Rob Austin secured his and Handy Motorsport’s first Independents Trophy victory of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season at Oulton Park on Sunday after taking seventh overall in the last of the day’s action-packed contests. 

Finishing ninth in Round 10 and then an improved eighth in Round 11, where he was also in the Independents top three, the Evesham driver was the best-placed non-manufacturer in the weekend’s final encounter, bagging an important result for the Swindon squad. 

His healthy haul of points means the Toyota Avensis driver has closed to within only four points of the class top three. In the overall standings, Austin remains inside the top 10 and Handy moved to fifth in the Independent Teams standings. 

“Before the weekend I had aspirations of fighting for pole, but we underestimated the rear-wheel drive cars and the Hondas looked to be in whole different league”, said Austin. “The issue was compounded by not hooking a lap up in qualifying but after that, I couldn’t have asked for three better results really. Taking three good scores and an Independents' win was great.

“It would’ve been nice to get a bit of luck with the reverse grid for race three but, again, the Hondas were always going to be strong. We did a good solid job this weekend, nothing special, but a good job nonetheless.”

Looking back at the weekend, Team Principal Simon Belcher said: “From my point of view, I’m really happy. We were strong on pace at the first couple of events this season, but didn’t take away too many points, but we turned that around at Thruxton and I wanted the same again at Oulton.

“The rear-wheel drive cars certainly had an advantage so we knew we’d be looking at ‘best of the rest’ really. Rob posted some good results which have moved us up in the Independents' Trophy and brought us more into contention for that now. Taking the win was fantastic, obviously, and it’s nice to take another trophy back to base. We learned a lot from Oulton, too.”

Alan Gow has tonight received the 'Motorsport Hero' accolade at the 2017 Autocar Awards for his contribution to global motorsport over the course of an exceptional career so far.

The honour was presented at the annual event attended by luminaries from the world of motoring, motorsport and beyond.

Autocar says:

Our love of cars naturally embraces motorsport — we are proud sponsors of the British Touring Car Championship, and love sharing stories with our readers of the cars and characters in all competitions, from Formula 1 to rallying.

Our motorsport hero this year is a man who has completely overhauled the most important national motorsport series in this country — twice.

He has returned the British Touring Car Championship to its rightful position at the pinnacle of UK motorsport, having first taken it there in the 1990s.

As chairman of the Motor Sports Association he has worked tirelessly to improve the health and prosperity of all British motorsport, and was an important player in the government’s very welcome decision to allow events to be run on closed public roads.

Our winner is Alan Gow.

Team HARD took home a bundle of Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship points at Oulton Park, as the outfit returned to form in Cheshire.

Mike Epps made it back into the top ten with a hard-fought eighth at Oulton Park, his highest-placed finish. Jake Hill's trio of top-tens meant he tallied his all-round most successful weekend yet in the championship, while rookie Will Burns netted a trio of solid finishes, progressing to 22nd come race three.

Epps, whose eighth was the pinnacle of Team HARD's efforts this weekend, put himself right back in the mix at the front of the field with a points finish hat-trick.

After an engineering overhaul of the car ahead of the meeting, the focus in Saturday’s two free practice sessions was on fine-tuning the set-up of the Volkswagen CC ahead of qualifying, though changing weather conditions limited their opportunity to do so.

Epps was on the pace in qualifying in his Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing CC, though he ended the session rueing what might have been after a lap that was on course to place him in the top six was halted by red flags. Instead, the Hemel Hempstead racer took thirteenth on the grid for the first of Sunday’s three races.

After maintaining thirteenth for a large portion of the opening race, some late progress earned him an 11th placed finish and put the top ten firmly in his sights for race two.

Once again, Epps held station during the typically frenetic opening few laps of the race, before moving into tenth place on lap four and slotting in behind team-mate Jake Hill.

As the race settled down, Epps held double BTCC champion Jason Plato at bay to take the chequered flag in tenth, and those two would renew rivalries during an action-packed final race of the day.

Keeping himself out of trouble while a number of cars around him came to blows, Epps made the jump to eighth position before the safety car emerged on lap eight – an interlude that worked in his favour in maintaining crucially his softer Dunlop option tyres.

Epps took the restart with the opportunity to fight for a maiden Independents victory with Rob Austin ahead, however a spirited challenge would be rebuffed, leaving him to take his sixth career BTCC top ten finish with eighth  – enough to ensure he has now comfortably eclipsed his final points tally from the 2016 season.

“We have certainly moved back in the right direction this weekend," said Epps. "Every time we’ve gone out on track we’ve improved, we’ve been in the top ten on merit, and that’s a really good sign going forward this season.

“I think Thruxton was a bit of an anomaly for us, the Volkswagen was just not as balanced there due to a lack of testing and hard tyre knowledge, but Oulton Park is a more traditional circuit and we were able to start to show our potential again.

“I really enjoyed being back in the mix towards the front, with some good racing across all three races, even if I seemed to spend all day trying to fend off Plato in his rear-wheel drive car which was a hassle. Hopefully we can push on from here at Croft next time out.”

Over in the TAG Racing side of the garage at Team HARD, Jake Hill managed to string together his best weekend yet in the BTCC, with the outfit hooking up their Volkswagens around the Cheshire circuit. 

Hill qualified an encouraging 10th and followed up on that promise by holding station during the opening bout on Sunday. From there, Hill tallied a ninth-place double to make certain of a bountiful weekend of championship points, leaving him just seven points shy of Epps in the overall Drivers' standings and springing him into the top-ten in the Independents' running.

Will Burns enjoyed an encouraging weekend, too, battling through all three rounds to 22nd spot – three more finishes as his rookie season progresses.

Reigning champion Gordon Shedden moved to the summit of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship standings after winning the final race at Oulton Park.
 
Shedden’s victory followed wins for Andrew Jordan in the opening encounter and a hugely popular success for young gun Ashley Sutton.
 
BMW Pirtek Racing’s Jordan fended off a Matt Neal fightback to claim the honours in a thrilling first race at the stunning Cheshire circuit.
 
Jordan blasted by pole-sitter Neal off the line as the rear-wheel drive 125i M Sport made its customary catapult start on the run down to Old Hall Corner for the first time. Critically for Neal, he was able to keep the sister BMW of Colin Turkington in his rear mirrors and could then set about recapturing the lead.
 
The top two pulled comfortably away from a sensational battle for third that often involved more than half a dozen cars.
 
After a series of position changes, the scrap for the final podium place built towards a tense climax. At one point Aiden Moffat squeezed Sutton’s Subaru onto the grass on the exit of Island Bend, allowing the previously demoted Turkington back by. 
 
A fired-up Sutton would not be denied though, as he first went around the outside of Turkington at Lodge Corner and then repeated the trick on Moffat at Old Hall seconds later. Turkington was completely out of contention shortly afterwards, as he limped to the finish with an electrical problem.
 
Meanwhile, Neal was busy reeling in Jordan’s BMW up front, which was running the softer 'option' Dunlop SportMaxx tyre. The triple champion ran out of time, however, as the pair crossed the finish line separated by just 0.284s – confirming Jordan’s second win of the season.
 
Sutton claimed victory in the second contest, having produced yet another fantastic performance for Adrian Flux Subaru Racing.
 
Jordan maintained the lead from pole position off the line, whilst the rear-wheel drive machines of Sutton and Rob Collard gobbled up fellow front-row starter Neal.
 
Jordan’s BMW – carrying maximum success ballast following his race one win – couldn’t hang on for long, as Sutton slid his Subaru down the inside at Island Hairpin before completing the pass at Hislops on lap two. He immediately stormed away from the chasing pack as Jordan became the cork in the bottle behind.
 
Collard comfortably disposed of his stablemate Jordan, before the latter was impressively tag-teamed by the two works Hondas of Neal and Shedden. Neal edged inside of Jordan across the start/finish line as Shedden went around the outside into Old Hall Corner – creating a three-wide Honda-BMW-Honda sandwich. When the dust settled it was Neal in second with team-mate Shedden also getting past Jordan.
 
All credit in this contest though went to Sutton as the young gun scored his first win for Subaru and the second of his BTCC career.
 
Race three was another lively affair as Halfords Yuasa Racing scored a one-two finish with Shedden leading home Neal.
 
The fight for victory wasn’t without incident however, as contact between Shedden and the pole-sitting Ford Focus of Josh Cook left the former with significant damage and out of the race.
 
Jordan had already assumed the lead by that point, but Shedden’s triumphant move was of the highest order as he scythed his way past at Cascades following a mid-race safety car period.
 
Neal immediately followed suit and the Honda duo went on to take the laurels ahead of Jordan, the latter sealing West Surrey Racing's 150th podium with BMW in the BTCC in the process.

The Dunlop 'option' soft tyre was the rubber that proved to be the most effective in all three races with each of Jordan, Sutton and Shedden donning that compound on the way to the top step.
 
As the sun-kissed occasion drew to a close and the huge number of spectators made their way home, it was Shedden who had returned to the top of the table.
 
The consistent Collard – the only driver to score points in each of the 12 races so far – is now second, whilst previous leader Tom Ingram drops to third after a disastrous weekend for local team Speedworks Motorsport.
 
BMW holds an eight-point advantage over Honda in the Manufacturers’ battle, whilst the postitions are reversed in the Teams’ table – Halfords Yuasa Racing overhauling Team BMW.
 
Ingram and Speedworks still lead both Independents’ standings, despite their difficult weekend, whilst Vauxhall’s Senna Proctor maintains his position as the best-placed rookie.
 
The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship returns in three weeks’ time when Rounds 13, 14 and 15 take place at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire on 10/11 June.

Andrew Jordan said: “What a week it’s been! My partner had a little girl and now I’ve won again for BMW in the BTCC – life is good. It’s been a cracking effort from everybody at BMW Pirtek Racing. Ahead of this weekend, I was thinking ‘I really need to get my backside into gear now and do this’. I’ve made cracking starts this year, which added some pressure – people were telling me I should be leading by turn one! Thankfully, that’s exactly what happened and being on the soft tyres, I pushed hard to establish an early gap. Later on, they told me on the radio ‘Matt’s coming’, so I dug deep and was able to maintain the advantage – although if it had been a couple of laps longer, he might have got close enough to attempt a Matt Neal lunge! We’ve had a couple of dreadful weekends, but you don’t forget how to win and that’s a good message to send out.”

Ashley Sutton said: “That (race two) couldn’t have gone any better! After seeing the performance of the soft tyres in race one, I didn’t feel too confident, especially with an extra 57kg having been thrown at me but I got a great start and then the pace was just in the car. I had to get away as quickly as I could because we all know Rob Collard’s a charger and he was going to be coming after me, but I made the break just in time. It was then a question of managing the race, and it’s phenomenal to score the first win of the year for Adrian Flux Subaru Racing. We had a bit of a difficult start to the season, so this one is for all the boys – they’ve done a mega job to get the car to where it is now.”

Gordon Shedden said: “After my accident in FP2, the team did a mega job to prepare the car in time for qualifying and we managed to pull it back. Matt and I get the plaudits for standing on the podium, but yesterday was a true example of teamwork at its absolute best – and what a fantastic team we have. I drove my heart out in races one and two to grind some results out, and whilst they weren’t spectacular finishes, points do make prizes. Race three was pretty action-packed, but we had a lot of pace throughout and it really came to us. The Civic Type R came alive on the soft tyres – it was one of those races that could have kept going and going! My move for the lead was actually completely unplanned – Andrew (Jordan) jumped on the brakes very early into Cascades, so I just had to send it up the inside, which worked a treat – and to conclude the weekend with a one-two for the team was brilliant. It’s fantastic to be back in the lead of the championship, and whilst with that comes maximum ballast, as I’ve said before, I’ll take that any day of the week.”

Matt Neal said: “It’s been a cracking weekend! To be honest, we didn’t know what to expect coming here, but it worked out pretty well, didn’t it. Pole positions seem to be like buses at the moment – you wait for ages and then two come along all at once – and the Honda Civic Type R felt really well-balanced. I pushed hard in races one and two and to finish on the podium both times – particularly with 66kg in the car in the second of them – was great. We then lucked in with the reversed grid, but we had the pace to make it work and we made the most of the soft tyres. I covered Gordon’s back and in return, he opened the doors for me so I just had to make sure I stayed as close as I could to him to follow him through. I was actually more pleased with that one than the previous two – it was a real team effort, and what a result for Halfords Yuasa Racing and Honda! We needed a strong weekend, and this has lifted us right up there in the standings – we’re back in the game!”

Rob Collard said: “I’m extremely proud to take the 150th BTCC podium for WSR with BMW, which puts me in a strong position in the points. The BMW has been very good all weekend, as it usually is here, and three top five finishes is exactly what’s needed to keep up a head of steam in the title fight. The shortening of race two possibly cost me the chance to challenge for the win, because my end-of-race pace was quicker than the car ahead, but I guess we’ll never know.”

2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 10 – Oulton Park

1 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing 15 laps
2 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.284s
3 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +11.987s
4 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +17.642s
5 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +18.750s
6 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +19.325s
7 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +20.259s
8 Josh COOK (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +20.561s
9 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +21.469s
10 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +22.046s

2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 11 – Oulton Park

1 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing 14 laps
2 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +1.066s
3 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +9.795s
4 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +10.096s
5 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +10.443s
6 Josh COOK (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +10.863s
7 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +12.560s
8 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +13.196s
9 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +13.966s
10 Michael EPPS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +14.596s

2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 12 – Oulton Park

1 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +18 laps
2 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.279s
3 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +1.722s
4 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +4.272s
5 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +4.375s
6 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +4.590s
7 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +5.509s
8 Michael EPPS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +7.045s
9 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +8.418s
10 Luke DAVENPORT (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +8.736s

Penalties:

Race one:
Tom Chilton received a verbal reprimand for gaining an unfair advantage in an incident involving Will Burns. As this was his third penalty strike of the season, Chilton was demoted to the back of the grid for race two.

Race two:
Senna Proctor received three penalty points and a £500 fine for an incident involving Colin Turkington and Jeff Smith.

Race three:
Gordon Shedden received a verbal warning for an incident involving Josh Cook.

Will Burns received a verbal warning for gaining an unfair advantage in an incident involving Tom Ingram.

Halfords Yuasa Racing scored a one-two finish in the final BTCC encounter at Oulton Park as Gordon Shedden led home team-mate Matt Neal across the line.

The win wasn't without incident however, as contact between Shedden and the pole-sitting Ford Focus of Josh Cook left the former with broken suspension and out of the race.

BMW Pirtek Racing's Andrew Jordan had already assumed the lead by that point, but Shedden's move for victory was an act of class as he scythed his way past at Cascades following a mid-race safety car period.

Neal immediately followed suit and the Honda duo went on to take the laurels ahead of Jordan's BMW 125i M Sport.

“That’s an important win for us and a lovely end to the day,” said Shedden. “It was a pretty chaotic race out there. I had an off yesterday and the team did a magnificent job to repair the car. We get the plaudits but the boys deserve all the credit for this one.”

Ashley Sutton produced an heroic defensive effort to claim fourth as he fended off the charging Team BMW pair of Colin Turkington and Rob Collard. Turkington had been fighting back through the order all day after electrical gremlins ended his race one challenge. He claimed 13th from the back of the grid in race two, before making a number of stellar moves in the final showdown to take a hard earned fifth place finish.

Handy Motorsport's Rob Austin secured another consistent result with seventh, ahead of the VWs of Michael Epps and Jake Hill. Luke Davenport put in a hugely impressive performance to claim his first ever top ten finish for Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo, also netting him a maiden Jack Sears Trophy triumph.

A number of cars were in the wars, including Aiden Moffat's Mercedes, whose accident following contact with Dave Newsham's Chevrolet brought about the aforementioned spell behind the safety car.

2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 12 – Oulton Park

1 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +18 laps
2 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.279s
3 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +1.722s
4 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +4.272s
5 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +4.375s
6 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +4.590s
7 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +5.509s
8 Michael EPPS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +7.045s
9 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +8.418s
10 Luke DAVENPORT (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +8.736s
11 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +9.077s
12 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +9.414s
13 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +9.789s
14 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +10.248s
15 Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing +10.605s
16 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +11.412s
17 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +12.041s
18 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +12.099s
19 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +12.505s
20 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +13.958s
21 Ant WHORTON-EALES (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +15.882s
22 Will BURNS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +16.766s
23 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +19.397s
24 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +19.419s
25 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +27.750s
26 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +33.920s
27 Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +1 lap
NC James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +5 laps
DNF Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +11 laps
DNF Josh COOK (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +15 laps
DNF Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo
DNS Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport

Ashley Sutton claimed victory in the second Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race at Oulton Park having produced yet another fantastic drive for Adrian Flux Subaru Racing.

Andrew Jordan maintained the lead from pole position off the line, whilst fellow front row starter Matt Neal was gobbled up by the rear-wheel drive machines of Sutton and Rob Collard.

Jordan's BMW – carrying maximum success ballast following his race one win – couldn't hang on for particularly long, however, as Sutton slid his Subaru down the inside at Island Hairpin before completing the pass at Hislops on lap two. Sutton immediately stormed away from the chasing pack as a bottle-neck gathered behind Jordan's 125i M Sport.

Collard comfortably disposed of his BMW stablemate Jordan, before the latter was impressively tag-teamed by the two Hondas of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden. Neal edged inside of Jordan across the start/finish line as Shedden went around the outside into Old Hall Corner – creating a three-wide Honda sandwich. When the dust settled it was Neal in second with team-mate Shedden also getting past Jordan.

Pirtek-backed Jordan held on to fifth until the finish as the two Fords of Josh Cook and Mat Jackson squabbled behind. Cook got by Jackson when the Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo man straight-lined the chicane, and the former was further rewarded post-race by being selected for pole position in the reverse grid race three later today.

Rob Austin and Jake Hill continued their weekend-long scrap in eighth and ninth respectively, whilst the VW of Michael Epps completed the top ten.

Shedden has taken over at the top of the standings after Tom Ingram's woes worsened with another DNF in race two. The Speedworks driver is now joint-second – alongside Collard – just five points off the summit.

All credit in this contest though went to Sutton as the young gun scored his first win for Subaru and the second of his BTCC career.

"That couldn’t have gone any better!" he said. "After seeing the performance of the soft tyres in race one, I didn’t feel too confident, especially with an extra 57kg having been thrown at me but I got a great start and then the pace was just in the car. I had to get away as quickly as I could because we all know Rob Collard’s a charger and he was going to be coming after me, but I made the break just in time.

"It was then a question of managing the race, and it’s phenomenal to score the first win of the year for Adrian Flux Subaru Racing. We had a bit of a difficult start to the season, so this one is for all the boys – they’ve done a mega job to get the car to where it is now."

2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 11 – Oulton Park

1 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing 14 laps
2 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +1.066s
3 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +9.795s
4 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +10.096s
5 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +10.443s
6 Josh COOK (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +10.863s
7 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +12.560s
8 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +13.196s
9 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +13.966s
10 Michael EPPS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +14.596s
11 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +14.765s
12 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +15.943s
13 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +21.590s
14 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +22.040s
15 Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +22.195s
16 Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing +22.607s
17 Luke DAVENPORT (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +22.968s
18 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +23.309s
19 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +24.547s
20 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +25.174s
21 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +25.481s
22 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +25.678s
23 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +26.711s
24 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +27.018s
25 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +27.814s
26 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +28.249s
27 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +30.618s
28 Ant WHORTON-EALES (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +1 lap
29 Will BURNS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +2 laps
DNF Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +7 laps
DNF James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +8 laps
DNF Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport 

BMW Pirtek Racing's Andrew Jordan fended off a Matt Neal fightback to claim victory in Round 10 of the 2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park.

Jordan blasted by pole-sitter Neal off the line as the rear-wheel drive 125i M Sport got its customary catapult start on the run down to Old Hall Corner for the first time. Critically for Neal, however, is that he was able to keep the sister BMW of Colin Turkington in his rear mirrors and set about focussing on recapturing the lead.

The top two pulled comfortably away from a sensational battle for third that often involved more than half a dozen cars. Turkington had nipped past Aiden Moffat's Mercedes on the opening tour, whilst Ash Sutton's Subaru made a standout move on Mat Jackson behind them.

Two championship challengers endured miserable opening laps, as both Adam Morgan and Tom Ingram went off in separate incidents – both would fail to score points for the first time this season.

Meanwhile, Moffat was back by Turkington as Sutton drew ever closer in the Adrian Flux-backed Subaru. A sensational moment on lap seven saw Sutton slide by Team BMW's Turkington into Hislops, as the latter was himself trying to pass Moffat's Mercedes ahead of him.

Jackson joined the fray, along with Rob Collard and Gordon Shedden, who had himself been shuffled down the order by a similar move to Sutton's at Hislops. 

The battle for the final podium position was building towards a tense climax as Moffat squeezed Sutton onto the grass on the exit of Island Bend, allowing Turkington back by. A fired up Sutton would not be denied, however, as he first went around the outside of Turkington at Lodge Corner and then repeated the trick on Moffat at Old Hall seconds later. Turkington was completely out of contention shortly after, as he struggled to the finish with a mechanical problem. 

Neal was busy reeling in Jordan's BMW up front, which was running the softer Dunlop SportMaxx tyre. The triple champion ran out of time, however, as the pair crossed the finish line separated by just 0.284s – confirming Jordan's second win of the season.

"What a week it’s been!" said a delighted Jordan. "I’ve had a little girl and now I’ve won again for BMW in the BTCC – life is good. It’s been a cracking effort from everybody at BMW Pirtek Racing. Ahead of this weekend, I was thinking ‘I really need to get my arse into gear now and do this’. I’ve made cracking starts this year, which added some pressure – people were telling me I should be leading by Turn One!

"Thankfully, that’s exactly what happened and being on the soft tyres, I pushed hard to establish an early gap. Later on, they told me on the radio ‘Matt’s coming’, so I dug deep and was able to maintain the advantage – although if it had been a couple of laps longer, he might have got close enough to attempt a Matt Neal lunge! We’ve had a couple of dreadful weekends, but you don’t forget how to win and that’s a good message to send out."

"Close but no cigar!" responded Neal. "We got jumped off the line by Andrew [Jordan] as expected but I was really chuffed that I managed to stay ahead of Colin [Turkington]. I pushed to try to get him to eat into his soft tyres early on until I began to feel my own tyres going away a little bit so I had to calm down and throttle back slightly, which gave him a breather for a while.

"Later on, I got a second wind and after that I was waiting either for his soft tyres to fade or a mistake, neither of which came. We’ll have more weight in the car for race two, but the Honda Civic Type R feels great – and that’s a real positive moving forward."

Sutton ended up on the rostrum ahead of Moffat, Collard and Jackson respectively. The ballast-laden Honda Civic Type R of Shedden held on to seventh despite late race contact with Josh Cook's Ford. Rob Austin and Jake Hill completed the top ten, having had their own enjoyably scrap in the closing laps.

"After getting past Gordon [Shedden] on the exit of the hairpin on the opening lap, I set my sights on Colin [Turkington] ahead and managed to pull off a move on him too," enthused Subaru star Sutton. "Aiden [Moffat] was then a bit more of a challenge – he put up a good fight. He ran me wide onto the grass heading down towards the chicane, although in fairness to him, I think he was unsighted. I had to reset after that and to make two more places up around the outside of the final corner was mega!”

The non-scores for Ingram, Morgan and Eurotech's Jack Goff means that Collard is now the only driver to have claimed championship points in each of the ten races so far this season.

2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 10 – Oulton Park

1 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing 15 laps
2 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.284s
3 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +11.987s
4 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +17.642s
5 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +18.750s
6 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +19.325s
7 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +20.259s
8 Josh COOK (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +20.561s
9 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +21.469s
10 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +22.046s
11 Michael EPPS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +25.005s
12 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +26.141s
13 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +27.315s
14 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +27.452s
15 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +27.951s
16 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +28.271s
17 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +28.856s
18 Luke DAVENPORT (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +29.057s
19 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +31.032s
20 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +31.493s
21 Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing +32.640s
22 Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +34.783s
23 James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +35.365s
24 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +35.530s
25 Will BURNS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +44.478s
26 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +45.087s
27 Ant WHORTON-EALES (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +45.912s
28 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +48.900s
29 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +52.479s
NC Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +3 laps
DNF Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +4 laps
DNF Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +15 laps

 

After qualifying yesterday, btcc.net spoke to Halfords Yuasa Racing's pole man Matt Neal as well as second-placed Andrew Jordan and young Scot Aiden Moffat, who'll line up third for race one today at Oulton Park.

Matt Neal will start tomorrow’s opening Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race from pole position after the Halfords Yuasa Racing star set a blistering pace during qualifying at Oulton Park.

The triple champion took his first pole position in five years with a stellar effort at Thruxton last time out, and the experienced racer backed up his fine form with yet another in successive events. 

BMW Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan led the way early on as the 2013 champion looked to be a serious contender. Jordan had endured two relatively lacklustre weekends at Donington Park and Thruxton respectively, but he bounced back today with the potent ballast-free BMW 125i M Sport beneath him. The Bavarian machine has often gone well around the picturesque Cheshire venue and its credentials were also underlined by Rob Collard and Colin Turkington later on in proceedings.

Two Hondas endured offs as reigning champion Gordon Shedden recovered from a slide at Cascades, although Matt Simpson wasn’t so fortunate in a separate incident. The Simpson Racing Civic Type R ran wide at the exit of Druids and then speared into the barrier on the inside of the track as Simpson tried to correct his mistake.

The red flags were thrown to recover the stricken Honda, but not before Aiden Moffat, Ashley Sutton and Mat Jackson had joined Neal and Jordan at the top of the timesheets.

A five minute shootout would determine the final grid positions although improvements were hard to come by for much of the field. 

With Turkington languishing down the order, however, the Ulsterman produced heroics to haul his ballast-laden BMW up to fourth place ahead of Shedden’s Honda, who had himself responded well to his earlier moment. 

So as the chequered flag waved, it was Neal from Jordan and Moffat’s Laser Tools Racing Mercedes – the young talent again showing his class following a maiden BTCC breakthrough victory earlier in the season.

Turkington and Shedden were next on the timesheets, ahead of Ash Sutton’s Subaru Levorg, who once more proved the pick of the Adrian Flux Subaru Racing squad. The two Fords of Mat Jackson and Josh Cook were seventh and eighth respectively, whilst Collard and rookie Senna Proctor initially completed the top ten. Proctor, however, along with another five drivers (see penalties below), lost his fastest time for a yellow flag infringement. This handed a top ten berth to Jake Hill in the TAG Racing VW while Proctor was classified in 16th. 

Two high profile drivers endured tougher sessions than their younger team-mates as Jason Plato spun his Subaru Levorg before having to settle for 17th on the grid, whilst Power Maxed Racing’s Tom Chilton couldn’t match Proctor’s pace – he eventually finished 30th in his Vauxhall Astra.

The relentless pace of the session was proven as the top 25 drivers were covered by just over a second with the entire 32-car field blanketed by 1.797s. That final position unfortunately went to Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo driver Martin Depper, who also crashed into the barriers in the closing minutes.

Matt Neal said: “Fantastic! Pole positions are like buses at the moment, aren’t they – you wait for ages and then two come along all at once! I didn’t expect that. Given that we’ve got a bit of weight, I was aiming for somewhere on the first two rows but the car felt great – properly hooked-up. The session started out damp but really dried up quickly. We made a few last-minute changes and my engineer Barry worked his wizardry. It’s looking a bit tricky for tomorrow with two rear-wheel drive cars close behind me, but the Honda Civic Type R is great out of the blocks and we’ll give it our best shot.”

Andrew Jordan said: “That’s more like it! I’m very happy – just faultless from the team and I. This is the best I’ve driven the car all year, and it’s nice to start to feel like I’m getting on top of it now. I felt really at home in the car and it was a good session in general, which shows we’re making progress. We needed to do something like this. When you come here in a car like the BMW with no weight, you need to be up at the sharp end. We rolled straight out in the ballpark and we’ve been there all day. I wasn’t settling for second at the end – I was trying to snatch it off Matt [Neal], but we just came up short.”

Aiden Moffat said: “It certainly makes Sunday a lot easier when you get qualifying right! All credit to the Laser Tools Racing boys – they gave me the car to do the job. Achieving your first win like we did at Donington gives you a lot more confidence and with that a different mindset. We’ve proved we deserve to be here, so the pressure is off. We’ve always tended to struggle at this track, but today was the best the car has felt for a long time. I was really pushing on my fastest lap – it was certainly on-the-edge – but we got the most out of it!”

Colin Turkington said: “We’ve had a slight issue with the car all through the day. The most frustrating thing was we knew how much performance and potential was in the car, and yet we were languishing a long way down the timesheets with our hands tied. Thankfully, we just managed to get on top of it for the last run – the last few laps were do-or-die, and that’s where you really earn your money. To start on the first couple of rows is pretty good around here, and given the weight we are carrying, I think this is as high as we could have got today.”

Gordon Shedden said: “It’s tough out there – there’s no getting away from that. It was a good lap. Could I have found a little bit more? Maybe, but at least I can go racing from there. It was disappointing to lose out to [Colin] Turkington at the end, but I’m getting there and it’ll be a little bit about playing the long game tomorrow for me. It’s awesome for Matt – he’s finding a bit of form with this pole position lark! It just goes to show that when we hook it all up we’ve got a real good car and he’ll make the most of it. I’m sure there’s every chance he’ll take a couple of wins this weekend if he can get it off the line.”

2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Qualifying – Oulton Park

1 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing 1m26.151s (93.01mph)
2 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +0.126s
3 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.249s
4 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.458s
5 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +0.461s
6 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.511s
7 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +0.549s
8 Josh COOK (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +0.571s
9 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +0.587s
10 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +0.650s
11 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.668s
12 Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing +0.689s
13 Michael EPPS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +0.728s
14 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +0.791s
15 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +0.812s
16 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +0.819s
17 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.823s
18 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +0.894s
19 Ant WHORTON-EALES (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +0.980s
20 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +0.996s
21 James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +1.002s
22 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +1.005s
23 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +1.017s
24 Luke DAVENPORT (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +1.089s
25 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +1.115s
26 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +1.181s
27 Will BURNS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +1.242s
28 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +1.288s
29 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +1.451s
30 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +1.455s
31 Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +1.669s
32 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +1.797s

Penalties:

Chilton, Proctor, Taylor-Smith, Lloyd, Morgan and Davenport all had their fastest times disallowed for a yellow flag infringement

Halfords Yuasa Racing's Matt Neal set the pace during a rather frenetic 40-minute free practice two at Oulton Park.

Several rain showers punctuated proceedings with heavy cloud and sun also making the odd appearance. It was Neal that made the best of the conditions, as the Honda man clocked a 1:37.051s benchmark on a wet track. 

"The Honda Civic Type R feels good in these changeable conditions, so hopefully we'll be in the mix for qualifying this afternoon," said Neal.

Reigning champion Gordon Shedden looked to be on course to pip team-mate Neal late on, but a high speed off at Druids ended his hopes whilst the Scotsman was on a real flyer.

"We had a problem with the steering wheel initially," said Shedden. "The circuit conditions were changing every lap. It's always challenging to get a feel when it's like that, as you just don't know what the next corner will bring."

That left second place to James Cole, who had previously led the session in his Subaru Levorg. 

"This is like home to me," he said. "If I could do it anywhere I would want it to be here as this is where it all began. I first sat in a racing car at Oulton Park ten years or so ago, so it would be great if we could show our true potential this weekend."

Team BMW locked out third and fourth on the timesheets as Colin Turkington edged out team-mate Rob Collard, whilst Ash Sutton further showed Adrian Flux Subaru Racing's potential with fifth place.

A sixth place for Daniel Lloyd will come as a welcome boost for everyone at MG Racing RCIB Insurance while Josh Cook backed-up his top five pace in FP1 with a seventh place in the final practice session.

Former champions Andrew Jordan and Jason Plato were next in the order, with Eurotech Racing's Jeff Smith completing the top ten.

2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Free Practice 2 – Oulton Park

1 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing 1m37.051s (82.57mph)
2 James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.249s
3 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.256s
4 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +0.331s
5 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.398s
6 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +0.402s
7 Josh COOK (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +0.404s
8 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +0.419s
9 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.616s
10 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +0.656s
11 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +0.733s
12 Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing +0.738s
13 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +0.785s
14 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +0.797s
15 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +0.826s
16 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +0.875s
17 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +0.947s
18 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +0.949s
19 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +0.961s
20 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +0.971s
21 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +1.111s
22 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +1.151s
23 Michael EPPS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +1.199s
24 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +1.251s
25 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +1.318s
26 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +1.351s
27 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +1.422s
28 Will BURNS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +1.598s
29 Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +1.850s
30 Luke DAVENPORT (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +1.853s
31 Ant WHORTON-EALES (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +1.967s
32 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +2.524s