Andrew Jordan took the first race win of the day at Rockingham in a somewhat chaotic opening race at Rockingham.
Jordan got a good start off the line and took an early lead from pole sitter Jason Plato going into the Deene Hairpin.
Mat Jackson, who started the race from twelfth, came across the line in second place after a fast race in the Airwaves Racing Focus, having capitalised after pushing for position with Gordon Shedden and Jason Plato.
Rob Austin impressed by finishing in third despite falling down the field early on due to grip issues – and took the final podium place at the final corner on the final lap of the race ahead of Gordon Shedden; the reigning champion struggling in his Honda Yuasa Racing Civic.
The safety car was called on the opening lap of the race after contact between Will Bratt and Adam Morgan saw the pair spinning into the barriers. In an attempt to avoid the incident, Tom Onslow-Cole – in his first weekend for Airwaves Racing – clipped Dan Welch, sending the Proton into the spin. Welch was a sitting target for the upcoming Andy Neate who hit the Proton head on, resulting in the pair ending their weekends due to the amount of damage sustained.
Championship leader coming into Rockingham Matt Neal spun his Honda Civic just before the re-start resulting him having to wait until the remainder of the field had passed before he could re-join. Having dropped down to twenty-first, Neal could only recover to fourteenth by the end of the race, meaning race winner Andrew Jordan now led the driver standings approaching race two.
The MG duo of Jason Plato and team mate Sam Tordoff also had a disappointing race compared to their dominance in Saturday’s qualifying session. Jason had to settle for fifth whilst Tordoff slipped down the order throughout the race, finishing in sixteenth overall.
Having started his race from the pit lane, Lea Wood also made a last lap lunge for the Jack Sears’ category win ahead of David Nye. The pair crossed the line twentieth and twenty-first respectively. By Nikki Thompson – Photo by Marc Waller
