Mat Jackson wins red flagged first race at Thruxton

Motorbase Performance’s Mat Jackson has taken the win in a red flagged race one at Thruxton.

There were 21 cars on the grid for the race after the Proton of Dan Welch pulled off the circuit on the outlap. Pole sitter Andrew Jordan didn’t survive the first corner after contact with Jason Plato, starting from second on the grid, saw both off track at Allard. Plato was able to rejoin while the Honda Civic of Jordan wasn’t.

Mat Jackson capitalised on the incident to take the lead of the race. Behind him ES Racing’s Dave Newsham moved into second from his starting position of fifth with Frank Wrathall remaining in third in his Toyota Avensis. Fellow Toyota runner Tony Hughes had to pit at the end of the first lap after an off at Goodwood. The Thruxton dramas continued for Rob Austin after contact with Gordon Shedden on the first lap caused a puncture and suspension damage.

While Newsham’s Vauxhall Vectra chased down the Ford Focus of Jackson, third placed Wrathall came under threat from Rob Collard. The West Surrey Racing driver was able to make a move on the fourth lap with Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Jason Plato following him through past Wrathall on lap five. Plato was then able to move past the Collard’s BMW into third in his MG. Behind them the Honda Yuasa Racing Civics were carving their way through the field after a disappointing qualifying result, with Gordon Shedden making his way into sixth and Matt Neal up into tenth.

The first and only safety car of the race was called out after Motorbase Performance’s Liam Griffin made heavy contact with the barrier at Allard. The field ran behind the safety car for a number of laps as the Griffin’s Focus was recovered however the race was ultimately red flagged.

After such a dramatic race Mat Jackson took the victory ahead of Dave Newsham with Jason Plato taking the final step on the podium.

Race two is scheduled to start at 14:22 GMT.