Howell penalised, but keeps pole

Pole position setter Gareth Howell has received an official reprimand from officials and also had his competition licence endorsed for his part in an incident that led to Adam Jones crashing out of this weekend’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship Finals meeting.

Jones’ Xero Competition Lexus sustained severe damage when it crashed heavily into the barriers exiting the Becketts corner during the second free practice session, prior to qualifying (pictured above – photo Mike Hoyer).

BTCC officials judged that Jones, uninjured in the shunt, had crashed after contact from Howell’s Team Halfords Honda Integra. They put two penalty points on Howell’s licence as punishment.

The incident, though, does not affect Howell’s qualifying performance and he will start the first of tomorrow’s three rounds from pole position after heading qualifying for the second year in a row at Silverstone.