Subaru takes it's maiden BTCC win with three 3rd's 1 2nd and 1 win makes it the best subaru weekend so far.

Sam Tordoff and Matt Neal hit the top with a win apiece at Oulton Park

Colin Turkington scored Subaru’s first ever Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship victory, while wins for Sam Tordoff and Matt Neal pushed them to the standings summit at Oulton Park.

Having secured pole position on Saturday afternoon, double BTCC champion Turkington produced a lights-to-flag performance in Sunday’s opener.

The Ulsterman made a strong getaway and was able to resist the attentions from Tordoff’s Team JCT600 with GardX BMW in the early running, before gradually stretching his lead in the latter stages.

It’s an historic result for the Japanese marque, which had so far endured a baptism of fire on its introduction to Britain’s biggest motor sport series.

Challenging weekends at Brands Hatch and Donington Park were followed by the difficult decision to withdraw from the race day at Thruxton last time out, amid safety concerns with its fuel system.

New components, engine modifications and a two-day pre-event test seemingly had the desired effect on the all-new Levorg model, as Turkington’s success was bolstered by a hat-trick of podiums for team-mate Jason Plato.

The Surbaru man finished third in Cheshire’s curtain-raiser as the two Subarus sandwiched Tordoff’s West Surrey Racing BMW 125i M Sport for the podium positions.

Tordoff then ignited his championship charge with his first victory of the season in race two – incredibly becoming the ninth different driver to win a race so far in 2016.

The BMW blasted off the line, past pole-sitter Turkington, and never looked back. The unpredictability of this BTCC campaign continued as the Yorkshireman romped home to add his name to an ever-growing list of race-winning drivers.

Turkington and Plato finished second and third to make it a brace of double podiums for Subaru in the first two bouts. Halfords Yuasa Racing’s Gordon Shedden and Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram finished fourth and fifth respectively.

The result also fired Tordoff to the top of the standings, despite being only sixth in the table at the start of Oulton Park’s proceedings.

Tordoff and Neal then pulled further clear in the championship table after securing the first two podium positions in the final race of the day, with the latter taking a quite dominant victory.

Honda originally looked in place to notch a one-two finish after Shedden muscled his way past MG Racing RCIB Insurance’s Josh Cook on the opening lap. The two bright orange Civic Type Rs immediately pulled away from the rest of the field, but reigning champ Shedden was never close enough to challenge his team-mate. Disaster struck for the Scotsman on the penultimate lap when a puncture, after apparently hitting a kerb, forced him out of contention.

Cook – already reeling from the earlier attack by Shedden – was now embroiled in a fairly heated debate with Tom Ingram’s Toyota, as the pair tapped and nudged their way through the entire contest. The battle would eventually play into the hands of the experienced Plato, who snatched the final spot on the rostrum in dramatic fashion.

Ingram was edged onto the grass as the gaggle of cars ran down to Lodge for the final time. The Speedworks star was determined not to let Cook past, but in holding up his rival he merely opened the door for the Silverline Subaru BMR Racing car to run around the outside and steal the advantage.

Despite being shuffled slightly down the order, young gun Ingram still went on to take his third Independents’ victory of the day – matching his best ever weekend points haul in the process.

Tordoff tops Neal by just one point in the overall championship, with both drivers now pulling clear of the chasing pack headed by Shedden and Rob Collard.

Collard made his final move of the weekend on the run to the chequered flag, rounding off a staggering display from the Team JCT600 with GardX driver. The seasoned racer had seemingly carved his way through the field in each of the Oulton Park races, but misfortune had up to that point prevented him from scoring a real result. He would not be denied in race three, however, as he stormed from 25th to sixth – beating Turkington’s Subaru to the line by just 0.041s.

West Surrey Racing leads the Manufacturers’/Constructors’ points tally, whilst Team JCT600 with GardX top the HiQ Teams’ table.

Despite a relatively low key weekend for Motorbase Performance it still left the Cheshire track in command of the Independent Teams’ title, and its talent Andrew Jordan heads the Independent Drivers’ standings.

MG Racing RCIB Insurance driver Ashley Sutton maintained his advantage in the Jack Sears Trophy.

The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship now moves on to Croft in Yorkshire in two weeks time (18/19 June).

Colin Turkington said: “I’m delighted for the team. This result is good for me, but it’s even better for all the guys who have put in so much hard work and until now got nothing back. To give them a victory and double podium is a great reward. The performance of the car has really progressed since the first three weekends; we’ve found the Subaru Levorg’s sweet spot and the whole package is really moving forward. I really enjoyed the race and felt comfortable in the lead and in the groove. We didn’t suffer from much tyre degradation, which allowed me to just do my thing.”

Sam Tordoff said: “It’s been an amazing weekend. To be honest, I’m a bit lost for words with how well it’s gone. We came here targeting a big points haul to move up the standings, but never in my wildest dreams did I think we would do as well as we have done. Being so hard to overtake at Oulton, qualifying was the key to our weekend – starting third on the grid for race one made our life a lot easier. The car was quick both with and without ballast on-board and to come away with a victory and two second places is just phenomenal. To be going to my home circuit of Croft – a track where the BMW has always excelled – as championship leader is fantastic.”

Matt Neal said: “It seems to be becoming a bit of a trend at the moment that we run under the radar in races one and two with the weight on-board and then win in race three! The ballast certainly hurt us in qualifying and race one, and race two got pretty fraught at times with some really robust driving – we really had to battle for every inch of track space! It was nice to have a more straightforward race three after that, although it was obviously a shame about Gordon’s puncture because it would have been great to take a one-two finish for the team. I was dead chuffed to get the win – I really don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that feeling!”

Jason Plato said: “I knew we were back in the game and that’s what makes me tick! We’re still not 100 per cent and still have a few tweaks to make, but the basics of the car are strong. It’s a fantastic achievement for the whole team and I’m absolutely chuffed for Colin and everybody involved. This project has been five years in the making and it’s been an epic journey. We’ve got something really special here – BMR isn’t a big team, but everybody has done a fantastic job and what they’ve achieved is the most beautiful piece of engineering I’ve ever seen in a touring car.”

Tom Ingram said: “I’m really chuffed – I think we did a cracking job. We were always going to struggle a bit against the rear wheel-drive boys here and the pace wasn’t necessarily there for the rostrum in today’s hotter conditions, but to be one of the quickest front-wheel drive cars was really satisfying. I fought as hard as I could in race three and it would have been nice to come away with an outright podium, but I was more than happy with three top five finishes – it’s the kind of performance we’ve been targeting all season. We ran up at the sharp end all weekend and achieved three really strong results entirely on merit.”

2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Oulton Park

Race 1

1 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing 21m56.702s
2 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +2.424s
3 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +9.954s
4 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +3.429s
5 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +16.249s
6 Dan LLOYD (GBR) Eurotech Racing +16.388s
7 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +19.119s
8 Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +19.312s
9 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +20.395s
10 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +20.819s

Race 2

1 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX 24m15.404s
2 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +1.638s
3 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +2.309s
4 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +5.544s
5 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +6.217s
6 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +12.302s
7 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +12.552s
8 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +13.207s
9 Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +13.848s
10 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +13.989s

Race 3

1 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing 22m18.716s
2 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +9.481s
3 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +11.662s
4 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +11.760s
5 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +11.827s
6 Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +12.015s
7 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +12.056s
8 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +12.299s
9 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +12.494s
10 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +12.936s

the Halfords Yuasa Honda Civic's prove that Oulton Park can be a front drive success, with some great results.

• Second success of season keeps Matt Neal firmly in title fight
• Honda Civic Type R fastest front wheel-drive car at Oulton Park
• Gordon Shedden denied podium finish by late-race puncture

Halfords Yuasa Racing’s Matt Neal tallied his second success of the 2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship campaign at Oulton Park this weekend (4/5 June), as the Honda Civic Type R proved its prowess as the fastest front wheel-drive car in the field.

  

Oulton Park is renowned as a circuit that favours rear wheel-drive machinery, and with both drivers carrying significant success ballast, Gordon Shedden qualified fifth – less than eight hundredths-of-a-second shy of the top spot – with Neal not far behind in eighth, placing the pairing ahead of the majority of their chief title rivals.

 

Shedden ran as high as third in the opener, but with his soft-compound tyres fading in the closing stages, he found himself fighting a rearguard battle. Following a valiant defence under persistent pressure, the defending champion ultimately had to concede the position to old foe Jason Plato, taking the chequered flag fourth with Neal ninth.

 

The Scot repeated the result with a solid effort in race two, as Neal emerged from a titanic multi-car scrap in seventh. That saw both Civic Type Rs begin the reversed-grid finale from the sharp end of the order, with Neal leading from lights-out and Shedden working his way swiftly up to second.

 

Thereafter, the duo ran in close formation as they consistently pulled away from the chasing pack, but a late puncture for Shedden dashed a comfortable one-two finish. 

Neal’s dominant victory saw him leave Oulton just one point off the championship lead, with Halfords Yuasa Racing in the same position in the Teams’ standings. Honda similarly sits second in the Manufacturers’ Classification, with Shedden improving a spot to fourth in the Drivers’ table.

 

Matt Neal:

“It seems to be becoming a bit of a trend at the moment that we run under the radar in races one and two with the weight on-board and then win race three! 

The ballast certainly hurt us in qualifying and race one, and race two got pretty fraught at times with some really robust driving – we had to battle for every inch of track space. It was nice to have a more straightforward race three, although it was obviously a shame about Flash’s puncture because it would have been great to take a one-two finish for Halfords Yuasa Racing. 

After that, I backed off a bit because we had enough of a cushion behind. I was dead chuffed to get the win – I really don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that feeling!”

 

Gordon Shedden:

“I think it’s fair to say the Civic Type R was the fastest front wheel-drive car at Oulton and given the advantage that the rear wheel-drive cars enjoyed, we definitely extracted the most that we could from races one and two. Race three was looking even better and then we got the puncture so close to the end, which was massively disappointing. 

It came completely out of the blue; there was no tyre drop-off and the car felt fine. In hindsight, given the advantage we had, perhaps we could have backed off a bit earlier but neither of us was taking any unnecessary risks – it was just pure bad luck. Still, we proved once again that we have the pace so we’ll put it behind us and move onto the next one.”

Sheddon is cruising towards his second BTCC Title, but Jason Plato will not make it easy for him.

• Gordon Shedden closes in on second BTCC drivers’ crown
• Matt Neal celebrates quarter-century with strong weekend
• Honda on-track to lift manufacturers’ laurels in season finale 

Gordon Shedden took a step closer towards clinching a second Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship crown with a superb performance at Silverstone, as Matt Neal celebrated his 25^th anniversary in the series with a hat-trick of strong finishes.

 

From second on the grid, championship leader Shedden made light of the maximum success ballast aboard his Honda Yuasa Racing Civic Type R by battling to a rostrum finish in third position in race one – in front of all his principal title rivals.

 

On the softer-compound rubber in race two, the Scot produced a consistent drive to take the chequered flag fourth – again the best-placed of the championship-challenging quintet – and he concluded proceedings with fifth spot in the finale, chasing Jason Plato throughout but remaining mindful to stay out of trouble with so much at stake.

 

Having been stymied by traffic in qualifying, Neal fought his way through to secure eighth in the opener – just two seconds adrift of the sister Civic Type R – before shadowing his team-mate across the finish line in fifth place in race two and playing a similar rear-gunner role in race three en route to sixth.

 

The results mean 2012 BTCC Champion Shedden has increased his advantage at the top of the standings from six points to 23 with only one race meeting remaining. Neal is still well in touch in fourth, as Honda pulled further clear in the manufacturers’ contest.

 

“It’s great to come away with such a good points haul from a circuit that we anticipated was going to be difficult for us because it traditionally has been in recent years,” reflected ‘Flash’. “Arriving at Silverstone, our aim was damage limitation and to try to maintain our championship lead, so to actually extend it is a really positive outcome and underlines how hard we’ve worked on the Type R.

 

“We laid the foundations in qualifying with a cracking lap, and the car was mega in all three races. It was good to get the podium in the first one, and in race two we concentrated on managing everything with the weight on-board and soft tyres. In the last one, I was trying really hard to find a way past Jason, but at the same time I knew I had to keep an eye on the bigger picture.

 

“We’ve seen time and again that this championship can turn on its head in barely the blink of an eye, so we’ll just go to Brands Hatch, give it our best shot and see what happens.”

 

“It was a very solid weekend that exceeded our expectations,” echoed Neal. “We thought we were going to be in for a pretty tough time here and it’s been completely the opposite.

 

“We turned the tables on the opposition and really took the fight to them, which was night-and-day compared to previous years at Silverstone. That shocked us a bit, and I think it definitely shocked them! They thought they would be breathing down our necks going to Brands Hatch, but as it is, we’ve pulled further away.

 

“We had strong pace in all three races and the car felt fantastic throughout. It was a little bit of a shame about qualifying – the slipstream effect is so important round here and when it’s this close, you’re looking for literally fractions of a second – and being so difficult to overtake, that probably prevented an even better set of results. Still, we scored good manufacturers’ points again and now we go to Brands Hatch fully focused on finishing the job off.”

Plato Storms to the top of the rankings with a double win at Oulton park in the amazing Volkswagen CC.

Team BMR star takes championship lead while Sam Tordoff wins finale in Cheshire

Team BMR’s Jason Plato took two wins before Sam Tordoff claimed victory in the finale as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship entertained a huge crowd at Oulton Park yesterday (7 June).

The picturesque Cheshire circuit was basked in glorious sunshine throughout race day as Plato picked up from where he had left off in qualifying on Saturday.

Starting from pole position the VW CC driver ripped off the line in race one and rarely looked back despite Matt Neal’s best efforts in the Honda Civic Type R.

It was actually Team IHG Rewards Club’s Andy Priaulx who made the best getaway and looked like he could wrestle the lead away from Plato as the gaggle of cars roared down to Old Hall for the first time. The Guernseyman seemed solely focussed on Plato ahead, however, leaving the door open for Neal’s Honda Yuasa Racing machine to sneak back past the #111 car on the run down to Cascades.

With the rear-wheel drive BMW 125i M Sport slow to generate heat into its tyres it would take Priaulx almost three laps to find the ultimate pace. From that point he pressured Neal, but the triple BTCC champion kept his cool to defend the place perfectly around the 2.2-mile Island Circuit.

After his commanding race one win Plato produced a similar performance in the second contest, this time with the race-long attention coming from the other Honda of Gordon Shedden. 

The Type R touched the VW CC on a couple of occasions while tussling for top spot, most notably at the Island Hairpin, but Shedden couldn't quite make a move stick. The Scotsman made one last attempt on the final corner of the final lap, but would eventually fall short by just 0.093s.

Plato’s victory marked the first time this season that a driver has taken top honours with maximum success ballast on board and was also the 199^th podium of his incredible BTCC career.

Jordan’s MG6 continues to rack up the points at an incredibly consistent rate and race two proved no exception. The 2013 BTCC champion kept Plato and Shedden honest throughout to claim another podium for the manufacturer squad, whilst Neal’s Honda followed in the order after seeing off challenges from three BMWs.

West Surrey Racing looked to be staring at three successful results, with the reverse grid race to follow, but the team’s hopes unravelled on the final lap. Rob Collard had initially blasted from eighth on the grid into fourth before the multiple race-winner hounded Neal’s Civic for much of the contest.

His challenge faded late on, however, allowing team-mate Priaulx to drag himself into contention. The triple World Touring Car Champion made an ambitious attempt at the hairpin on the final lap but contact with the rear of Collard’s sister car led to disaster. Broken rear suspension forced out Collard on the spot while Priaulx could only limp home in 15th.

Their pain became Sam Tordoff’s gain as he got the better of both Adam Morgan and Aron Smith to take fifth. It was a great battle from the three young chargers, which included two impressive moves from the JCT600 with GardX-backed car. With little room to manoeuvre he first slipped by Morgan’s Mercedes on the run down to Cascades on lap eight, but the best was to come three tours later when he out-braked the VW CC of Smith at Lodge. 

Morgan also eyed his own opportunity as he immediately followed Tordoff through, relegating Smith to seventh in the process.

It was an expensive move for Smith as the post-race reverse grid draw provided Morgan with pole for the final race. The Lancastrian won race three at Thruxton last time out and was nicely positioned to repeat the trick in front of his home crowd.

Unfortunately there was heartache for the WIX Racing driver this time around, when he was adjudged to have jump started and he was forced to take a drive through penalty.

Neal inherited the race three lead after he had passed Tordoff on the exit of turn one but the Yorkshireman would fight back later in the bout.

Tordoff reeled Neal in and tucked his car down the inside of the Honda at Lodge before making the move stick at Old Hall on lap nine. 

One tour later and it was MG Triple Eight’s Jordan who produced a similar move on Neal, although this time the pair touched on a number of occasions before the Honda man eventually succumbed. Neal regained his composure to complete the podium ahead of team-mate Shedden, who had himself fallen into the clutches of Plato.

Colin Turkington collected solid points in sixth in what had been a largely low-key day for the reigning champion. He showed his class in race three with a stellar pass at Lodge, which dropped his Team BMR stablemate Aron Smith down to seventh.

The action at Oulton leaves the championship race tantalisingly poised with Plato leading Shedden by just three points. Neal is a further five points in arrears with Jordan only 13 points off the championship summit. Reigning supremo Turkington dropped to fifth in the standings and will be looking to bounce back at Croft next time out.

Honda Yuasa Racing extended its advantage in the Manufacturer's’ order while Team BMR kept its lead in the Teams’ standings. Plato and Team BMR currently hold the Independents’ honours whilst Power Maxed Racing’s Josh Cook tops the Jack Sears Trophy.

Rounds 13, 14 and 15 of the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship will take place at Croft in Yorkshire in three weeks time (27/28 June).

Jason Plato said: “I love this place. We had real confidence after our test here, we've got the car just where we want it and when you're in the groove with both the car and the circuit it makes the job a whole lot easier. 

The gamble this weekend for us was to save the tyre until race three and make the absolute most of the first two. We know we’re quick here, and our plan was totally vindicated, it’s been a fantastic day for us. That said I was pleased with the performance on the soft tyre in the third race too. Pole position and two wins – a good weekend by anyone’s standards!”

Sam Tordoff said: “That means a lot – it’s been a difficult year for me up to now, I expected to be up at the front and challenging sooner than this. I set myself high standards and I want to be challenging to win this championship. This weekend has been a real step change though, and the results really reflect that. 

We needed an uplift in the team and that one is for them. 

Matt [Neal] made a slight mistake – I think there was some oil down – and it was the only chance I needed. I ran my own race and was a little concerned about Jordan’s pace towards the end but we had just enough.”

Gordon Shedden said: “It was close in race two, I just wish it had been close the other way around. It’s been good, but not quite where we need to be. We threw a wild set-up at the car for race three and it didn't quite work out, but that said these points are going to be very valuable as the season goes on. 

We're learning all the time and even though the car wasn't absolutely spot on this weekend we still scored some good results. We can move forward to Croft with big smiles on our faces.”

Matt Neal said: “I just love driving this car! In the first race I didn't make the best start which gave Jason a bit of a gap, but it was an intense race to the end. I’m disappointed with race three – there must have been some oil down but it felt a bit like a puncture. 

I wasn't sure of the grip the next time around either and that’s what let Andrew [Jordan] through. The strength of the Civic Type R is in the high-speed stuff and that’s where the problem was. I don’t like giving them away and we definitely could have won that race. There are positives though, the podium is still a great result and even with weight on, the car is still performing very well.”

Andrew Jordan said: “I gave it everything in the last race, but Sam [Tordoff] was strong in the key areas and I just couldn't get enough of a run at him. It’s a great result – a bit of a shame not to get the win but I'm going home happy with a really strong weekend under our belts. 

A third, fourth and second really gives us the boost we needed and it’s a big step forward, but we mustn't get complacent because we've still got some work to regularly be with the front-runners. We have a quicker package now to go with the great consistency we've already had this year.”

2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Oulton Park

Race 1

1. Jason PLATO (Team BMR): 14 Laps
2. Matt NEAL (Honda Yuasa Racing): +1.322s
3. Andy PRIAULX (Team IHG Rewards Club): +2.789s
4. Andrew JORDAN (MG Triple Eight Racing): +3.696s
5. Aron SMITH (Team BMR): +5.187s
6. Gordon SHEDDEN (Honda Yuasa Racing): +6.439s

Race 2

1. Jason PLATO (Team BMR): 15 Laps
2. Gordon SHEDDEN (Honda Yuasa Racing): +0.093s
3. Andrew JORDAN (MG Triple Eight Racing): +1.520s
4. Matt NEAL (Honda Yuasa Racing): +7.403s
5. Sam TORDOFF (Team JCT600 with GardX): +8.369s
6. Adam MORGAN (WIX Racing): +9.822s

Race 3

1. Sam TORDOFF (Team JCT600 with GardX): 15 Laps
2. Andrew JORDAN (MG Triple Eight Racing): +0.264s
3. Matt NEAL (Honda Yuasa Racing): +0.766s
4. Gordon SHEDDEN (Honda Yuasa Racing): +2.997s
5. Jason PLATO (Team BMR): +3.137s
6. Colin TURKINGTON (Team BMR): +3.831s