Photo: PSP Images

Jason Plato dominates first race at Silverstone in MG one-two

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Jason Plato and Sam Tordoff made it a Triple Eight MG one-two in dominant fashion in the first race at Silverstone, ahead of the impressive injury-afflicted Matt Neal.

After a five-lap safety car period in the opening stages of the race, Plato and Tordoff drew away to finish ahead of Honda Racing Team’s Neal by just over six seconds.

But it was much, much closer in the battle for third, with Neal hanging on in a photo finish with Colin Turkington’s West Surrey Racing BMW 125i, to take the final podium spot by just 0.008s.

It was an exceptionally strong run for Neal, racing with a broken finger. He passed the fading Frank Wrathall at Becketts on lap nine, then Collard and Turkington at the same spot on lap 12 and 15 respectively.

The superior tyre life of Turkington’s car kept him in touch, but the triple champion was able to hang on by the narrowest of margins.

Behind them, Turkington’s team-mate Rob Collard had a strong run to fifth on the soft tyre, ahead of championship leader Andrew Jordan, no doubt satisfied to take sixth with full ballast and see his gap narrowed by just a single point at the top of the standings.

Adam Morgan, Aron Smith, Mat Jackson and Dave Newsham completed the top 10, while Lea Wood took another Jack Sears Trophy win, in 20th overall in his JWT Performance Vauxhall Vectra.

Reigning champion Gordon Shedden finished just outside the top 10 in 11th, after a race-long battle with Dan Welch and Rob Austin.

An eventful first lap saw Newsham spin at the end of Wellington Straight while challenging Turkington for second place, rejoining in 12th in his Toyota Avensis.

Then Nick Foster, Andy Neate and Will Bratt clashed down the pit straight, with Foster’s West Surrey Racing BMW 125i and Neate’s IP Tech Race Chevrolet Cruze being forced out on the spot, and Bratt hitting the pit wall.

For the second time this season, Bratt had to drag his Rob Austin Racing Audi A4 back to the pits with its bonnet up, which his team taped up and sent him on his way.

The other significant retiree was Jack Goff, who was unable to take advantage of his career-best sixth on the grid in his Tony Gilham Racing Vauxhall Insignia. He had contact with Mat Jackson and stopped in the pits with severe front-end damage on lap 11.

The second of today’s races gets under way at 14:32 BST.