Andrew Jordan wins crazy final race at Oulton Park
Andrew Jordan won a frenetic and incident-packed final race at Oulton Park, after his Eurotech Racing team-mate Jeff Smith span out of the lead in front of him.
It was a crazy race at times, which saw Jason Plato’s Triple Eight MG catch fire, Honda Racing Team’s Matt Neal attempt a pass on two wheels, and countless cars spin off.
West Surrey Racing’s Colin Turkington finished second after an excellent day in his new BMW 125i, ahead of Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan, who took a maiden BTCC podium in his Toyota Avensis.
Neal survived a number of scrapes to take fourth, with Rob Austin and his team-mate Will Bratt securing an excellent double top-six finish for their two Audi A4s behind him.
Plato’s team-mate Sam Tordoff drove from 22nd to finish seventh, ahead of Turkington’s team-mate Nick Foster, with the top 10 completed by Dynojet’s Frank Wrathall and Motorbase Performance’s Aron Smith, the latter from the very back of the grid.
Liam Griffin took Jack Sears Trophy honours in his Motorbase Performance Ford Focus, with Lea Wood denied a clean sweep of wins when his JWT Performance Vauxhall Vectra stopped on the penultimate lap.
At the start, Austin took the lead from Smith, ahead of Daniel Welch’s Proton Persona in third, and the Honda Civic man quickly started pressuring the Audi for the lead.
There was drama on lap four when Plato pulled into the pits with smoke billowing out of his MG, which was on fire as it ground to a halt as marshals pounced to extinguish the blaze.
A huge concertina effect at the front on lap five saw Dave Newsham spin off spectacularly at Cascades in the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis, before Gordon Shedden’s Honda Civic slowed with a puncture.
The huge crowd barely had time to draw breath when on lap seven, Neal attempted to pass Turkington at Knickerbrook, had contact with the BMW, and tipped up on two wheels. Remarkably, both cars were able to continue unaffected.
Smith took the lead on lap eight when he tapped Austin into Lodge, with Morgan making his way past as well. Welch retired when he lost power a lap later, before Jordan passed Morgan for second.
Turkington also passed Morgan on the exit of Cascades on lap 12 before Smith, who was in contention for his first win, lost it under braking at Knickerbrook.
Smith compounded his day by flying off backwards at Cascades on the next lap, a spot which also saw a spectacular spin for Tom Onslow-Cole’s Tony Gilham Racing Volkswagen CC on the last lap.
Jordan kept his head to take the flag, as Morgan hung on to third by just 0.078 from Neal.
