Chaos and controversy: BTCC Rnds 16/17/18

Sam Tordoff, Andrew Jordan and Gordon Shedden took a win apiece as the BTCC season roared back into life with a chaotic and controversial weekend of racing at Snetterton.

Fresh from the traditional summer break, the field made the trip to Norfolk for the sixth meeting of the year with the Triple Eight-run MG6 GTs expected to be the cars to beat; having dominated a two-day Dunlop tyre test held at the circuit last month.

That proved to be correct through free practice and qualifying, with rookie Tordoff storming to pole for the first time ahead of experienced team-mate Jason Plato.

When the lights went out for the start of the opening race, Tordoff produced a performance that belied his relative lack of experience with a composed drive at the head of the pack.

Maintaining his place out front when the lights went out, the Yorkshireman was never troubled as he picked up his maiden victory to add to the podium finishes secured earlier in the year.

“The first one is always special,” Tordoff said. “I knew that if I got away well I’d have a great chance and thankfully I did.”

Capping the perfect start to race day for MG, Plato followed him home in second place, although it was a more difficult race for the double champion who was forced to see off the challenge of Gordon Shedden’s Honda; the Scot emerging as the closest challenger to the MG duo in both qualifying and the opening race.

In fairness, the opening race gave little to suggest the drama that was to come later in the day, with the only change for position in the top seven coming when Colin Turkington was able to jump ahead of Andrew Jordan on the run to Riches for the first time to take fourth, which he then held to the finish.

Jordan took fifth, with Aron Smith sixth as Airwaves Racing finally showed some form with its Ford Focus after a difficult start to the campaign.

If race one was quiet, race two was anything but, with a controversial move for the lead ultimately deciding who came out on top.

Plato had taken the lead when the lights went out ahead of a fast-starting Turkington but the MG saw his first lap advantage quickly eroded when the Safety Car was deployed to retrieve Liam Griffin’s Ford Focus from the turn one gravel.

A fuel pump issue then forced Plato to pit and retire shortly after the restart, which gave Turkington the lead in his BMW. Unable to break away from the chasing pack behind, Turkington was forced to defend hard to keep his place out front, with Andrew Jordan having stormed through the field to run second behind the 2009 champion.

Heading onto the back straight, contact from Jordan’s Honda was enough to unsettle the BMW and force Turkington wide, with Jordan sailing through and going on to take a relatively comfortable victory ahead of Matt Neal, who picked up second place thanks to a fine move on Smith’s Ford on the final lap. Third however was still the first podium finish of the season for the Motorbase Performance squad.

“I am delighted for the team as they’ve worked so hard – it has been an unbelievable effort from everyone,” Smith said. “I just knew the car was quick after our recent testing so to be back fighting with the big boys feels great.”

Mat Jackson took fourth in the second of the Fords with Adam Morgan’s Toyota and Turkington rounding out the top six. Race one winner Tordoff however failed to score, with maximum ballast on his car and brake problems seeing him run off track more than once before he trailed in down in 18th.

With the top eight on the grid reversed for race three, Dave Newsham’s Toyota started one pole but car issues saw him bog down with the lights went out – allowing Turkington to rocket into the lead from the second row of the grid.

As the pack squabbled behind, the eBay Motors man looked set to break away on the opening lap but his early advantage was eradicated when the Safety Car was deployed after an incident at Hamilton.

Towards the front of the pack, Newsham and Neal tangled going into Oggies, leading to the field behind all seeking to take avoiding action. As Plato did so coming out of the previous corner, his MG suddenly went sideways across the grass and hit the barriers before rolling – eventually coming to rest on its wheels.

The double champion climbed from the car unaided but was left to reflect on a weekend that promised much, but delivered little…

“We came here expecting big results, and ended up with lady luck dealing us a very poor hand,” he said. “I am annoyed with the failure in race two because it was a part mandated by the championship that broke – it’s nothing to do with the team or anything we can control.

“The crash in race three was one of those things, I was trying to avoid a crash and that caused me to go off the road. It looked dramatic and I will be a bit sore for the next few days but I am ok.

“It is going to make things a big uphill battle in terms of the championship now, but I am not going to stop fighting. Motor racing isn’t meant to be easy.”

On the restart – and after a further shunt behind involving Will Bratt’s Audi – Turkington again found himself under real pressure out front, this time from Shedden’s Honda as the defending champion tried to find a way through.

The Northern Irishman kept his place out front until a hit from Shedden’s Honda at Agostini saw him again spin out of the lead and restricted him to another sixth place finish.

“We knew our car wasn’t the quickest here, but we found ourselves out front in two of the races and I knew I would have to defend hard to try and keep my position,” he reflected. “However, on both occasions, people have driven into me in order to get ahead and there is nothing fun in leading the race and then losing eight places because you’ve been turned around.

“If you’d told me before the start of the day that I’d have three top six finishes then I would have taken it, but to have been taken out of the lead twice is frustrating and has turned the weekend into something of a missed opportunity for us.”

Shedden therefore went on to take victory with Jackson following him home in second. Third was a heated battle however, with Smith defending hard to keep Morgan behind – the Ford driver only being able to relax when a charging Tordoff to made it three-way fight for position and forced the Toyota man to focus on keeping his fourth place.

Despite only coming home in eighth after his first lap drama, Neal retains the championship lead but by a reduced margin with Jordan having closed to within nine points of top spot.

“Andrew has had a win and Flash has had a win so that’s two victories for Honda,” Neal said. “We’ve increased our leads in the manufacturers’ and teams’ championships, I’m still leading the drivers’, and Gordon is now more in it too. They have to look both ways now instead of one.”

In the Jack Sears Trophy for those drivers still using S2000 machinery, Lea Wood strengthened his championship lead with three wins from three after Liam Griffin and James Kaye both endured weekends to forget.