WSR News: Race Report - Brands Hatch - Rounds 1, 2 & 3
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Apr 02, 2007
Tom Onslow-Cole did himself and Team RAC proud on his debut BTCC race. Finishing a credible sixth and making a great start the nerves can now settle a little. Tom said: “It was fantastic and I ve finally got the first race over and done with. I was very nervous sat on the grid but it all come together and I got a fantastic start off the line. There was some contact in front of me but I managed to avoid it all and found myself in fourth. I m a little disappointed with myself as I made a couple of mistakes but I shall learn from them going forward. “
The race was interrupted by two safety car periods as SEAT s Jason Plato secured victory and Mat Jackson in another BMW completed the top three finishers. However, Mat Jackson was later excluded from the results for a flag infringement promoting reigning BTCC Champion Matt Neal to third and Tom Onslow-Cole to fifth.
Weather / Track: Sunny / Dry
Race 2
With 36kgs of success ballast, Team RAC s Colin Turkington secured his second podium of the day when finishing runner up in the second of three races at Brands Hatch. Driving faultlessly and yet again showing the pace of the BMW 320si E90 and recording the second fastest lap time, it was another positive outcome for Team RAC. Colin said: “It s another good result which is really important in these early stages. There s still more to come from the car and we re always learning. It would be nice to end up again with another podium in the final race. “
Team-mate Tom Onslow-Cole this time around found himself in the thick of the action. Running well in fifth place he was caught in a battle between Chilton (Tom) and Neal (Matt), collecting the spoils promoting him in to third place. However, this was short lived as he was then on the receiving end of a shove from Turner (Darren) whilst entering Paddock Hill Bend. Recovering miraculously from the gravel, Tom emerged back on the track having dropped to 18th finishing the race in a positive mood and 15th overall. He said: “Things are still going well and I was running up the front for a while confirming we re on the pace. I briefly got into third but then found myself off in the gravel. It didn t affect the handling of the car in anyway but I dropped down the rankings. It was a tough race and a real introduction to touring cars. This is exactly what I like and why I wanted to compete in the series. “
Jason Plato was the race winner with Vauxhall s Tom Chilton completing the top three.
Weather / Track: Sunny / Dry
Race 3
The added twist of the reverse grid rule meant that Colin Turkington lined up in sixth place for the final race of the day whilst Tom Onslow-Cole would start from his race two finishing position, 15th.
Despite getting his best start of the day in his WSR BMW, Colin Turkington was unable to secure his third podium of the day when running fourth he was tipped into the gravel at Clearways having been assisted by SEAT s Darren Turner. Commenting on the incident, Colin said: “I m coming away from the weekend feeling positive despite the disappointment of the last race. I was running well despite the ballast (success) in the car and I had good pace and I felt that I could have stayed in third position. It was a shame to retire from the race but the season has a long way to go. “
Tom Onslow-Cole proved he is worthy of his BTCC place by once again finishing in the top-ten. With his seventh place finish came valuable points for the team championship title race. Having completed his BTCC debut with three races now under his belt, Tom said: “It s great feeling to have finished the first round and I m coming away really happy. I think I ve proved to myself and to a lot of people around me today that I can run in the top three. I m ecstatic as it s been a really good introduction to touring cars. “
With the BMW 320si E90 only recently been completed, Dick Bennetts, WSR team principal has been pleasantly surprised by the performance of the team this weekend. With two podiums to add to Colin Turkington s fastest qualifying lap exceeding his expectations, Dick said: “Up until lap nine on race three everything was going great! Colin has done a great job getting two podiums and Tom has made a positive debut to the Championship by finishing all of the three races in tact. The WSR have incurred many overtime hours in the past few weeks building and preparing the cars and it s all credit to them that we ve enjoyed our success today. “
Matt Neal secured the victory with Fabrizio Giovanardi and Mat Jackson second and third respectively.
Later the clerk of the course disqualified Darren Turner for his manoeuvre on Colin Turkington having taken the stance that the SEAT driver effectively ended the Team RAC man s race. This promoted Tom Onslow-Cole s race finish position to sixth.
Weather / Track: Sunny / Dry
The next BTCC meeting takes place at Rockingham Motor Speedway on 21/22 April.
