This year’s Green Flag British Touring Car title race took several more dramatic twists in yesterday’s three action-packed rounds at Knockhill that were watched by a live ITV1 audience. Leaving the Scottish circuit, the gap at the top of the table between Vauxhall team-mates Yvan Muller and James Thompson is down to just one point, but WSR MG driver Anthony Reid’s popular pair of wins on home ground mean he has emerged as a serious title contender as the BTCC heads to Brands Hatch, Kent on 22 August.
Scotsman Reid won the first race by leading all the way from pole position. His outright victory also guaranteed him the win in the HarrierZeuros Independents Trophy which he already leads. Reid’s team-mate Colin Turkington crossed the line second in what appeared to be a 1-2 result for the WSR team until officials later demoted him to fourth for having overtaking Vauxhall’s James Thompson inside a yellow flag caution zone.
This meant Team Honda’s Tom Chilton, who started from second on the grid, was elevated to runner-up position and Thompson to third – a result that moved him one point ahead of team-mate Muller at the top of the championship heading into the day’s second race. Muller, the reigning champion, finished the race fifth after starting only ninth following problems in qualifying.
The battle for tenth position – and ultimately pole position for the second race thanks to the reversed grid rule – kept the large Knockhill crowd on its feet. SEAT Sport UK’s Jason Plato eventually took the place but only after muscling past defiant independent competitor Jason Hughes in the Kartworld team’s MG. In a dramatic finish, former champion Plato was forced to block Hughes on the run to the flag for he almost found himself boxed in by Computeach Racing with Halfords Honda driver Matt Neal as they headed up Knockhill’s start-finish straight.
Plato went on to win the second race from pole, but only after putting up a mighty defence of his position in the closing stages as he came under enormous pressure from highest-placed independent runner Neal and his team-mate Dan Eaves, who finished second and third. Eaves also set the fastest lap, while Plato’s victory made him the season’s first five-times race winner.
Behind, the championship lead swung back in favour of Muller. He completed the race in fourth place, but Thompson retired with accident damage to his Astra after he slid off the track following contact with Chilton, who also failed to finish. Heading into the day’s third race then, Muller had opened out a seven-point advantage over Thompson.
Vauxhall’s Luke Hines, SEAT’s Robert Huff – a sensational sixth from the back of the grid – and Reid were next up, closely followed by Team Petronas Syntium Proton’s ever-excellent South African driver Shaun Watson-Smith. Independents James Kaye, in Synchro Motorsport’s Honda, and Hughes completed the top ten. On viewing evidence, BTCC officials later fined Reid and handed him a suspended one race ban for a separate incident with Chilton that caused the Honda driver to collide with Turkington, who also then retired from the race with accident damage.
Meanwhile, Plato’s win had booked him a ticket to pole position for the third race and during the opening stages he appeared to be drawing away for a second triumph. But he was eventually reeled in and overtaken by Eaves who in turn was later caught and passed by the charging Reid, up from seventh on the grid.
Reid was then able to pull out a small gap to Eaves as they crossed the line in first and second positions and the MG driver also earned two bonus points for setting the fastest lap and having led the race. And the result has helped him to virtually halve the points gap to championship leader Muller from 45 prior to Knockhill to just 23 with nine rounds to go.
“What an amazing day,” said Reid. “Ever the optimist, I hoped I might get two wins but never really thought I would do it. The Vauxhalls have had another troublesome time at Knockhill and next is Brands Hatch – a circuit that has always seemed to suit the MG more than the others. The way Jason Plato is driving as well … I don’t think he can be ruled out yet either. The title race today has been blown wide open.”
Two of the most outstanding drives of the third race – and the day – were put in by Turkington and Thompson who finished an incredible third and fourth respectively having started from the back of the grid as a consequence of their second race retirements. Thompson, one of a queue of drivers to eventually rush past the ailing Plato – his Toledo struggling with maximum ballast – looked to have got third in his pocket until Turkington muscled past in the closing stages.
Huff took fifth and Hines sixth with Plato seventh. Neal was next up and then, finishing a disappointing ninth having been among the leaders, was Muller. Even the Frenchman’s legendary car control could not prevent him spinning off the track during a battle with Plato and Huff, but he recovered to claim two vital points that keep him just one ahead of Thompson.
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