to take series lead
Colin Turkington has won the first of today’s three HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship races at the Croft circuit in North Yorkshire – a result that has moved him past Matt Neal into the lead of the series.
Northern Irishman Turkington led all the way from pole position in his Team RAC BMW for his fourth win of the season and also set the race’s fastest lap. Team-mate Stephen Jelley was second – his first podium finish in the BTCC – followed by Jason Plato, third in his Racing Silverline Chevrolet Lacetti.
As at Oulton Park two weeks ago, Robert Collard was again in mesmeric form, moving up from a lowly grid slot (tenth) to finish fourth ahead of Vauxhall’s reigning Champion Fabrizio Giovanardi who effectively followed him through the field having started 13th.
Vauxhall driver Neal, meanwhile, finished the race in sixth so has seen a two-point lead over Turkington turn into an 11-point deficit going into this afternoon’s second race.
Neal was involved in a minor skirmish that would ultimately lead to the race being stopped two laps early. He and home favourite Harry Vaulkhard ran side-by-side through the high-speed Jim Clark Esses, but the latter’s Tempus Sport Chevrolet slithered onto the infield and picked up a puncture that meant it span at the Complex. The following Tom Chilton, at that point on for a point in tenth in his Team Aon Ford Focus, was unable to avoid the Chevrolet and smashed into it side-on at considerable speed. The incident left the track blocked and officials quickly called a halt to proceedings. Both drivers were able to climb from their shattered cars unaided, although Vaulkhard is out for the rest of the day, his car a write-off.
There was also a heavy shunt for Plato’s team-mate Mat Jackson. He had been lying fourth when his Chevrolet span exiting the chicane and crashed into the barriers. The 28-year-old had spent the morning on a doctor's drip attempting to recover from suspected food poisoning but is believed to have been on the point of passing out at the time of his accident and, while his car is repairable, has chosen to withdraw from the event.
Meanwhile, Airwaves’ Jonathan Adam, up from 11th on the grid, finished seventh ahead of VXR’s Andrew Jordan and the opportunistic Paul O’Neill in his Sunshine.co.uk Honda Integra. With Chilton removed, David Pinkney completed the points finishers in tenth ahead of Team Dynamics Honda team-mate James Thompson who, instead of moving up from ninth on the grid as expected, lost places with a number of skirmishes which badly damaged his car's suspension.
James Nash could count himself unfortunate, however, to have not taken a maiden point – in only his second BTCC event, the young RML driver was lying in a comfortable tenth in his Chevrolet only to drop back at a dramatic rate in the final laps with excessive tyre wear.
Elsewhere, the race was a disaster for the Cartridge World Carbon Zero Racing team. Dan Eaves’ race ended in the gravel trap at Clervaux bend in a collision with Pinkney, but team-mate Adam Jones’ hopes of podium finish, from fourth on the grid, were over even before the start. His team was adjudged to have continued to work on his car following the ‘three-minutes-to-go’ board on the grid and he was punished with a 30-second stop-go penalty in the pit lane. As he pulled away his car stalled and then, a lap later after rejoining, he was back in the pit again to have an engine misfire checked out.
