BTCC Croft Race 3: Jackson Keeps Cool to Edge Out BMWs

Mat Jackson drove a mistake-free race to take his third victory of the season, narrowly beating the two WSR BMWs that had shadowed him throughout. The Airwaves Racing man took the lead from pole sitter Nick Foster on the first lap and held on for a valuable win.

Foster made good use of the BMW's rear-wheel drive to lead into the first corner but Jackson gained greater momentum coming out of the chicane and breezed past on the run towards Tower. Collard's lightning start matched that of his teammate as he moved from sixth to third ahead of Gordon Shedden, Andrew Jordan and Tom Chilton with Matt Neal still in seventh.

Jason Plato made a storming start too from 20^th on the grid but was forced wide through Clervaux. Despite that he emerged from the first few laps in 16^th and was quickly onto the tail of the midfield runners, overtaking Jeff Smith and Shaun Hollamby in the space of a lap.

Back at the front, Jackson continued to lead the two BMWs as the race approached half distance with Gordon Shedden still in touch in fourth. Jordan was fifth but Tom Chilton had lost his grip on sixth, with Matt Neal and James Nash sweeping past as they came through the Jim Clark Esses on lap seven. Chilton dropped another place on the next lap as Alex MacDowall took eighth.

With Jackson showing no signs of flinching out in front, WSR changed their plan of attack, with Foster allowing Collard through into second on lap 11. The no.8 BMW regularly closed in on the Ford Focus through the complex but Jackson continued to cover the inside line into the final hairpin before pulling away on the pit straight.

The race came to an anti-climatic finish with Paul O'Neill's stranded Chevrolet bringing out the yellow flags at the hairpin, eliminating Collard's best chance of overtaking on the final lap. Instead, Collard relinquished second to his teammate, returning the favour for being let through earlier in the race.

Andrew Jordan claimed fourth after passing Gordon Shedden four laps from home in a carbon copy of his race two move on the Honda. Shedden also lost fifth on the penultimate lap as James Nash stormed past, moments after passing the other Civic of Matt Neal.

After two wins earlier in the day, the championship leader was forced to settle for seventh ahead of MacDowall and Chilton, with Dave Newsham scoring points again in tenth.

This left Jason Plato stuck outside the points in 11^th after the reigning champion spent most of the race battling with Tom Onslow–Cole and Tony Gilham. Plato eventually picked them off but by that time, the leaders were too far away and more vital ground was lost in the championship battle.

Frank Wrathall was another driver who will have had his eyes on points but the Dynojet Toyota driver crashed out on lap two, ending up in the same field that Liam Griffin had ploughed into earlier.

As the British Touring Car Championship heads into its' seven-week summer break, Matt Neal leads by nine points from Mat Jackson, with Gordon Shedden in third. The consistency of Andrew Jordan and James Nash has kept them in touch, while Jason Plato's failure to score in races 2 and 3 has dropped him to sixth, 40 points adrift.

 Race Result (15 Laps):

Pos	Driver	Car	Team	Time/Gap
1	Mat Jackson	Ford Focus ST	Airwaves Racing	22:10.663
2	Nick Foster	BMW 320si E90	WSR	+0.638
3	Rob Collard	BMW 320si E90	WSR	+0.922
4	Andrew Jordan	Vauxhall Vectra	Pirtek Racing	+10.909
5	James Nash	Vauxhall Vectra	888 Racing with Collins Contractors	+12.269
6	Gordon Shedden	Honda Civic	Honda Racing Team	+14.866
7	Matt Neal	Honda Civic	Honda Racing Team	+15.915
8	Alex MacDowall	Chevrolet Cruze	Silverline Chevrolet	+16.512
9	Tom Chilton	Global Ford Focus	Team Aon	+21.112
10	Dave Newsham	SEAT Leon	Special Tuning Racing	+21.855
11	Jason Plato	Chevrolet Cruze	Silverline Chevrolet	+31.066
12	Tony Gilham	Vauxhall Vectra	888 Racing with Collins Contractors	+34.691
13	Tom Onslow-Cole	Global Ford Focus	Team Aon	+38.211
14	Jeff Smith	Vauxhall Vectra	Pirtek Racing	+38.359
15	Shaun Hollamby	Volkswagen Golf	AmD Miltek Racing.com	+45.095
16	Liam Griffin	Ford Focus ST	Airwaves Racing	+54.858
17	John George	Chevrolet Cruze	GoMobileUK.com with Tech-Speed	+1:01.548
18	Chris James	Chevrolet Lacetti	Team ES Racing	+1:02.209
19	Lea Wood	Honda Integra	Central Group Racing	+1:19.308
Not Classified
	Paul O'Neill	Chevrolet Cruze	GoMobileUK.com with Tech-Speed	+2 Laps
	Tom Boardman	SEAT Leon	Special Tuning Racing	+5 Laps
	Rob Austin	Audi A4	Rob Austin Racing	+10 Laps
	Andy Neate	Global Ford Focus	Team Aon	+10 Laps
	Frank Wrathall	Toyota Avensis	Dynojet	+14 Laps

 

Lap Leaders (1 Point)

Jackson (Lap 1-17)

Fastest Lap (1 Point)

Rob Collard (1:26.928, Lap 3)

Drivers Championship (After Rounds 13, 14 & 15: Croft)

Pos	Driver	Car	Team	Wins	Pts
1	Matt Neal	Honda Civic	Honda Racing Team	5	140
2	Mat Jackson	Ford Focus ST	Airwaves Racing	3	131
3	Gordon Shedden	Honda Civic	Honda Racing Team	2	120
4	Andrew Jordan	Vauxhall Vectra	Pirtek Racing	1	111
5	James Nash	Vauxhall Vectra	888 Racing with Collins Contractors		104
6	Jason Plato	Chevrolet Cruze	Silverline Chevrolet	4	100
7	Rob Collard	BMW 320si E90	WSR		66
8	Tom Chilton	Global Ford Focus	Team Aon		64
9	Alex MacDowall	Chevrolet Cruze	Silverline Chevrolet		47
10	Paul O'Neill	Chevrolet Cruze	GoMobileUK.com with Tech-Speed		32
11	Tom Boardman	SEAT Leon	Special Tuning Racing		31
12	Nick Foster	BMW 320si E90	WSR		27
13	Tony Gilham	Vauxhall Vectra	888 Racing with Collins Contractors		12
14	Jeff Smith	Vauxhall Vectra	Pirtek Racing		12
15	Tom Onslow-Cole	Global Ford Focus	Team Aon		10
16	Andy Neate	Global Ford Focus	Team Aon		9
17	Dave Newsham	SEAT Leon	Special Tuning Racing		9
18	Lea Wood	Honda Integra	Central Group Racing		4
19	Liam Griffin	Ford Focus ST	Airwaves Racing		2