Jason Plato has taken victory in the opening race at Snetterton today and with it moves into the lead of the championship. Plato withstood pressure from Mat Jackson, who finished second, to take the win. Tom Chilton finished in third for Team Aon.
Notably the points leader coming into this weekend, Matt Neal, failed to finish after suffering a puncture on the penultimate lap of the race whilst running in 7th.
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Pole sitter alex MacDowall had a torrid race. He led only for the first few metres of the race, before pulling off to the side before the first corner as a result of a broken gear lever. This gave Plato a lead he would not lose, and the 2001 champion also went on to put in the fastest lap of the race to secure an extra bonus point. MacDowall was able to rejoin the race for a handful of laps, but this was only to test and recalibrate a new gear lever that the team had to fit.
Through the first part of the race Jackson kept the pressure up on Plato, but he was unable to find a way past and as the race went on he dropped back from the Chevrolet driver, eventually having to settle for second.
Tom Chilton, who many had expected to dominate, was third despite having a straightline speed advantage as the fastest driver through the speed traps. He had initially dropped down to fifth after the opening lap, but managed to claw his way back onto the podium by passing the two Honda drivers.
Gordon Shedden finished in fourth, the Scotsman struggling to match the pace of the trio in front. James Nash finished in fifth overall to take his second best result of the year.
After having a nightmare qualifying session, Tom Onslow-Cole put in one of the drives of the season to finish in sixth – having started down in 21st.
Steven Kane took seventh and Tom Boardman was eighth.
Shaun Hollamby will be pleased with the progress made in his AmD Milltek Racing Volkswagen Golf – finishing in 16th overall and with a fastest lap just two seconds slower than Plato’s best, the team and driver are certainly making progress with the development and set-up of the car.
Martin Johnson failed to finish the race due to a driveshaft failure whilst David Pinkney’s run of poor luck continued after he retired with damage to the front of his Vectra.
Matt Neal’s failure to finish as a result of a late puncture means that he will now start race two from 18th.