Photo: PSP Images

Sam Tordoff takes win in final race at Oulton Park

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Sam Tordoff took his first win for West Surrey Racing in the final race of the weekend at Oulton Park, holding off Triple Eight Racing’s Andrew Jordan by little over a quarter of a second.

After pole position man Adam Morgan dropped out of contention with a drive-through penalty for a false start, Tordoff passed Honda Racing Team’s Matt Neal at Old Hall on lap nine to establish a lead he wouldn’t lose.

Jordan followed the BMW 125i past Neal with a pass at Lodge on the same lap, and although he quickly closed onto the tail of the BMW, he never quite got close enough to attempt an overtake.

Behind the top three, Neal’s team-mate Gordon Shedden made it a three-four for the Civic Type-R, with Team BMR’s Jason Plato finishing off a superb weekend with fifth on the soft tyre.

His team-mates Colin Turkington and Aron Smith were next up, with Jordan’s team-mate Jack Goff, Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram and Eurotech Racing’s Jeff Smith completing the top 10.

Further down the field, there was cause for celebration at Welch Motorsport, with Dan Welch finishing 15th and taking a first ever point for the team since they switched to their own engine last year.

At the start, Ciceley Racing’s Morgan was clearly creeping on the line before the lights went out. He was challenged all the way down to the first corner by Tordoff, who ended up with all four wheels off the track around Old Hall, losing him a place to Neal.

Morgan quickly established a gap, but no sooner had he settled into his race he was called into the pits on lap two, rejoining at the tail of the field.

The race looked to be following the pattern of the earlier two encounters with very little happening, until all the crucial action took place within the space of a lap.

It means WSR leave with a trophy after a trying day, following the clash between Rob Collard and Andy Priaulx in race two. Collard fought back to 14th in the final race, with Priaulx setting the fastest lap but retiring with overheating problems on lap 11.