Matt Neal moved one step closer to becoming the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champion after securing the opening win of the day at Silverstone from team-mate Gordon Shedden.
Champion Jason Plato saw his hopes take a serious hit after a puncture early in the race and then spent the remainder of the race trying to find the problems and finished outside the points in twenty fifth.
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The Honda 1-2 with Plato outside the points has seen Neal extend his championship lead to ten points over Shedden with Plato twenty two points behind.
The other two drivers arriving at Silverstone with a mathematical chance of glory, Mat Jackson and James Nash saw their hopes extinguished after finishing behind Neal. Jackson suffered a late race puncture to hand Nash the advantage in the battle for Independent honours and the provisional title.
Off the line, Neal, Jackson and Shedden all got away cleanly while in the midfield, the action got fraught as Rob Austin in the Rear Wheel Drive Rob Austin Racing Audi A4 made a flying getaway and tagged Airwaves Racing’s guest driver, James Thompson, who was forced to retire with a broken damper.
Ollie Jackson in the second 888 Vauxhall Vectra was spun in the middle of the pack and at the back, the Geoff Steel Racing BMW 320si of Tony Gilham was forced off the track and into the wall at high speed, bringing out the Safety Car.
The Safety car was withdrawn at the end of the fourth lap and the race distance was extended to twenty five laps. The first lap after the Safety car saw Honda Racing’s Shedden take the fastest lap, but Jackson secured it on following lap for an extra bouns point.
Jackson constantly looked for a way past Neal to keep his slim title hopes alive and by the eighth lap Neal, Jackson and Shedden had opened up a gap over Nash and the Chasing pack.
Chilton’s Team Aon team-mate Andy Neate was looking at the Chevrolet of Alex MacDowall and on lap ten, he split the two Silverline Chevrolets – then benefitted from the puncture which Plato suffered.
The race stewards were sticking to their word about being disciplined about the track limits and a number of drivers, including Chilton, were handed penalties for using too much track at Copse. In his pursuit of Neal, Jackson seemed to use plenty of kerb and grass at Brooklands in his pursuit of the victory.
Paul O’Neill saw his weekend take a downturn as he stopped on the outside of Copse while Tom Boardman brought his Special Tuning Racing SEAT Leon into the pits with damage to the rear, a result of midfield bunching at Brooklands.
Jackson ultimately saw his hopes of the title go up in smoke at Becketts on lap twenty three as he suffered a puncture and took the flag down in twentieth – this promoted Shedden to second and reduced the damage which Neal would inflict with the victory while Nash moved into third and secured the 2011 Independents Championship.
With two races remaining, Neal leads Honda Racing team-mate Shedden by ten points while Plato still has a mathematical chance, sitting twenty two points behind with a maximum of thirty four to play for, while Nash leads Jackson by thirty two points in the Independents with a maximum of thirty points left.
Race two gets underway at 14.35 BST, with Neal and Shedden locking out the front row while Jackson, Plato and Thompson will be fighting their way through the field.