Fabrizio Giovanardi has won an incident-filled first HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship race at the Snetterton circuit in Norfolk today.
Italian Giovanardi, the reigning Champion, took advantage of a tangle between Jason Plato and Colin Turkington on the opening lap to move up to second before passing Vauxhall team-mate Andrew Jordan for his third win of the season.
He also set the race’s fastest lap. Jordan, who later complained of a peculiar-behaving car, then spun so finishing second was Mat Jackson (Racing Silverline Chevrolet Lacetti) and third – his best result of the season so far – was an ecstatic Paul O’Neill (sunshine.co.uk Honda Integra).
As a result, Giovanardi has moved up to second in the standings behind Team RAC BMW driver Turkington who finished the race in fifth, cutting the Northern Irishman’s advantage from 25 to 18 points.
Giovanardi said: "I was quite lucky because there were cars going everywhere in front of me at the start. But once I was in front I made sure to build a gap and then managed the distance to the others behind. I actually did not expect this result so I am very happy."
Giovanardi’s other team-mate Matt Neal finished the race in ninth after twice going off the track – at the opening bend and later at the Esses – and as a result has slipped to third in the standings. Plato, who started the race from pole position, retired his Silverline Chevrolet after his opening lap skirmish with Turkington and so lost a seemingly golden opportunity to make an impression on the top three in the series.
Plato was not the only high-profile retirement. James Thompson had just passed Jordan for second position when his Team Dynamics Honda Civic’s gearbox broke – causing him briefly to come to a halt in the middle of the track and triggering a brief safety car period. Robert Collard, trying to make up places after starting from a lowly 14th, stopped in the pit lane a lap from home after his Airwaves BMW lost a tyre in a scraping match with Neal’s Vectra exiting the Esses. That’s after he had also spun exiting the Russell chicane on the opening lap (pictured above).
Jonathan Adam at least gave the Airwaves team some cheer with fourth place while, behind Turkington in sixth, came team-mate Stephen Jelley. Seventh and eighth were Adam Jones, up from 12th in his Cartridge World SEAT Leon, and Thompson’s team-mate David Pinkney for his best result so far this season. Tenth behind Neal was Harry Vaulkhard’s bamboo engineering Chevrolet.
Tom Chilton’s Team Aon Ford Focus and the limping Jordan were next up while John George, contesting his 100th BTCC race in his JAG/TH Honda Integra, and Martin Johnson (Boulevard Vauxhall Astra) completed the runners.
James Nash (RML Chevrolet) was an unclassified finisher, crossing the line some five laps behind after a lengthy pit stop - this after he'd started the race from the pit lane after final checks to a driveshaft. On his return to the BTCC, Jones’s team-mate Gordon Shedden had also pitted on the same lap as Nash, but never rejoined.
