BTCC Donington: Rounds 4-6

[BDunnell]

A fairly easy first race win for the ballast-free Shedden — and, what's more, an extremely clean race behind him with not a huge amount of action, but some good racing nonetheless. The scrap between Collard and Onslow-Cole was especially good. Elsewhere, the Motorbase Fords seem completely off the pace, the WSR BMWs little closer to it than they were at Brands, and Adam Morgan was impressive again.

1 1 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic 16 +0.000 1:10.691
2 77 I Andrew Jordan Honda Civic 16 +0.426 1:10.799
3 2 Matt Neal Honda Civic 16 +4.751 1:10.792
4 99 Jason Plato MG6 16 +6.535 1:10.865
5 33 I Adam Morgan Toyota Avensis 16 +8.759 1:10.573
6 88 Sam Tordoff MG6 16 +9.200 1:10.703
7 11 I Frank Wrathall Toyota Avensis 16 +10.247 1:11.080
8 29 I Colin Turkington BMW 125i M Sport 16 +11.079 1:11.202
9 17 I Dave Newsham Toyota Avensis 16 +13.020 1:11.177
10 55 I Jeff Smith Honda Civic 16 +20.187 1:10.944
11 8 I Aron Smith Ford Focus 16 +20.957 1:11.282
12 7 I Mat Jackson Ford Focus 16 +22.486 1:11.361
13 6 I Tom Onslow-Cole VW Passat CC 16 +24.205 1:11.298
14 13 I Rob Austin Audi A4 16 +27.799 1:11.627
15 5 I Robert Collard BMW 125i M Sport 16 +28.175 1:11.452
16 48 I Ollie Jackson Toyota Avensis 16 +29.699 1:11.964
17 18 I Nick Foster BMW 125i M Sport 16 +36.211 1:11.955
18 31 I Jack Goff Vauxhall Insignia VXR-R 16 +36.579 1:11.482
19 15 I James Kaye VW Golf MK5 16 +36.985 1:12.307
20 66 I Liam Griffin Ford Focus 16 +37.900 1:12.587
21 90 I Joe Girling Chevrolet Cruze 16 +45.665 1:12.708
22 20 I James Cole Vauxhall Insignia VXR-R 16 +46.862 1:12.681
23 12 I David Nye Ford Focus 16 +47.098 1:12.948
24 43 I Lea Wood Vauxhall Vectra 16 +47.920 1:12.884
25 14 I Will Bratt Audi A4 16 +58.161 1:11.765
26 39 I Warren Scott SEAT Leon 16 +1:04.888 1:13.741
Not Classified
- 10 I Daniel Welch Proton Gen-2 11 +5 Laps 1:11.965

[Brown, Jon Brow]

No idea this was on this weekend.

[BDunnell]

Race 2 was more of the same, really, except with Jordan getting the better of Shedden. The subsequent battle between Plato and Shedden was enthralling and entirely devoid of contact. Still the BMWs simply don't look quick at all, Turkington being unable to defend an early sixth place and even dropping behind the not-very-competitive Focus of Smith. I noticed on all the BMWs, and none of the other cars, that the right front wheelarch would almost always make contact with the tyre through the compression in the middle of the Craner Curves to the point of generating tyre smoke.

Onslow-Cole is on pole for race three, which should be interesting.

1 77 I Andrew Jordan Honda Civic 18 +0.000 1:10.967
2 400 Jason Plato MG6 18 +1.955 1:10.869
3 1 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic 18 +3.233 1:11.079
4 500 Matt Neal Honda Civic 18 +4.365 1:10.841
5 33 I Adam Morgan Toyota Avensis 18 +4.980 1:11.031
6 88 Sam Tordoff MG6 18 +7.004 1:10.879
7 17 I Dave Newsham Toyota Avensis 18 +7.422 1:11.130
8 8 I Aron Smith Ford Focus 18 +10.469 1:11.345
9 29 I Colin Turkington BMW 125i M Sport 18 +10.977 1:11.067
10 6 I Tom Onslow-Cole VW Passat CC 18 +11.470 1:11.104
11 55 I Jeff Smith Honda Civic 18 +14.458 1:10.841
12 5 I Robert Collard BMW 125i M Sport 18 +14.770 1:11.236
13 7 I Mat Jackson Ford Focus 18 +19.626 1:11.676
14 31 I Jack Goff Vauxhall Insignia VXR-R 18 +22.534 1:11.444
15 10 I Daniel Welch Proton Gen-2 18 +26.803 1:11.421
16 18 I Nick Foster BMW 125i M Sport 18 +43.201 1:12.797
17 43 I Lea Wood Vauxhall Vectra 18 +43.368 1:12.573
18 20 I James Cole Vauxhall Insignia VXR-R 18 +48.354 1:13.007
19 14 I Will Bratt Audi A4 18 +1:16.788 1:12.092
Not Classified
- 13 I Rob Austin Audi A4 12 +6 Laps 1:11.907
- 48 I Ollie Jackson Toyota Avensis 12 +6 Laps 1:12.764
- 11 I Frank Wrathall Toyota Avensis 7 +11 Laps 1:11.160
- 66 I Liam Griffin Ford Focus 7 +11 Laps 1:18.380
- 90 I Joe Girling Chevrolet Cruze 5 +13 Laps 1:13.784
- 39 I Warren Scott SEAT Leon 4 +14 Laps 1:16.621
- 15 I James Kaye VW Golf MK5 0
- 12 I David Nye Ford Focus 0

[BDunnell]

Well, I wouldn't have expected that —*Turkington winning comfortably in the new BMW. Even with the reverse grid and the new tyre rules, an impressive achievement. I thought it was another very good race, in fact. Newsham's spin in the middle of the Craner Curves could have resulted in a nasty accident, but thankfully it didn't, and it looked very much like a pure racing incident. Given all the other side-by-side action down the Craners, it was much to the drivers' credit that there weren't more incidents. The Passat looked pretty good even though there's clearly more work to do to bring it up to the ultimate front-running pace; the Fords less so.

1 29 I Colin Turkington BMW 125i M Sport 16 +0.000 1:10.916
2 1 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic 16 +4.414 1:10.971
3 2 Matt Neal Honda Civic 16 +4.699 1:11.164
4 88 Sam Tordoff MG6 16 +4.886 1:11.185
5 33 I Adam Morgan Toyota Avensis 16 +5.377 1:10.980
6 6 I Tom Onslow-Cole VW Passat CC 16 +7.290 1:11.532
7 8 I Aron Smith Ford Focus 16 +7.744 1:11.822
8 99 Jason Plato MG6 16 +8.550 1:11.254
9 7 I Mat Jackson Ford Focus 16 +9.066 1:11.346
10 55 I Jeff Smith Honda Civic 16 +9.604 1:10.769
11 10 I Daniel Welch Proton Gen-2 16 +19.769 1:11.422
12 5 I Robert Collard BMW 125i M Sport 16 +26.398 1:11.617
13 77 I Andrew Jordan Honda Civic 16 +32.864 [[1:10.751
14 14 I Will Bratt Audi A4 16 +33.729 1:12.338
15 18 I Nick Foster BMW 125i M Sport 16 +34.136 1:12.394
16 31 I Jack Goff Vauxhall Insignia VXR-R 16 +34.409 1:12.698
17 20 I James Cole Vauxhall Insignia VXR-R 16 +39.788 1:12.806
18 90 I Joe Girling Chevrolet Cruze 16 +40.009 1:12.541
19 39 I Warren Scott SEAT Leon 16 +50.248 1:13.863
Not Classified
- 48 I Ollie Jackson Toyota Avensis 11 +5 laps 1:11.856
- 15 I James Kaye VW Golf MK5 7 +9 laps 1:12.526
- 17 I Dave Newsham Toyota Avensis 6 +10 laps 1:12.251
- 66 I Liam Griffin Ford Focus 2 +14 laps --
- 43 I Lea Wood Vauxhall Vectra 1 +15 laps --
- 11 I Frank Wrathall Toyota Avensis 0 -- --
- 48 I Ollie Jackson Toyota Avensis 11 +5 laps 1:11.856

[AndySpeed]

Ben - it looks like you're having a conversation with yourself!

[BDunnell]

Ben - it looks like you're having a conversation with yourself!

Indeed!

[essie]

this is really really exciting racing to watch!! Great show!!