Jason Plato has taken victory in the final British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Brands Hatch – winning on the race début of the new MG6 touring car.
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In a shortened 20-lap race – necessitated by a lengthy red-flag period to clear up multiple cars that had gone off in the first part of the race – Plato showed the potential of his new car to challenge and eventually pass Andrew Jordan for the win.
Just a few laps into the race there was chaos at Druids after Mat Jackson’s Ford Focus spilled oil over the track on the run up to the corner. Six drivers all went off into the gravel as a result, calling out the red flags. Ollie Jackson, Tony Gilham, Daniel Welch, Adam Morgan, Tom Onslow-Cole and Tony Hughes all found themselves stuck in the gravel, although Gilham and Hughes were able to rejoin the race.
Collard had led the race up until the red flags after a strong start in his rear-wheel drive BMW. The WSR driver led for the opening laps after the restart but on lap 8 was passed by the hard charging Jordan and on the following lap by Plato.
Plato pressured Jordan for several laps, nibbling at the rear bumper of his car, before finding a way past on lap 14 at Clearways. Although Jordan tried to come back at the double champion it was clear that Plato’s new MG was handling much better and at the chequered flag he had built up a 1.8 second lead.
David Newsham had another strong drive to finish in third and take his – and Team ES Racing’s – first BTCC podium. Gordon Shedden finished his first race this weekend and took fourth after a strong drive from 18th on the grid.
Jeff Smith finished in fifth position, making it three new Honda’s in the top five positions. Rob Austin benefited from Smith’s move past Collard and took sixth, whilst Collard himself could only manage seventh after having led the first third of the race.
Finishing in eighth was Matt Neal – despite a slide at Paddock Hill Bend on the opening lap dropping him down to almost last on the track. Completing the top ten were Árón Smith and Lea Wood.