at Rockingham

Vauxhall’s Fabrizio Giovanardi and SEAT’s Jason Plato (Oxford) shared the victories in Sunday’s (Sunday) three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship rounds at the Rockingham circuit in Northamptonshire. A pair of wins for Italian Giovanardi have seen him move into second position in the standings, although it is Plato, today’s third race winner, who remains on top as the championship next heads to the fastest circuit on the calendar – Thruxton in Hampshire – on 6 May.

Plato’s success today also means he is now equal second on the BTCC’s all-time race winners’ chart, tied on 36 victories with two of his former team-mates Alain Menu and Yvan Muller. But even though he has increased his championship lead, the 2001 champion has reiterated his belief that this year’s title race is going to be one of the closest-fought in BTCC history.

Indeed, today’s cut and thrust action resulted in mixed fortunes for many of Plato’s chief rivals, notably reigning champion Matt Neal (Droitwich) and Colin Turkington (Portadown) who each suffered retirements and slipped down the points table. By contrast, emerging talents Mat Jackson (Henley-in-Arden), Tom Onslow-Cole (Kingston) and Matt Allison (Norwich) were each able to shine.

Plato said: “We’ve been very competitive all weekend and I’m delighted to have won again and moved up the charts! But Vauxhall has now clearly re-emerged as a winning force and the BMWs and Hondas – and a few others – are also proving increasingly difficult to stay ahead of… it’s no secret that we’ve not got the fastest car in a straight line and Thruxton is the fastest circuit on the calendar. I’m not expecting it easy there.”

A delighted Giovanardi, whose wins today were also the first for Vauxhall’s new Vectra model in the BTCC, added: “I am very happy with our results today. Both my team-mate Tom Chilton and I have been on the pace in every session and race here, with or without success ballast in the Vectra, which is a sign that we now have a very competitive car. We know it is very strong along the straights so I think we will be in really strong shape at Thruxton.”

Vauxhall’s strong form at Rockingham has enabled it to more than double its advantage over SEAT in the Manufacturers’ championship from 15 to 32 points, while its VX Racing squad has also moved past SEAT Sport UK into the lead of the outright Teams’ standings. Jackson, thanks to fourth and second place results in his Jacksons MSport BMW 320si, has taken control of the Independents Drivers’ table. Team RAC remains the top Independent Team, despite a difficult weekend.

BTCC points after Rockingham, rds4, 5 & 6 (provisional):

Drivers:1. Jason PLATO,  74 points2. Fabrizio GIOVANARDI, 563. Tom CHILTON, 494. Matt NEAL, 425. Mat JACKSON, 356. Colin TURKINGTON, 297. Tom ONSLOW-COLE, 268. Darren TURNER, 259. Mike JORDAN, 1910. Gordon SHEDDEN, 16

Manufacturers:1. Vauxhall, 139 points2. SEAT, 109

Teams: 1. VX Racing, 102 points2. SEAT Sport UK, 923. Team Halfords, 574. Team RAC, 545. Jacksons MSport, 346. Eurotech/John Guest-Speedfit, 19

Race reports…

Round 4, 15 laps (29.299 miles)Weather/Track: Sunny/Dry

GIOVANARDI LEADS HOME VXR 1-2Giovanardi led home team-mate Chilton for not just a Vauxhall 1-2 finish but also to give the British manufacturer’s new Vectra model its first race win in the BTCC. Italian Giovanardi was gifted a clear path to victory after SEAT’s Darren Turner, who had qualified on pole position, failed to start when his Leon suffered mechanical problems on the grid.

Chilton finished second after overtaking Plato when his Leon became unsettled as it ran over a trail of oil laid by another car. Plato finished third, clear of the Team Halfords Honda Civics of Gordon Shedden and Neal and Mike Jordan’s Eurotech/John Guest-Speedfit Honda Integra, all three surviving hairy moments when they were also confronted by the oil.

A fine seventh, after starting from the back in of the grid in 25th following a qualifying rules infringement, was Turkington in his Team RAC BMW 320si E90.

Result:1. Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA), VX Racing/Vauxhall Vectra, 21m43.800s2. Tom Chilton (GBR), VX Racing/Vauxhall Vectra, +4.150s3. Jason Plato (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Leon, +4.380sFASTEST LAP: Giovanardi, 1m25.173s (82.36mph) ESTABLISHES NEW LAP RECORD

Round 5, 19 laps (37.0234 miles)Weather/Track: Sunny/Dry

GIOVANARDI MAKES IT A DOUBLEJust as in the day’s first race – and even now with his Vectra carrying maximum success ballast – Giovanardi, impressively, again led all the way to make it two wins out of two.

But this time it was 19-year-old Onslow-Cole’s turn to celebrate second position – his first time on the BTCC podium – after sneaking his Team RAC BMW past Chilton’s Vectra on the final lap. The pair had already twice swapped places and, in the closing stages, their battle enabled Jackson, Plato and Turner to close up for a grandstand finish. Turner set the fastest lap as he moved through from the back of the grid after his failure to start race one.

Allison, having earlier resisted the charging Turner, finished a best-ever seventh in his Motorbase Performance SEAT Toledo while, giving the A-Tech Alfa Romeo 156 team plenty to cheer in eighth, was Dave Pinkney, the new chairman of football club Luton Town. Ninth and tenth were Jason Hughes, in Kartworld Racing’s bio-ethanol MG ZS, and John George, scoring his first-ever BTCC point in his TH Motorsport Honda Integra. George would later be drawn on pole position for race three’s reversed starting grid.

In a race of attrition, notable retirements included Eoin Murray’s rapid Quest Racing Alfa Romeo 156 and Neal and Turkington, whose cars collided heavily on the opening lap, each spinning into retirement in an incident that eliminated also both Shedden and Jordan.

Result:1. Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA), VX Racing/Vauxhall Vectra, 30m01.521s2. Tom Onslow-Cole (GBR), Team RAC/BMW 320si E90, +2.884s3. Tom Chilton (GBR), VX Racing/Vauxhall Vectra, +4.266sFASTEST LAP: Turner, 1m25.648s (81.91mph)

Round 6, 17 laps (33.1262 miles)Weather/Track: Sunny/Dry

PLATO WINS TO STRETCH LEADUltimately, Plato was able to cruise to victory thanks to a mixture of aggression and controlled overtaking on the opening lap of the race. From sixth on the grid, he swiped across his own-team-mate Turner off the line and then opportunistically slipped into the lead as the remaining four drivers ahead of him tangled at the first bend.

Jackson and Turner were also able to capitalise as they moved into the second and third place positions they would hold to the finish. Fourth and fifth, capping a strong day for Vauxhall, were Chilton and Giovanardi who just managed to fend off Shedden and Neal, the latter pair swapping positions on the final lap.

Jordan, his team able to release his patched-up car from its pit garage just moments before the start, drove from the back of the field to a sensational eighth, with Allison ninth. Tenth, scoring his first BTCC point after coming through from 21st on the grid was Simon Blanckley (Durham) in his Honda Integra – to much cheering on the pit wall from his sibsport team.

But the race was again a disaster for Turkington and also, this time, RAC team-mate Onslow-Cole, each retiring their cars at the side of the track.

Result:1. Jason Plato (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Leon, 25m26.790s2. Mat Jackson (GBR), Jacksons MSport/BMW 320si E90, +2.414s3. Darren Turner (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Leon, +3.741sFASTEST LAP: Plato, 1m25.393s (82.15mph)