Brands: Plato wins twice, Neal once

SEAT’s Jason Plato (Oxford) took a pair of wins and Team Halfords’ Matt Neal (Droitwich) a single victory in today’s (Sunday) opening three rounds of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch contested by a record 26 drivers. Plato’s double gives him an early championship lead, but reigning champion Neal’s triumph, in a new Honda Civic still short on development, is a warning shot to his rivals as the BTCC now prepares for its next three rounds at the Rockingham circuit in Northamptonshire on 22 April.

Race One

Plato, lining up second on the grid, made a better start than Turkington, in pole position, and took the lead into the first corner. From there he was never headed and also went on to set the race’s fastest lap.

Turkington took second, followed by Jackson, a sensational third on his BTCC debut in his family’s Jacksons MSport BMW 320si. But his podium celebrations were short-lived – the 25-year-old was later excluded for failing to obey a black and orange flag instructing him to make a pit stop to have his smoking car investigated.

Thus, Neal, who had risen from ninth to fourth, was elevated to third. Fourth was Mike Jordan, in his Eurotech/John Guest-Speedfit Honda Integra, and fifth on his BTCC debut Team RAC’s impressive 19-year-old rookie Onslow-Cole.

After several skirmishes, Tom Chilton was Vauxhall’s highest-finisher in sixth. His Italian team-mate Fabrizio Giovanardi was out of the points in 11th – he started fourth, but a clash with SEAT’s Darren Turner at the opening bend cost him dear. Turner, who’d started third, later retired with suspension damage to his Leon after more contact.

The BTCC’s first diesel car, Rick Kerry’s unique Team AFM BMW 120D, finished 18th on its debut, but there were problems for the bio-ethanol-fuelled MG ZSs of Kartworld team-mates Jason Hughes and Fiona Leggate who both crashed out on lap one. Leggate’s incident caused the first of the two safety car periods.