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Rob
3rd August 2013, 14:14
MG keeps up the pace
Sam Tordoff topped the second free practice session at Snetterton today (3 August) from MG KX Momentum Racing team-mate Jason Plato, as the manufacturer pairing threw down the gauntlet ahead of qualifying.

Tordoff set his time of 1:57.388s in the dying moments of the session, and despite the best efforts of Plato, who was quickest for the majority of the running, the young Yorkshireman goes into qualifying with the fastest time of the weekend so far. His time is only fractionally slower than the fastest time set by Plato in the recent Dunlop tyre test, which was on the softer compound, and over two tenths quicker than Frank Wrathall’s pole time from 2012.

After the session, Triple Eight Team Principal, Ian Harrison, said: "We've obviously got pace, but there are no points for practice. There's still time to find in the car – the weekend hasn't really started yet so let's see how it goes in qualifying."

Tordoff himself was left buoyed by the showing, "It’s pretty much where we left off from the test," he said. "I think there’s still some time left in my performance too, which bodes well for qualifying. It’s the quickest I’ve been around here on the medium tyre so if we can produce something similar this afternoon then I hope we’ll be on the front row. You can get three laps out of the tyres on a qualifying run and the second lap may be the best opportunity to get the job done."

Behind the MG’s it was the Honda Yuasa Racing Civic of Gordon Shedden that improved from eighth fastest in the first session to finish up just under half a second behind Tordoff in third. Shedden’s team-mate Matt Neal also improved to post the eighth fastest time, but has 1.672s to find to match Tordoff’s time.

Speedworks Motorsport’s Dave Newsham was again impressive, putting in the fourth fastest time with eight minutes remaining and once again showing that the Snetterton 300 circuit is well suited to the Toyota Avensis. Newsham scored his first ever BTCC win here in 2012 and will be hoping to improve on his season’s best result of fifth last time out at Croft.

Mat Jackson moved comfortably inside the top ten in seventh, with his Airwaves Racing team-mate Aron Smith not far behind in 11th. Just ahead of Smith, Jack Goff managed to get his RCIB Insurance Racing Vauxhall Insignia into tenth, and was the fastest of the Team HARD cars with a time of 1:59.117s.

Liam Griffin was the fastest of the S2000 runners by just 0.012s from David Nye who took his first Jack Sears Cup at Croft before the summer break. Lea Wood, who was fastest in FP1 this morning, did not complete a flying lap in this session due to a mechanical issue.

"We still have some time to find as we're not going as fast as we did in testing," commented Griffin. "It's all out attack as I need to take wins this weekend. Obviously Lea [Wood] is leading the class, plus we now have James Kaye in an Honda Civic, which is a good bit of kit. David Nye's pace has also improved so we have a four-way fight for wins here."

Qualifying for rounds 16, 17 and 18 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship will take place at 15:20 today. The vital session will be streamed live via www.itv.com/btcc/live.


2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Snetterton - Free Practice 2
1. Sam Tordoff (MG KX Momentum Racing): +0.000
2. Jason Plato (MG KX Momentum Racing): +0.241
3. Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa Racing): +0.690
4. Dave Newsham (Speedworks Motorsport): +0.958
5. Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing): +1.056
6. Adam Morgan (Ciceley Racing): +1.261
7. Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing): +1.462
8. Matt Neal (Honda Yuasa Racing): +1.672
9. Colin Turkington (eBay Motors): +1.711
10. Jack Goff (RCIB Insurance Racing): +1.729
11. Aron Smith (Airwaves Racing): +1.799
12. Robert Collard (eBay Motors): +1.983
13. Ollie Jackson (Speedworks Motorsport): +2.009
14. Tom Onslow-Cole (PPCGB/Kraftwerk Racing): +2.150
15. Rob Austin (WIX Racing): +2.230
16. Daniel Welch (Welch Motor sport with Sopp + Sopp): +2.408
17. Frank Wrathall (Dynojet): +2.702
18. Will Bratt (WIX Racing): +3.071
19. Jeff Smith (Pirtek Racing): +3.134
20. Nick Foster (eBay Motors): +3.228
21. Robb Holland (RCIB Insurance Racing): +3.953
22. Liam Griffin (Addison Lee Motorbase): +4.330
23. David Nye (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp): +4.342
24. James Kaye (AmDTuning.com): +4.612
25. Andy Neate (Team Club 44): +4.661
26. Lea Wood (Wheel Heaven/Houseman Racing): No time set
27. Warren Scott (Team BMR Restart): No time set

Rob
4th August 2013, 07:44
ordoff takes maiden pole
MG racer Sam Tordoff has claimed his first BTCC pole position after a sensational effort during qualifying at Snetterton.

Having set the pace during practice earlier today, Tordoff absolutely obliterated the lap record in qualifying, beating Frank Wrathall’s 2012 flyer by nearly nine tenths of a second.

As MG KX Momentum Racing continue to dominate proceedings at the Norfolk circuit, double-champ Jason Plato followed closely behind his team-mate with Gordon Shedden and Andrew Jordan in third and fourth respectively. eBay Motors BMW driver Colin Turkington grabbed fifth, but there was high drama behind for the final place in the top six.

Irishman Aron Smith had fired himself into sixth with a great lap halfway through the session, before his running was cruelly ended on the next tour. The Airwaves Racing driver seemed to lose control of his Ford Focus on entry to Riches, and spun wildly before making heavy contact with the barrier on the exit of the corner.

A lengthy stoppage followed and despite the disappointment for the unharmed Smith, circuit conditions proved slower after the restart. With no changes to the top order in the latter stages Smith incredibly held on to his best qualifying result of the season with sixth, although his car will need some major repairs overnight.

"The car’s not looking great right now," commented an upbeat Smith. "We've changed a lot on the car recently and it's just so much better. I did one flying lap, which was great, and then I made the mistake but sixth puts us in contention for tomorrow."

Adam Morgan was again the best-placed Toyota Avensis driver in seventh for Ciceley Racing, although Dave Newsham held that honour early on before having to settle for ninth.

Sandwiched between the Toyotas after producing his own stellar flying lap was the Vauxhall Insignia of Jack Goff. The reigning Clio Cup UK champion continues to make progress in his maiden BTCC season and his best qualifying result of the campaign here at Snetterton was mighty impressive.

"I tend to gauge where I am to Tom Onslow-Cole because he’s a lot more experienced than me, so to out qualify him here and be the top Team HARD driver is a big boost," said Goff.

Behind Newsham, there were contrasting emotions for the drivers occupying the next two positions. Daniel Welch hauled the Proton Gen-2 into the top ten for the first time this season, whilst championship leader Matt Neal endured a challenging run. The Honda Yuasa Racing driver had comfortably qualified inside the top ten for the opening five rounds of the season, but the triple-champion could only manage 11th fastest around the 2.97 miles of tarmac today.

The VW Passats had a difficult time of it too as Tom Onslow-Cole ended up 14th and Warren Scott failed to set a time after his newly-build machine ground to a halt early on.

There was late excitement in the Jack Sears Trophy battle when series leader Lea Wood set the quickest time in the final minutes. Wood’s Vauxhall Vectra had suffered myriad of problems during the day, including a misfire for much of qualifying, but his Wheel Heaven/Houseman Racing squad corrected the fault for the final ten minutes of the session. His later flyer eclipsed the previous best JST effort, set by the Honda Civic of James Kaye.

Sam Tordoff said: “I’m thrilled with that. We knew we had the pace – we showed it in the test during the summer break, but you never know how the weekend is going to pan out. The first thing you’ve got to do as a racing driver is beat your team-mate, and when that means beating Jason Plato it’s no mean feat. This gives us the perfect opportunity for tomorrow – I’ve shown I’ve got what it takes to beat the guys around me, now it’s time to go and do it.”

Jason Plato said: “The fact is we know that I’m carrying 27kg of ballast and Sam isn’t – we know that’s worth three tenths, but in saying that I made a mistake on my lap. He nailed the lap, his performances this year are coming on leaps and bounds – he’s really in the groove now and that’s one of the reasons we got him in the car because we knew he was going to be quick. Not that there was a monkey on his back because he’s already done such a great job, but from now his demeanour will change and that will make him even quicker. I should’ve done a 1:55.7s and that would’ve been about my best – I didn’t have the pace in my car to beat Sam today.”

Lea Wood said: “We’ve struggled with a misfire all morning, but actually managed to fix it during the red flag period in qualifying. I was really pleased with the lap – and we only used one set of tyres which will really help us out tomorrow. I think early on we’ll be able to mix it with some of the NGTC drivers too, but we really just need to focus on staying ahead of the S2000 competition.”

2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Snetterton – Qualifying

1 Sam Tordoff (MG KX Momentum Racing) 1:56.696
2 Jason Plato (MG KX Momentum Racing) +0.223
3 Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa Racing) +0.483
4 Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing) +0.693
5 Colin Turkington (eBay Motors) +0.790
6 Aron Smith (Airwaves Racing) +0.872
7 Adam Morgan (Ciceley Racing) +0.988
8 Jack Goff (RCIB Insurance Racing) +1.012
9 Dave Newsham (Speedworks Motorsport) +1.026
10 Daniel Welch (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +1.075
11 Matt Neal (Honda Yuasa Racing) +1.181
12 Rob Austin (WIX Racing) +1.198
13 Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing) +1.262
14 Tom Onslow-Cole (PPCGB/Kraftwerk Racing) +1.363
15 Jeff Smith (Pirtek Racing) +1.649
16 Robert Collard (eBay Motors) +1.758
17 Frank Wrathall (Dynojet) +1.797
18 Ollie Jackson (Speedworks Motorsport) +2.133
19 Will Bratt (Rob Austin Racing) +2.227
20 Nick Foster (eBay Motors) +2.416
21 Robb Holland (RCIB Insurance Racing) +3.045
22 Lea Wood (Wheel Heaven/Houseman Racing) +3.279
23 Andy Neate (Team Club 44) +3.292
24 James Kaye (AmDTuning.com) +3.602
25 Liam Griffin (Addison Lee Motorbase) +4.168
26 1David Nye (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +4.502
27 Warren Scott (Team BMR Restart) No time set No time set

Rob
4th August 2013, 07:45
Congrats Sam,good luck for the race.

MG were fast around here last year aswell, werent they?

Rob
4th August 2013, 11:17
Still not liking (unsure of) the new "300" layout of Snett :-?? (perhaps liked and loved the old layout to much)

Julie B
4th August 2013, 14:29
Race 1 - Results
Sam Tordoff stormed to a commanding lights-to-flag victory in race one at Snetterton - his first win in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.

Tordoff made a clean getaway from pole position and comfortably pulled clear of the battle between Jason Plato's MG and Gordon Shedden's Honda Civic over the 12 laps of racing. Plato took second at the finish, whilst Shedden had to fend off late challenges from Colin Turkington and Andrew Jordan to secure the final podium position.

The story belonged to young Tordoff, however, as he backed up his practice and qualifying pace with an assured performance. Somewhat of a Snetterton specialist, having won here previously in both the Clio Cup and Carrera Cup, the 24-year-old made one of his best starts of the season and never looked back. Plato, carrying more success ballast than his team-mate, seemed content to focus on defending from Shedden as Tordoff pulled clear to win by more than two seconds.

"The first one is always special," said a delighted Tordoff. "I knew that if I got away well I’d have a great chance and thankfully I did. A one-two is great for the team and now I have this maiden win – well I have ticked that box – so I feel like I can really go out and enjoy the next two races this afternoon."

A mid-race battle between Plato and Shedden looked to be building towards a dramatic finale before the pace of the Honda Civic dropped off in the latter stages, pushing the reigning champion back into the clutches of the squabbling Turkington and Jordan.

The eBay Motors BMW of Turkington actually helped Jordan’s Civic in the early running as the pair of them came under attack from the charging Airwaves Racing Ford Focus of Aron Smith. As the Irishman looked to go around the outside of both cars at Agostini Hairpin, Turkington baulked the Focus up behind him, which allowed Jordan to recapture fifth position. Smith dropped away soon after and while Turkington and Jordan were rarely separated by more than half a second; the BMW hung on to take fourth. Smith’s sixth position was just reward for the recent development from the Motorbase-run squad, who also cheered Mat Jackson home in eighth place.

Between the Focuses was the Ciceley Racing Toyota Avensis of Adam Morgan, whilst championship leader Matt Neal was made to work hard for his ninth position. Having started 11th on the grid, Neal forced his way by Rob Austin early on and then got past the Vauxhall Insignia of Jack Goff by the midway stage of the contest. Ninth looked likely to become eighth when he made a great move by Jackson at Riches late on, but when the Honda ran wide on the exit of Williams the Focus got a stronger run down the back straight before securing a pass through the Brundle and Nelson complex.

The eBay Motors BMW of Rob Collard secured the final top ten position after a late race pass on Goff.

The Vauxhall Vectra of Lea Wood made light work of the Jack Sears Trophy field as his main rivals failed to finish. His biggest scare came on lap eight when the spinning Vauxhall Insignia of American Robb Holland nearly made contact with the class leader on the exit of Brundle. Wood comfortably went on to win from the Ford Focus of David Nye.


2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Snetterton – Race 1

1 Sam Tordoff (MG KX Momentum Racing) 12 Laps
2 Jason Plato (MG KX Momentum Racing) +2.514
3 Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa Racing) +3.564
4 Colin Turkington (eBay Motors) +3.829
5 Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing) +4.313
6 Aron Smith (Aron Smith) +8.908
7 Adam Morgan (Ciceley Racing) +10.845
8 Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing) +14.590
9 Matt Neal (Honda Yuasa Racing) +16.005
10 Robert Collard (eBay Motors) +16.569
11 Jack Goff (RCIB Insurance Racing) +23.480
12 Tom Onslow-Cole (PPCGB/Kraftwerk Racing) +24.572
13 Jeff Smith (Pirtek Racing) +29.742
14 Nick Foster (eBay Motors) +33.588
15 Rob Austin (WIX Racing) +33.771
16 Ollie Jackson (Speedworks Motorsport) +34.289
17 Daniel Welch (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +35.331
18 Dave Newsham (Speedworks Motorsport) +37.361
19 Lea Wood (Wheel Heaven/Houseman Racing) +40.771
20 David Nye (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +57.834
21 Robb Holland (RCIB Insurance Racing) +1:03.162
22 Andy Neate (Team Club 44) +1:14.195


Not Classified
- Warren Scott (Team BMR Restart) +1 Lap
- Will Bratt (Rob Austin Racing) +3 Laps
- Liam Griffin (Addison Lee Motorbase) +6 Laps
- James Kaye (AmDTuning.com) +8 Laps

Julie B
4th August 2013, 17:38
[B]Race 2 - Results [B]
Andrew Jordan won the second race of the day at Snetterton in Norfolk after one of the most action-packed Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races of the season so far.

Matt Neal drove a fantastic tactical race to finish second from ninth on the grid ahead of the ever-improving Airwaves Racing Ford Focus of Aron Smith, who took the first podium of the season for the Motorbase-run squad.

MG KX Momentum Racing’s Jason Plato looked to have the pace early on, taking the lead off the line and pulling over a second on the fast-starting eBay Motors BMW of Colin Turkington by over a second on the first lap alone. Plato’s team-mate and race one winner Sam Tordoff slotted into third, but looked to struggle slightly with maximum success ballast on board. As the race went on Tordoff yo-yoed up and down the order as cars around him were involved in bumper-to-bumper action, but on the penultimate lap he made a mistake at Montreal and spun off the track. He eventually crossed the line in 18th, making race three a tough prospect.

An incident between three of the Jack Sears Trophy contestants on the second lap that left Liam Griffin in the gravel at turn one brought out the safety car, and shortly after the race resumed Plato slowed and retired to the pits with an engine issue. The retirement threw the race for the lead wide open, as Colin Turkington failed to break away from the chasing pack.

A cut and thrust battle ensued behind Turkington between two Honda Civics, as Jordan made a bold lunge past the Honda Yuasa Racing driver Gordon Shedden into Montreal hairpin. Shedden got back by Jordan on the same lap, but amongst the side-by-side action he had contact with another car and dropped back a few places. Free from the attentions of Shedden, the Pirtek Racing Civic of Jordan then set off in hot pursuit of the leading pair. On lap seven Jordan made his move on Tordoff at Agostini, and using his Dunlop SportMaxx soft tyre to full effect quickly closed the gap on Turkington.

The #29 BMW 125i M Sport proved a tougher challenge for Jordan to pass, and it eventually took an unfortunate coming together going onto the back straight that forced Turkington wide for Jordan to take the lead. From then on Jordan wasn’t troubled by the cars behind and crossed the line almost three seconds clear of the pack. After the race he said, "It was a frenetic race. Colin was driving very very well, defensively but fair, and then he made a little mistake. I put my car up the inside - he closed me down a little bit and I couldn't go anywhere else. It was a great race and a good win, but typical of Matt Neal to come through to finish second, so I only got a few points back on him. The soft tyre ran really well during the recent test days so we thought we'd take the gamble to run them in the second race and it worked perfectly."

The second placed finisher remained uncertain until the final lap, as the two Airwaves Racing cars did their best to hold off the attentions of the Honda Yuasa Racing pair. Neal, who has so far struggled this weekend, looked more comfortable throughout the race and was able to make an impressive move past Mat Jackson at the end of the Bentley Straight.

This left Jackson vulnerable to attack from the opportunistic attentions of Shedden, who pounced at the Bomb Hole to take fourth, before further incident dropped the reigning champion to seventh over the line.

Aron Smith, also running on the soft tyre, put up a heroic defence of second place. On the final lap, however, he had to give best to a carefully orchestrated move from Matt Neal that began at Montreal and was completed on the entry to Palmer. Still delighted with the result, Smith said, "Airwaves Racing is back! The first podium is huge for us. I am delighted for the team as they’ve worked so hard – it has been an unbelievable effort from everyone. I just knew the car was quick after our recent testing so to be back fighting with the big boys feels great." It is by far the strongest result for both drivers in 2013 as Jackson crossed the line just behind Smith in fourth.

Lea Wood took his second Jack Sears Cup of the day to extend his lead in the standings to four. Despite the fact that his main rival Griffin was out of the running, Wood drove an impressive race to finish 13th overall.


2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Snetterton – Race 2

1 Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing) 14 Laps
2 Matt Neal (Honda Yuasa Racing) +2.770
3 Aron Smith (Airwaves Racing) +3.467
4 Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing) +4.158
5 Adam Morgan (Ciceley Racing) +6.822
6 Colin Turkington (eBay Motors) +7.207
7 Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa Racing) +8.543
8 Dave Newsham (Speedworks Motorsport) +10.630
9 Tom Onslow-Cole (PPCGB/Kraftwerk Racing) +16.003
10 Frank Wrathall (Dynojet) +16.599
11 Ollie Jackson (Speedworks Motorsport) +20.785
12 Nick Foster (eBay Motors) +23.135
13 Lea Wood (Wheel Heaven/Houseman Racing) +23.490
14 Rob Austin (WIX Racing) +24.502
15 Robb Holland (RCIB Insurance Racing) +30.664
16 Will Bratt (Rob Austin Racing) +47.779
17 Andy Neate (Team Club 44) +50.901
18 Sam Tordoff (MG KX Momentum Racing) +1:24.502
19 James Kaye (AmDTuning.com) +1:52.228

Not Classified
- Robert Collard (eBay Motors) +4 Laps
- Jeff Smith (Pirtek Racing) +7 Laps
- Daniel Welch (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +9 Laps
- Jason Plato (MG KX Momentum Racing) +10 Laps
- David Nye (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +11 Laps
- Liam Griffin (Addison Lee Motorbase) +13 Laps
- Jack Goff (RCIB Insurance Racing) DNS DNS

Julie B
4th August 2013, 17:38
Race 3 - Results
Gordon Shedden won the final frenetic Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race at Snetterton, which much like the second contest, was full of excitement and incident.

Airwaves Racing rounded off a sensational day with its drivers Mat Jackson and Aron Smith securing second and third respectively.

The eBay Motors BMW of Colin Turkington shot past Shedden and pole-sitter Dave Newsham off the line to lead the huge field into Riches for the first time, but the real drama came later on the opening lap.

After being quickly shuffled down the order, Newsham tipped Matt Neal’s Honda Civic into a spin at Williams and almost simultaneously behind them both the Audi of Will Bratt and MG of Jason Plato made similar contact. Plato’s car was unfortunately fired across the tarmac before hitting the barrier hard on the inside of the corner, which tipped his car into a dramatic barrel roll. The two-time BTCC champion walked away unharmed from the spectacular incident, but the safety car was deployed to remove his stricken vehicle.

The drama continued immediately after the restart when Bratt crashed into the barrier and out of the race at Riches, whilst the Toyota Avensis of Ollie Jackson endured its own wild spin and the Proton of Daniel Welch picked up a puncture.

The race settled down for a few laps but Shedden honed in on Turkington’s lead and they became the next duo to get caught up in incident. The Honda Yuasa Racing Civic moved up the inside of the BMW 125i M Sport at Agostini and an almost inevitable clash unfolded. Turkington was forced wide and Shedden nipped through to take the lead.

Shedden and Jackson cruised away from the battle for third, which built from a two-car tussle into a four-car fight by the finish. Incredibly Smith held on despite multiple attempts by Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan to get by. As the two fought hard over the same tarmac, Andrew Jordan and Sam Tordoff swarmed up behind them.

Tordoff took fifth from Jordan at Riches and his late attacks on Morgan allowed Smith some breathing space until the finish. Morgan held on to his well-earned fourth place, whilst the charging Tordoff took an mightily impressive fifth despite having started the race down in 18th. The recovering Turkington completed the top six ahead of the ballast laden Jordan.

Championship leader Matt Neal fought back to finish ninth after his earlier off, with late passes by the eBay Motors’ duo of Rob Collard and Nick Foster, who both rounded out the top ten order.

Lea Wood completed another routine victory in the Jack Sears Trophy and impressively scored overall championship points for the second time today.