Rob Collard heads BMW 1-2-3 in re-started final Oulton Park race

Rob Collard lead team-mates Andrew Jordan and Colin Turkington in a BMW 1-2-3 in the final British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Oulton Park, with the race having to be restarted after a start-line shunt on lap one.

The first start saw Rob Collard get the jump on Rob Austin to take the lead heading into the first corner, whilst behind the leading dozen there was chaos further behind.

Team HARD’s Mike Bushell got off the line well and attempted to go between the Mercedes of Tom Oliphant and the MG of Rory Butcher, but with not enough room the Volkswagen driver ended up turning the duo ahead into each other.

That then pitched Oliphant into the pit wall, whilst Butcher speared to the other side of the circuit and in the process collected both of the BTC Norlin Hondas of Chris Smiley and Dan Lloyd, giving the latter heavy front-end damage.

Whilst the safety car was initially deployed the red flags soon flew when it became clear that recovery of the four damaged cars would take some time.

The restart saw a new standing start in the original grid order, with Austin again starting at the front.

Collard again got the jump on Austin’s Alfa Romeo to lead into Turn 1, with the BMW driver not looking back to lead the rest of the race and claim his first win of the year.

Jordan claimed third after getting past Motorbase’s James Cole on the first lap, with the Pirtek Racing driver then inheriting third when Austin slowed with a driveshaft failure after nine laps.

Turkington had to work harder for his podium position, firstly picking off Motorbase’s Tom Chilton for fifth on the second lap before getting past Cole four laps later at Lodge corner for what was then fourth, which became third with Austin’s retirement.

Eurotech Racing’s Jack Goff took fourth to bank enough points to remain tied in second in the standings, continuing his consistent run that sees him as one of the few drivers to have finished every race in 2018.

Ciceley Motorsport’s Adam Morgan was fifth, the Mercedes driver having been on a charge late in the race to make up two places in the final laps.

Morgan particularly benefitted when Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram and Honda’s Matt Neal duked it out at Druids corner on lap seven, with Neal sent wide through the grass at high speed and Morgan passing both in the process.

Ingram finished in sixth, whilst Neal lost seven places in the process and ultimately recovered to just 14^th.

Chilton took the chequered flag in seventh after losing places in the final laps, ahead of Team HARD’s Mike Bushell in eighth.

Fellow Team HARD driver Jake Hill and the second Motorbase Ford of Cole completed the top ten.

Ash Sutton was the leading Subaru driver in 13^th, whilst his team-mate Jason Plato retired to the pits after four laps shortly after the Mercedes of Aiden Moffat breezed past on the straight at Hill Top for what was then 16^th position.

Moffat too ultimately suffered in the race, picking up a puncture on the last lap to drop him to 20^th. Honda’s Dan Cammish also suffered the same fate earlier in the race, and after a pitstop to change rubber he could only recover to 22^nd one lap down.

Sam Tordoff failed to start the race after his fire in race two, whilst race one winner Matt Simpson was again ruled out with engine issues.

Race result

POS	NO	CL	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	5	M	Rob COLLARD		Team BMW	BMW 125i M Sport	12	17:38.471	1:27.405	2
2	77	M	Andrew JORDAN		BMW Pirtek Racing	BMW 125i M Sport	12	3.881	1:27.529	4
3	2	M	Colin TURKINGTON		Team BMW	BMW 125i M Sport	12	7.647	1:27.694	7
4	31		Jack GOFF		WIX Racing with Eurotech	Honda Civic Type R	12	9.333	1:27.698	8
5	33		Adam MORGAN		MAC Tools with Ciceley Motorsport	Mercedes-Benz A-Class	12	13.385	1:27.819	11
6	80		Tom INGRAM		Speedworks Motorsport	Toyota Avensis	12	15.374	1:27.796	10
7	3		Tom CHILTON		Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher	Ford Focus RS	12	16.36	1:27.977	5
8	21		Mike BUSHELL		Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing	Volkswagen CC	12	16.786	1:27.093	15
9	24		Jake HILL		Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing	Volkswagen CC	12	17.403	1:27.394	21
10	20		James COLE		Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher	Ford Focus RS	12	18.153	1:27.939	3
11	66	M	Josh COOK		Power Maxed TAG Racing	Vauxhall Astra	12	18.910	1:27.126	26
12	18	M	Senna PROCTOR		Power Maxed TAG Racing	Vauxhall Astra	12	18.974	1:27.586	16
13	1	M	Ashley SUTTON		Adrian Flux Subaru Racing	Subaru Levorg GT	12	19.206	1:27.455	23
14	25	M	Matt NEAL		Halfords Yuasa Racing	Honda Civic Type R	12	19.559	1:27.960	6
15	12		Tom BOARDMAN		AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing	MG 6	12	21.584	1:28.379	25
16	60		Stephen JELLEY		Team Parker Racing	BMW 125i M Sport	12	21.944	1:28.390	30
17	23		Sam SMELT		AmD with Cobra Exhausts	Audi S3	12	25.031	1:28.225	28
18	39		Brett SMITH		WIX Racing with Eurotech	Honda Civic Type R	12	26.111	1:27.012	19
19	44		Michael CAINE		Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars	Volkswagen CC	12	41.924	1:28.421	22
20	16		Aiden MOFFAT		Laser Tools Racing	Mercedes-Benz A-Class	12	42.622	1:27.703	31
21	48		Ollie JACKSON		AmD with Cobra Exhausts	Audi S3	12	1:21.197	1:27.934	9
22	27	M	Dan CAMMISH		Halfords Yuasa Racing	Honda Civic Type R	11	1 Lap	1:27.455	12
R	28		Josh PRICE		Autoglym Academy Racing	Subaru Levorg GT	9	DNF	1:29.094	24
R	11		Rob AUSTIN		DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing	Alfa Romeo Giulietta	9	DNF	1:27.564	1
R	99	M	Jason PLATO		Adrian Flux Subaru Racing	Subaru Levorg GT	4	DNF	1:28.993	20
R	6		Rory BUTCHER		AmD with AutoAid / RCIB Insurance Racing	MG 6	0	DNF	N/A	14
R	15		Tom OLIPHANT		Ciceley Motorsport	Mercedes-Benz A-Class	0	DNF	N/A	13
R	19		Bobby THOMPSON		Team HARD. with Trade Price Cars	Volkswagen CC	0	DNF	N/A	27
R	22		Chris SMILEY		BTC Norlin Racing	Honda Civic Type R	0	DNF	N/A	18
R	26		Daniel LLOYD		BTC Norlin Racing	Honda Civic Type R	0	DNF	N/A	17
NS	303		Matt SIMPSON		Simpson Racing	Honda Civic Type R	0	DNS	N/A	32
NS	600		Sam TORDOFF		Team GardX Racing with Motorbase	Ford Focus RS	0	DNS	N/A	29