Sam Tordoff has come out victorious in a dramatic third and final race of the day here at a hot and sunny Oulton Park.
The BTCC saved the best till last as record crowds saw a dramatic race from the start. Sam Tordoff got a great start off the grid over hauling pole sitter Adam Morgan by going round the outside of Old Hall. Unfortunately he’d carried too much speed and ran wide leaving Morgan to regain the lead and Matt Neal through into second place.
Morgan’s lead didn’t last long however as he was judged to have jumped the start meaning he had to serve a drive through penalty. Neal was through into the lead and gradually pulled away to what looked like a comfortable gap from Sam Tordoff who was now back to second after Morgan’s penalty.
But Tordoff managed to not only catch him up but then started to look for a way past. They drew alongside each other at Deer Leap and then made a pass into Old Hall, not making the mistake he did passing Morgan on the first lap.
Jordan was next to attack Neal who seemed to have had his concentration broken by Tordoff’s move. Jordan also drew alongside at Deer leap and the two clashed several times as they headed towards the pit straight. Jordan then completed the move into Old Hall demoting Neal to third.
Neal wasn’t going to get caught out again and he held back fourth placed Honda team mate Shedden to take third but it should have been a win as he ruefully admitted in the post podium interviews later.
Shedden came under pressure from Jason Plato who was keen for more silverware after his two wins earlier in the day. Shedden held him off but he was just 0.140 seconds ahead as they crossed the line. Plato was the winning independent driver as none of the top three are classed as independents.
Colin Turkington was sixth with Aron Smith in eighth, the closest they had been to their Team BMR team mate all day! Jack Goff scored solid points in eighth but he hasn’t looked like challenging for a podium this weekend and drops back in the championship standings after leading it in the early stages of the season.
Tom Ingram was ninth in his Speedworks Toyota making it inside the top ten for the second time today. Jeff Smith completed the top ten but Martin Depper’s sister car stopped at the end of the green flag lap. The Civic was abandoned at the bottom of Deer Leap with battery issues. Aiden Moffat took eleventh in his Laser Tools Racing Mercedes ending a solid if unspectacular day for the Scottish driver. Twelfth was BMR team boss Warren Scott, as usual of the pace of his drivers but he had a good battle with Josh Cook and came out on top with Cook taking thirteenth less than half a second behind. Rob Collard finished a difficult day in fourteenth with Daniel Welch completing the points finishes, the single point is a welcome boost to a team which has really struggled with reliability issues as the non finish of team mate Andy Wilmot showed.
Jake Cook of Power Maxed Racing was named the winner of the Jack Sears Trophy for Oulton Park having been the best scoring Rookie over all three races.
After Oulton Park, Jason Plato now leads the championship from Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal. Shedden is just 3 points behind with Neal 8 points off Plato. Fourth is Jordan with Turkington, Morgan, Tordoff and Goff completing the top eight.
Full BTCC results and championship standings are available from TSl timing.
The championship now moves to Croft in Yorkshire on the last weekend in June. The circuit often favours the rear wheel drive cars especially the BMW’s of WSR so expect to see Priaulx, Tordoff and Collard at the front. It could also be a good weekend for Excocet Alcosense racing after they struggled here at Oulton Park. by Marc Waller
