martyn Belll
DNF Gordon Shedden
DNF Johnny Herbert
DNF Martin Johnson
DNF Matt Hamilton

Chilton blew it. Ugh! I so wanted him to take that victory, it was his to lose and he managed to do so on the last corner. Chilton had driven superbly up until those last two corners. Not to take anything away from Jason Plato's performance, the way he forced Chilton into that error was brilliant. Otherwise a pretty dull race and I hope something is done about Matt Neal punting Mat Jackson off the track.

Championship Standings:
1. Colin Turkington 252
2. Fabrizio Giovanardi 246
3. Jason Plato 238

[Lunaboy]

Plato you're the man!! Incredible!

[Alfa Fan]

Makes the championship very exciting. I think race 2 could be one of the best in the BTCC for a long time. Plato and Gio near the front. Turkington could be with RWD off the line, and Reid is in the mix too, a decent start would see him 7th/8th and right in with Matt Neal (and neutralising his role is pretty much Anthony's role). Fun times ahead I think!

[VkmSpouge]

Tom Chilton said he had a power steering failure at the second to last corner, so with that said I will retract what I said about him blowing it. Still a very good result for him.