Photo: PSP Images

Kane leads one-two for Airwaves

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Steven Kane led home a one-two for Airwaves BMW in the final race of the day at Thruxton, to take his first ever BTCC win. Mat Jackson followed his teammate home closely, with Jason Plato in third, holding off a strong challenge in the closing laps from Gordon Shedden and double race winner Fabrizio Giovanardi.

Rob Collard led the first half of the race, but the WSR driver was relieved of the lead on lap seven by Matt Neal, leading to Collard branding Neal “an amateur”, after both drivers were forced into retirement.

Front row occupants Collard and Kane made good getaways to lead from the off, with Jackson and Neal jumping past second row starters Phil Glew and Alex MacDowall, the latter of whom made a poor start to drop down the order.

Jackson was soon pressurising third placed Neal, with Plato in fifth and the two jet-black Vectras behind. Giovanardi was past his youthful teammate on lap four, as Glew had to lift to avoid the back of the Chevrolet Cruze.

Shedden also back to join in the train at this point, but it was his teammate Neal who’d become the races’ focal point, in his attempt to carry out a double pass on Collard and Kane. Getting a tow on the run down to the final chicane, Neal went around the outside of Kane before running into the side of Collard in the middle of the chicane, punting the WSR BMW into the barriers on the outside of the course.

Neal claimed Collard had braked early to disadvantage Kane, while Collard labelled the Dynamics driver a “amateur” for the move that ruled both cars out of the race and the safety car on track for the first time in 2010.

The clash promoted Jackson into second, where he’d remain for the rest of the race, despite on several occasions coming close to the back of his teammates car. In different circumstances and with a different driver ahead, Jackson would surely have forced his way past.

Behind the Motorbase duo, Plato held off the advances of Shedden to keep his spot on the podium with Giovanardi in fifth, but maintaining his championship lead, and Glew pulling off on the penultimate lap with a smoking Vauxhall.