James Dodd wins thrilling Silverstone Classic encounter

James Dodd hung on to claim his fourth win of 2014 while John Cleland came out trumps in a highly entertaining battle for third.

Dodd got the jump on fellow Honda driver Stewart Whyte as the 42 car grid stormed towards Abbey for the first time, while Patrick Watts slotted his Peugeot 406 in to third. Dodd and Whyte engaged in a race-long duel for the lead, with the pair switching placings multiple times, yet still pulling a comfortable gap on the rest of the field.

They were helped in part by the fantastic four-car battle for third, with Watts originally leading the trio of Neil Smith, John Cleland and Simon Garrad. Each member of the quartet spent a time holding third, with Cleland proving one of the most daring, pulling off a fantastic move on Watts through Becketts, while Garrad took Smith in an equally impressive move around the outside of Maggots.

The four were inseparable for almost the entire race, only halted when Watts suddenly slowed and pulled to the side of the track – later diagnosed as an injector problem. However, the battle continued to rage on, allowing Graeme Dodd to close up, but time was not on his side as he had to settle for sixth place.

The final spot on the podium looked like it may be going the way of Neil Smith in the closing stages, but a sideways moment for a backmarker in a Capri forced the Alfa Romeo driver to lift off, promoting Garrad and Cleland up to third and fourth respectively. A move on the final corner of the final lap from Cleland ensured that the Vauxhall driver kept his championship challenge alive.

“That’s as much fun as I’ve had in a touring car since I packed it in,” Cleland told TouringCarTimes when asked how he found the race. “Absolutely mega, I was sixth at one point behind the lot of them, I just don’t have the straight line speed, we’re good at Oulton or Brands, but I just lose them down the long straights here. I need a car that’s three years younger or 35bhp more.”

Meanwhile, the fight for the lead was still in full swing, with the two Hondas separated by less than half a second for approximately 18 minutes in the 20 minute race, with backmarkers hindering Whyte’s progress in the final two laps, giving James Dodd a comfortable victory to extend his lead at the top of the table.

“That was an amazing race,” Dodd told TouringCarTimes. “The track was so slippery, it caught me out once which allowed Stewart through, but then he got a bit ragged so I was able to get back at him. I think backmarkers held him up a bit at the end of the race which was a shame, but great to get the win. I’d like to do the double tomorrow, it just all depends on how quick Stewart is.”

Elsewhere, Steve Soper worked his way in to the top ten in the Ford Capri, taking the win in the GA category, while Colin Turkington worked his way up in to the top 20 at the wheel of the BMW CSL ‘Batmobile’.