BTCC Knockhill 2013

[Julie B]

Whooohooo Knockhill tomorrow

[Julie B]

Qualifying
Rob Austin concluded a phenomenal day for WIX Racing by claiming a maiden BTCC pole position in one of the most competitive qualifying sessions of all time. It is also the first time an Audi has qualified on pole in the BTCC since Frank Biela at Knockhill back in 1997.

An incredible 19 cars were separated by just 0.833s at the end of the session and it was Austin who topped the lot with a new lap record of 52.471s, which was enough to pip the eBay Motors BMW of Colin Turkington.

Andrew Jordan took third, but will face a six-place grid penalty in race one tomorrow after accumulating three reprimands so far this season.

Reigning champion Gordon Shedden had to settle for fourth in front of his home fans but will be happy to see the majority of his title rivals situated behind him. Two of those drivers – Jason Plato and Matt Neal – followed Shedden in the time sheets in their MG and Honda respectively.

Adam Morgan won the battle of the Toyotas to take seventh in his Ciceley Racing machine, ahead of the Dynojet Avensis of Frank Wrathall. MG KX Momentum Racing’s Sam Tordoff had to settle for ninth.

Daniel Welch continued his good run of qualifying form by hauling his Proton into the top ten for the second time in a row, edging out the Airwaves Racing Ford Focus of Aron Smith and eBay Motors BMW of Rob Collard.

Such was the competitiveness of the session that the top 15 drivers set a time under the existing qualifying lap record of Tom Chilton from 2011.

Motorbase enjoyed an impressive run in the S2000 class as Liam Griffin out-qualified Jack Sears Cup leader Lea Wood.

An accident involving the VW Passat of Warren Scott brought out the red flag after ten minutes, whilst Will Bratt’s Audi A4 was forced to end the session early after failing a ride height infringement, meaning he will start tomorrow’s opening contest at the opposite end of the grid to team-mate Austin.

There was also drama in the RCIB Insurance Racing pit when both of its new drivers clashed at the final hairpin. Two-time race winner Paul O'Neill seemed to be on a flying lap when he approached the slowing car of team-mate Kieran Gallagher and the Vauxhall Insignias made contact. O'Neill limped back to the pits whilst Gallagher continued, although the Knockhill specialist could only manage 24th on the grid.

Rob Austin said: “I am extremely happy – I need a beer! I knew the car was good at Snetterton but admittedly I didn’t a great job there personally. I knew we had a chance but it’s hard to say I expected pole. I am pretty confident going into tomorrow. Colin’s had a couple of wins already this year so it’s my turn and I’m hopefully going to take it!”

Colin Turkington said: “I am really pleased. I had a feeling that kind of performance was in the car but that was the maximum I could do. I tried but I just couldn’t get the extra time out of it. It’s going to be three long races so I am pleased to be at the sharp end.”

Andrew Jordan said: “We said that if we could start in the top ten with the penalty then we’d be happy so we have to be pleased with that. Of course you always feel like there was a little bit of time left out there but that’s the nature of this place and it’s the same for everybody. It’s so hard to hook up the perfect lap at Knockhill but at least we’re well placed for tomorrow.”

2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Knockhill – Qualifying

1 Rob Austin (WIX Racing) 52.471
2 Colin Turkington (eBay Motors) +0.047
3 Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing) +0.092
4 Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa Racing) +0.110
5 Jason Plato (MG KX Momentum Racing) +0.179
6 Matt Neal (Honda Yuasa Racing) +0.181
7 Adam Morgan (Ciceley Racing) +0.204
8 Frank Wrathall (Dynojet) +0.376
9 Sam Tordoff (MG KX Momentum Racing) +0.382
10 Daniel Welch (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +0.414
11 Aron Smith (Airwaves Racing) +0.452
12 Robert Collard (eBay Motors) +0.463
13 Tom Onslow-Cole (PPCGB/Kraftwerk Racing) +0.478
14 Dave Newsham (Speedworks Motorsport) +0.487
15 Nick Foster (eBay Motors) +0.490
16 Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing) +0.560
17 Mike Bushell (Team Club 44) +0.708
18 Paul O'Neill (RCIB Insurance Racing) +0.791
19 Ollie Jackson (Speedworks Motorsport) +0.833
20 Warren Scott (Team BMR Restart) +1.297
21 Liam Griffin (Addison Lee Motorbase) +1.578
22 Lea Wood (Wheel Heaven / Houseman Racing) +1.663
23 David Nye (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +1.687
24 Kieran Gallagher (RCIB Insurance Racing) +2.305
25 Will Bratt (Rob Austin Racing) No time set No time set

[Rob]

Whooohooo Knockhill tomorrow

You off there tomorrow?

Really happy for Rob Austin, what a performance to get pole.

[Julie B]

Yes we're going tomorrow

[Rob]

Hope you all have cracking day, and weather stays good'ish and doesnt rain.

[Rob]

Turk's Delight
eBay Motors’ Colin Turkington made his way by pole-sitter Rob Austin in the early running before streaking away to claim his fourth BTCC win of the 2013 season and first ever at Knockhill.

Austin was also was passed by Honda Yuasa Racing's Gordon Shedden, but he held on to take a podium despite late pressure from the Toyota Avensis of Adam Morgan.

The Audi A4 of Austin - running on the Dunlop Sport Maxx soft tyre - made a storming getaway from pole and was followed into turn one by the BMW of Turkington and Honda of Shedden.

The lead trio sensationally went side-by-side into the hairpin on lap two and it was Turkington who emerged from the corner leading, whilst Austin fended off Shedden. Former BTCC champ Turkington quickly put a gap between him and the tussling Austin and Shedden, before the reigning champion eventually made it by the Audi at Clark on lap four.

Meanwhile old adversaries Jason Plato and Matt Neal were having a ding-dong battle for fourth. The two made contact as Neal tried to pass on the third tour, with Plato doing well to save his MG6 and maintain position.

The Honda of Andrew Jordan and BMW of Rob Collard muscled their way by the MG of Sam Tordoff on lap six before setting up their own scrap for a number of laps. Ahead of them it was Morgan who was quietly going about his business in sixth – reeling in Neal and Plato in the process.

Morgan got a run through Hislop’s and made his move stick by Neal at the Taylor’s Hairpin. Drama followed at the same corner further down the order when eBay Motors’ Nick Foster touched the Vauxhall Insignia of Paul O’Neill. Both cars locked together on exit of the corner before O’Neill’s Insignia was fired across the track and into the barrier.

The safety car was called to retrieve the stricken car and clear debris from the circuit, whilst Dan Welch accidently made contact with the Ford Focus of Aron Smith during the period. Those two continued their battle after the restart with the Proton eventually getting by Smith and then Tordoff further ahead. Staring at another encouraging top ten finish, the Proton of Welch unfortunately grounded to a halt late on with a flat battery.

Collard and Jordan produced some great racing – going side-by-side on a number of occasions before the eBay Motors’ BMW made the pass by the ballast laden Civic. Seventh became sixth for Collard when he made a routine manoeuvre by standings leader Neal, who also seemed to be struggling for pace with maximum ballast on board. The championship’s top two drivers – Neal and Jordan – did, however, settle for solid points finishes in seventh and eighth respectively.

The final podium positions produced the most entertainment in the closing stages as Austin dragged his machine back towards the Honda of Shedden, bringing Morgan with him, who had earlier nudged his way by Plato.

Austin made a series of attempts to reclaim second but when he realised that third was in doubt with the Ciceley Avensis looming in his mirrors he was forced to settle for third – securing his second podium of the season.

There was no doubting the winner, however, as Turkington completed the task with more than three seconds to spare. The Northern Irishman has now closed to within one race win of the championship summit, with Shedden also having closed the gap on Neal and Jordan respectively.

"It's great to win a race again," beamed Colin. "We came close to two at Snetterton but in all honesty we didn't have a great car there, but we're bang on the pace here today. We knew starting on the front row we'd have a good shot to get past Rob Austin early on – I'd hoped to out drag him off the line but he was on the soft tyre and got a great start. I hadn't really planned on passing him at the hairpin but he seemed to brake a little early so I made a do or die move and from then on it was plain sailing."

Shedden was relieved to hold on to second at the finish, setting him up nicely for another crack at victory later this afternoon: "I thought I was going to be alright, but Rob had some serious pace in the last four laps and I had to try everything to keep him behind. It was nice to finish on the podium – the little car is going well and we'll be trying to improve it again for race two."

Race two of three takes place at 14:17 with all the action being shown live on ITV4.

2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Knockhill – Race one

1 Colin Turkington (eBay Motors) 27 Laps
2 Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa Racing) +3.452
3 Rob Austin (WIX Racing) +4.229
4 Adam Morgan (Ciceley Racing) +4.864
5 Jason Plato (MG KX Momentum Racing) +4.867
6 Robert Collard (eBay Motors) +7.939
7 Matt Neal (Honda Yuasa Racing) +11.386
8 Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing) +11.510
9 Sam Tordoff (MG KX Momentum Racing) +15.183
10 Aron Smith (Airwaves Racing) +17.975
11 Dave Newsham (Speedworks Motorsport) +18.300
12 Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing) +20.125
13 Tom Onslow-Cole (PPCGB/Kraftwerk Racing) +20.631
14 Frank Wrathall (Dynojet) +23.044
15 Ollie Jackson (Speedworks Motorsport) +24.715
16 Nick Foster (eBay Motors) +25.233
17 Liam Griffin (Addison Lee Motorbase) +36.607
18 Mike Bushell (Team Club 44) +36.846
19 Lea Wood (Wheel Heaven/Houseman Racing) +37.428
20 Will Bratt (Rob Austing Racing) +1 Lap
21 Aiden Moffat (Finesse Motorsport) +1 Lap
22 Kieran Gallagher (RCIB Insurance Racing) +2 Laps


Not Classified
- David Nye (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +1 Lap
- Daniel Welch (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) 25 +2 Laps
- Paul O'Neill (RCIB Insurance Racing) 7 +20 Laps

[Rob]

Two out of two for Turkington
Colin Turkington took a commanding victory from pole position in the second race of the day at Knockhill. He made a quick getaway from the line in the eBay Motors BMW and never looked back, pulling out three seconds on the chasing pack after three laps.

Podium man from race one Rob Austin also got away well in his rear-wheel-drive Audi, who moved ahead of Gordon Shedden before the cars reached turn one. The top three then remained in station all the way to the chequered flag ahead of an impressive Rob Collard and Matt Neal.

More to follow…