Honda Yuasa Racing's Matt Neal made it two wins from two attempts at Thruxton ahead of a fantastic scrap for second place. The VW Passat of Tom Onslow-Cole just managed to hold off the charging Honda Civics of Gordon Shedden and Andrew Jordan in a battle that went right down to the wire.
Neal controlled the race from start to finish, having had some early pressure from MG KX Momentum Racings Jason Plato who started second on the grid. He was delighted with the win, and said after the race, The car was really sweet. I didnt expect one win to be honest, never mind two!
After a big crash for Daniel Welch on lap five that brought out the safety car it looked as though Plato and Neal would run away with the race, but Platos MG6 faded as time went on, and the PPCGB Kraftwerk Racing Passat closed the gap to pass Plato on lap 12. The MG then quickly lost out to both Shedden and Jordan going into turn one, and managed to maintain fifth place to the line ahead of Jeff Smith. Onslow-Cole is having a fantastic weekend so far after scoring a third place in the opener, made all the more impressive by the fact that the car has only contested a handful of races. The delighted Surrey driver said, This is turning into a very good weekendwere wracking up quite an impressive points haul. We thought the car would be good here but Id be lying if I said we were expecting two podiums. Its a little too early to say if were here to stay but the pressures on now!
After victory in race one was snatched from Jordan by a last lap puncture, he started the second contest from 11th on the grid. He carved through the field in the early stages, setting the fastest lap overall and moving up to fourth by the end of lap ten. The move by Plato followed but the VW of Onslow-Cole proved to be a bridge too far for the Pirtek Civic, however, as he pushed too hard going around Church corner for the final time and had a huge slide. Shedden took full advantage of Jordans lost momentum, and jammed his car up the inside going into the final chicane to take third. It was an impressive drive from the Scotsman, who fought all the way from the rear of the grid after contact with Plato in race one put him down in the order.
A number of incidents early on in the race resulted in a fantastic battle from eighth all the way down to 13th. Adam Morgan went off the track on lap one and fell right down the order, but got his head down and drove yet another mature race to bring the Ciceley Racing Toyota Avensis back up to eighth.
A bit further back, Jack Goff had his best drive of the season to finish 9th, and was rewarded for his efforts with a reverse grid draw that sees him on pole for the final race of the day. He crossed the line just two seconds ahead of a four-car scrap between Aron Smith, Colin Turkington, Dave Newsham and Rob Collard. Smith and his Airwaves Racing team-mate Mat Jackson looked set to finish higher up, but both had huge spins at the same point on the track that left them fighting further down the field.
It was a race of attrition in the battle for the Jack Sears Trophy, with four of the six cars retiring before the chequered flag. Lea Wood held on to take the win after pressure from Liam Griffin and James Kaye. Griffin still leads the class with three Jack Sears Cups, but this result puts Wood into joint second place with Kaye with two class wins apiece.
2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car ChampionshipThruxton - Race 2
1 2 Matt Neal (Honda Yuasa Racing) 0.00 2 6 Tom Onslow-Cole (PPCGB / Kraftwerk Racing) +1.4683 1 Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa Racing) +1.676 4 77 Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing) +1.891 5 99 Jason Plato (MG KX Momentum Racing) +3.560 6 55 Jeff Smith (Pirtek Racing) +4.949 7 88 Sam Tordoff (MG KX Momentum Racing) +13.0728 33 Adam Morgan (Ciceley Racing) +14.410 9 31 Jack Goff (RCIB Insurance Racing) +20.433 10 8 Aron Smith (Airwaves Racing) +22.45711 29 Colin Turkington (eBay Motors) +22.950 12 17 Dave Newsham (Speedworks Motorsport) +23.190 13 5 Robert Collard (eBay Motors) +23.489 14 20 James Cole (RCIB Insurance Racing) +26.85615 7 Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing) +28.789 16 18 Nick Foster BMW (eBay Motors) +29.063 17 48 Ollie Jackson (Speedworks Motorsport) +34.230 18 13 Rob Austin Audi (WIX Racing) +36.554 19 11 Frank Wrathall (Dynojet) +39.421 20 43 Lea Wood (Wheel Heaven / Houseman Racing) +40.145 21 12 David Nye (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +44.379 22 14 Will Bratt (WIX Racing) +51.062
Not Classified- 90 Joe Girling (M247 Racing with Tech-Speed Motorsport) +1 lap - 15 James Kaye (AmDTuning.com) +4 laps - 66 Liam Griffin (Addison Lee Motorbase) +9 laps - 39 Warren Scott (Team BMR Restart) +14 laps - 10 Daniel Welch (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +16 laps
