Gordon Shedden has taken the win in the third race of the day to make sure the finale at Brands Hatch in a couple of weeks will be an incredibly close battle.
Shedden started the third race from pole but was passed off the line by the Team JCT600 with GardX BMW of Rob Collard who then moved ahead by Copse.
Shedden was in determined mood at a circuit which has not traditionally suited the Honda and he kept on Collard’s tail before passing Collard into Maggots on the second lap.
After this, he just pulled away from the BMW to take his fourth win of the season.
Collard now came under attack from Mat Jackson who passed the BMW on lap three. It initially looked as though Collard may now drop down the order but he recomposed himself and hung on to third place before anyone else could pass him.
Part of the reason he could hang on was Tom Ingram fighting with the Subarus of Turkington and Plato with both the works machines eventually passing Ingram whose car would then stop with a problem.
Plato too suffered a problem as he developed a puncture on the penultimate lap leaving him to limp home in twelfth. This left Turkington to take an easy fourth although he could do nothing about those ahead of him. The Fourth place keeps the Irishman in contention for the overall title.
Neal and Tordoff came home fifth and sixth, scoring important points to keep their championship fights strong. Neal’s honda managed to ass Tordoff during the race with the BMW driver not putting up too much of a fight. Looking at the bigger picture he thought points for sixth were better than no points at all.
Ash Sutton scored points in seventh with Andrew Jordan again in the points in eighth. Aiden Moffat continued a strong day with more points for ninth just ahead of the second MG of Josh Cook.
Rob Austin again suffered a puncture for the second race in succession, leaving him to wonder what might have been as he retired in the pits. The flailing rubber causing terminal damage to the Toyota.
Jack Goff scored more points in eleventh on what has been a relatively low key weekend for the IHG Rewards Club driver.
Behind Plato in twelfth, the remaing points scorers were Hunter Abbott, Jake Hill and Jeff Smith. Hill and Smith had fought an almost race long duel over fourteenth with Hill eventually coming out on top.
Michael Epps was named the Jack Sears trophy winner for the best rookie from this weekend.
Following the weekend’s results, Motorbase look set to be named the independent teams champions and Jordan the independent drivers champion.
Going into the final meeting of the year at Brands Hatch, Tordoff still leads the overall standings as he did when he arrived at Silverstone with Shedden and Neal in second and third but an incredible eight drivers are all in at least mathematical contention for the overall drivers title.
(The eight are Tordoff, Neal, Shedden, Collard, Jackson, Jordan, Turkington and Plato.)
The fact that two Subaru drivers are in contention despite that team struggling in the early season shows just how competitive this season has been.
Advance tickets are available from brandshatch.co.uk, it’s sure to be an exciting weekend as we find out who will be the 2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring car champion.
2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 27 – Silverstone:
1 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing 21m54.766s (98.81 mph)
2 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +0.668s
3 Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +1.087s
4 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +2.009s
5 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +2.426s
6 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +2.586s+
7 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +5.399s
8 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +7.119s
9 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +7.914s
10 Ash SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +9.275s
11 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +9.290s
12 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +9.291s
13 Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +9.518s
14 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +11.619s
15 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +12.044s
16 Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +17.184s
17 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com +17.262s
18 Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing +20.244s
19 Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR +24.714s
20 Tony GILHAM (GBR) TLC/RCIB Insurance Racing +25.798s
21 James COLE (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +26.044s
22 Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport +26.805s
23 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +27.819s
24 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +28.855s
25 Dan WELCH (GBR) Goodestone Racing +38.231s
26 Kelvin FLETCHER (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +2 laps
DNF Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +4 laps
DNF Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +7 laps
DNF Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +7 laps
DNF Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +15 laps By Marc Waller
