Rob Collard won the second race of the day after it was shortened due to a long red flag stoppage.
As the race got underway intitially, Collard had already jumped from tenth on the grid up to sixth but there was then a high speed crash with the two MGs and Senna Proctors Vauxhall at the fearsomely fast Church corner. The initial contact was between Taylor-Smith and Proctor but as they rebounded they knocked off the unfortunate Lloyd.
Lloyds car spun and went into the barrier still travelling very quickly before rebounding into the air. Everyone involved emerged unscathed but the red flag was bought out while everything was cleared. The delay then got considerably longer when it was established the barriers at the corner needed major repairs.
After a long break, during which many teams were spotted on the grid eating ice creams, the racing resumed.
Collard got another great start, going from sixth to third. Jack Goff kept fighting though and they went three wide into the chicane. Matt Neal then slowed with a steering problem. This put Collard into the lead with Shedden fighting off Goff for second. Shedden then looked set to battle Collard for the win in the remaining laps but the red flags came out once again.
This time it was the Motorbase Focus of Martin Depper which went off at Goodwood and hit the tyre wall at high speed. The amount of debris and the position of Depper’s car forced the red flags and the end of the race, this time for good.
Just a couple of laps before the red flag, Ingram had passed Goff to take the final podium position.
Collard was pleased to take his first win of 2017
“That was an explosive few laps!” beamed Collard. “The BMW felt absolutely stunning and I’m so pleased for the team. We did a lot at the first start, and then the re-start was similarly textbook. I had a really good opening lap and then I’m not sure what happened to Matt – I could see sparks coming off – so it was obviously a shame for him but I will take this one and with pride.
“I must admit, going three-abreast into the chicane was pretty scary! I had one of the Hondas on my left and then cheeky Jack Goff snuck up my inside on the right – I didn’t see that one coming! The BMW has been on fire today and it’s brilliant to take my first win of 2017. A big shout out to Billy [Monger], who is watching at home on TV – Forza!”
Behind the top four, Rob Austin passed Colin Turkington’s BMW to take fifth. Seventh was Adam Morgan’s Mercedes with the other Mercedes of Aiden Moffat in ninth. Between them was Ashley Sutton’s Subaru, once again, the only one of the four manufacturer backed cars to trouble the front runners with the other three well toward the rear of the field. Plato taking twenty fifth this time.
Jeff Smith took tenth, in what was turning out to be a strong weekend for Eurotech. Matt Simpson’s Honda was eleventh just in front of Tom Chilton’s Vauxhall. The two BTC Norlin cars both scored points with Newsham thirteenth and Smiley fifteenth sandwiching Andrew Jordan’s BMW.
2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 8 – Thruxton
1 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW 6 laps
2 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.212s
3 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.507s
4 Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing +1.575s
5 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +2.791s
6 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +2.971s
7 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +3.327s
8 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +4.143s
9 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +5.152s
10 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +5.623s
11 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +6.255s
12 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +6.770s
13 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +7.120s
14 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +7.640s
15 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +8.319s
16 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +9.591s
17 Luke DAVENPORT (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +9.867s
18 Michael EPPS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +10.554s
19 Will BURNS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +11.617s
20 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +11.830s
21 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +12.389s
22 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +13.039s
23 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +14.639s
24 Ant WHORTON-EALES (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +16.431s
25 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +16.431s
26 Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +19.115s
27 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +20.190s
28 James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +21.437s
29 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +39.987s
30 Josh COOK (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +50.217s
31 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +1 lap
32 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance 0 laps completed By Marc Waller
