Title fight going to the wire
The battle to become 2006 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champion will come down to a three-way showdown between Matt Neal, Jason Plato and Colin Turkington on BTCC Finals Day at the Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire on 15 October following today’s three rounds at Brands Hatch in Kent.
Plato won today’s first two races for SEAT, while Fabrizio Giovanardi stood on the top step later in the day after giving Vauxhall its 101st win in the BTCC. The third race saw championship leader Neal crash out in his Team Halfords Honda, allowing Plato and Team RAC MG driver Turkington to finish third and fourth and score the points they needed to take the title fight to the wire.
Defending champion Neal, who finished second in both races one and two, now leads Plato by the significantly decreased margin of 35 points, although remains the bookies’ firm favourite to become the BTCC’s first back-to-back champion since 1987. Turkington, 49 points behind Neal, is a big outsider as only a maximum of 52 will be on offer at Silverstone.
Neal, from Droitwich, said: “It’s a disappointing end to the day because I’d have been on for at least a third place finish which would have made the championship a formality. It’s not the end of the world, though. I’ve still got a healthy lead, but I’ll definitely have to be on my toes at Silverstone. Right now, I’m looking forward to a beer…”
Having taken 26 points out of Neal today, Oxford-based Plato added: “It’s not down to me to win it – it’s for Matt to throw away. OK, I’ve now got eight wins, but I’ve also had seven retirements and you don’t win titles when that’s happened. I also think our car might struggle compared to the Honda around Silverstone. All I can do is keep pushing as hard as possible, but I really don’t think it’s possible.”
Portadown’s Turkington, who today achieved the first podium finish for a car powered by bio-ethanol fuel when he took third in race one, remained open-minded. He said: “It’s a long shot, but I’m pleased that I’ll at least go to Silverstone still in with a mathematical chance of winning it. My team’s worked so hard during the season and it deserves that. If I can’t win the title, I’d definitely like to regain back my second position from Jason.”
Elsewhere, Neal and his Team Halfords squad have provisionally secured their second successive Independents Trophy Drivers’ and Teams’ titles. The Manufacturers’ and outright Teams’ championships will be decided at Silverstone, with SEAT leading Vauxhall by a decreased margin in the former and Team Halfords ahead of SEAT Sport UK in the latter.
Round 25, Plato all the way
Following a safety car period to recover Gavin Smith’s crashed Vauxhall Astra on the start line, Plato, starting from his third pole position in a row, was never headed en route to a victory that moved him past Turkington into second in the standings. It was his seventh win of the season and went some way to making up for team-mate Darren Turner’s retirement while in second when his Leon hit mechanical problems that effectively sidelined him for the rest of the day.
Neal and Turkington duly finished second and third, although the latter could count himself fortunate: Neal’s team-mate Gordon Shedden was ahead starting the last lap but a punctured tyre on his Honda Integra dropped him to seventh. Inheriting fourth and fifth spots were Vauxhall’s Tom Chilton and Team RAC’s Robert Collard. Vauxhall’s Fabrizio Giovanardi completed the top six.
On his BTCC return, diabetic Paul O’Neill – ironically running on the sugar-beet-based fuel bio-ethanol – finished a fine tenth to score a point in his Thurlby Motors with Tech-Speed Vauxhall Astra Coupé.
Four new drivers, helping to boost the grid size to 23, all finished on their BTCC debuts: BTC Racing Lexus pair Chris Stockton and Darren Dowling were 13th and 16th, Nick Leason in Team NJL Racing with Daniel Motorsport’s Astra Coupé was 15th and Mark Jones, in Team Forward Racing’s Lexus, 18th.
