Three share success at Thruxton: BTCC Rnds 7/8/9

A week may have passed since the BTCC made its annual pilgrimage to Thruxton, but some teams are still counting the costs of a dramatic weekend of racing at the quickest circuit on the calendar.

Wins in Hampshire went the way of Andrew Jordan, Gordon Shedden and Colin Turkington in the latest three races on the schedule, although that only told part of the story…

Defending champion Jordan had maintained his run of pole positions at Thruxton with a stunning performance in qualifying; smashing the oldest qualifying lap record as he secured his place at the head of the field for the third successive season.

That was pretty much as good as it had got for the Pirtek Racing man in both 2012 and 2013, with an accident at the start and then a heart-breaking late puncture having cost him the chance to take victory on the two previous times he had snared pole position.

This time around, things would be different as he finally converted pole into victory with a measured drive at the front, holding off Mat Jackson’s Ford early on before establishing his advantage out front.

While Jackson would be swallowed up by the Civic Tourers of works Honda men Matt Neal and Shedden as the race wore on, Jordan was already too far ahead to be caught as he won at Thruxton for the first time – heading a Honda 1-2-3 on the results as Jackson was left to settle for fourth.

“I’ve finally converted a pole position at Thruxton into a victory,” Jordan said afterwards. “I was helped a little by the battle behind but the car felt fantastic and in truth we had a lot more in the tank.”

If Jordan thought he’d be able to double up in race two, then he was to be mistaken as Shedden recovered from a trip off track on the opening lap to put the youngster under increasing pressure as the race wore on.

Making his car as wide as possible, it looked like Jordan would be able to hold on as Shedden struggled to find a way through only for a slight mistake at Church to give Shedden the chance he needed.

Edging ahead, the Scot got into the lead on the run to the final chicane and while Jordan did his best to fight back, his chance of reclaiming top spot was ended when the race was halted early after an accident involving Nick Foster and Rob Austin which saw Foster vault the barriers at Church.

Foster would escape injury and be able to return to the track for the final race of the weekend, while Austin was excluded from the results.

“The car felt good late on and when Andy got one little slide at Church I got a great slipstream and was able to get through,” a victorious Shedden said. “Every time we get in the Tourer it just gets better and better!”

With tenth-placed Fabrizio Giovanardi on pole for race three, the Italian was hoping to fight for his first win of the year but he hadn’t factored in Turkington and his fast-starting BMW.

The Northern Irishman rocketed off the line and by the end of the opening lap had climbed from fifth on the grid to first.

A class apart at the front, he would be unchallenged en-route to a second win of the year; despite two Safety Car periods, which bunched up the field behind.

“We started this weekend with a really tricky car to drive, but to be so fast in that race is a big reward for the team,” he said. “This has been a bit of a bogey track for us – I don’t think a BMW has won here since 2009, so to take that win was really special.”

Behind Turkington, Jackson and Giovanardi put their Fords onto the podium for Motorbase, but the race was overshadowed by two further huge accidents at Church.

First to go off was Ollie Jackson, who comprehensively destroyed the front end of his Proton when a suspension failure saw him go off at speed into the tyre wall, where he also impacted a tree.

Simon Belcher would then go off in even more dramatic fashion when a failure of his Toyota saw him go off at unabated speed – with his car rolling over the tyres and into the woods.

While his car was also extensively damaged, Belcher was also able to escape injury, with circuit bosses vowing to look into Safety at the corner.

“Any accidents at a motor racing meeting are regrettable, but as a racer myself, I fully understand that it is not desirable to have cars ending up amongst the bushes,” circuit MD Bill Coombs said. “That is something we will be addressing, but by the same token, we need to be careful in this kind of situation not to jump to any kneejerk reactions or conclusions.

“Church is a high-speed, challenging corner, and like all the classic corners, it is just this that makes it so exciting and rewarding to get right. There is a significant amount of run-off area – more than at many other circuits – and the result is that when accidents do occur, drivers are thankfully able to climb out of the car and walk away, as was the case last weekend.

“The last thing we want to do is remove the character of Thruxton, but safety is of course of paramount importance and we will be working closely in conjunction with the MSA and FIA, who are the acknowledged experts in this area in our sport, to see if we can make further improvements.”

Next stop is Oulton Park in early June, where the old Super Touring cars will also be in action.