Following the race, Dave Newsham was excluded from the results after his Vectra was found to have run underweight. RACE TWO Jason Plato started from pole position as a result of his earlier victory, with Wrathall second, making it a reversal of the race
one front row. Just like in the first race, Wrathall didn’t get away from the line well and it was Plato who took the early lead. Andrew Jordan took up second position, ahead of Matt Neal. The pair of Hondas soon had Plato under pressure at the front, but not before they had switched positions and Neal was into second. It quickly became a repeat of a battle we have seen many times before – Neal vs Plato. And predictably, it ended in the same way that it has on so many occasions – with contact. It was the penultimate lap when Neal made his
move. He had been closing on race leader Plato for several laps and was in danger of being caught by Jordan behind him. That was enough encouragement for Neal to go for broke. Plato ran a little wide at Hamilton, which handed the momentum to Neal. The Honda driver closed right up and eventually tapped the back of the MG. Plato caught his slide in spectacular style, but Neal was through. At the next corner, the roles were reversed and Plato hit the back of Neal.
1 Jason Plato (NGTC) 33:10.134; 2 Frank Wrathall (NGTC) + 1.834; 3 Andrew Jordan (NGTC) +6.764; 4 Matt Neal (NGTC) + 13.072; 5 Daniel Welch (NGTC) +17.363; 6 Tom OnslowCole (S2000) +17.873; 7 Gordon Shedden (NGTC) + 18.288; 8 Mat Jackson (NGTC) +19.298; 9 Lea Wood (S2000) +19.715; 10 Jeff Smith (NGTC) +21.271. Independent winner: Frank Wrathall. Fastest lap: Jason Plato (1:58.682). RACE TWO TOP TEN: 1 Andrew Jordan (NGTC) 24:08.819; 2 Gordon Shedden (NGTC) +0.561; 3 Jason Plato (NGTC) +1.751; 4 Matt Neal (NGTC) +2.123; 5 Frank Wrathall (NGTC) +4.807; 6 Mat Jackson (NGTC) +7.583; 7
Cole the first S2000 finisher in seventh. Dave Newsham, Lea Wood and Aron Smith completed the top ten.
Plato and Neal finished third and fourth respectively. Frank Wrathall and Mat Jackson made it an all-NGTC top six, with Tom Onslow-
FIA WTCC star Rob Huff was on hand at Snetterton to draw the reverse grid – and selected the number nine, handing pole position to Lea Wood.
RACE THREE
Both cars went off, handing the lead to Andrew Jordan with one lap to go. The Pirtek Racing driver didn’t need
RACE RESULTS - TOP 10s RACE ONE TOP TEN:
asking twice – that was his first victory of the season. Gordon Shedden also benefitted from the Neal/Plato battle, crossing the line in second place.
Tom Onslow-Cole (S2000) +8.014; 8 Dave Newsham (S2000) +8.500; 9 Lea Wood (S2000) +14.196; 10 Aron Smith (S2000) +14.787. Independent winner: Andrew Jordan. Fastest lap: Gordon Shedden (1:58.460) RACE THREE TOP TEN: 1 Dave Newsham (S2000) 24:12.464; 2 Tom OnslowCole (S2000) +0.991; 3 Jason Plato (NGTC) +3.066; 4 Mat Jackson (NGTC) +5.130; 5 Andrew Jordan (NGTC) +5.444; 6 Aron Smith (S2000) +6.898; 7 Frank Wrathall (NGTC) +9.676; 8 Matt Neal (NGTC) +18.863; 9 Rob Collard (S2000) +19.074; 10 Adam Morgan (NGTC) +23.968. Independent winner: Dave Newsham. Fastest lap: Dave Newsham (1:59.283).
Still/PSP
Plato took victory, ahead of Wrathall, Jordan and Newsham. Matt Neal finished fifth, with Dan Welch sixth and Tom Onslow-Cole in seventh. Shedden claimed eighth – just ahead of Mat Jackson in an impressive debut outing for the Redstone Racing NGTC Ford Focus. Lea Wood finished tenth for BINZ Racing.
QUALIFYING REPORT Qualifying at Snetterton brought a first BTCC pole position for Frank Wrathall. The Dynojet racer set a best time of 1:57.595 to head finish at the top of the times in qualifying for the first time. It’s the first BTCC pole position for Toyota for almost 20 years – the last was Julian Bailey at Knockhill in 1993. Wrathall said, “I was pretty confident coming into the meeting but things didn’t go right for us in practice. This is our biggest achievement so far. I just hope we can follow it up with some good performances tomorrow. So far, it’s a case of job well done.”
MG’s Jason Plato claimed second, having been the main challenger for pole position during the 30minute session. Third place in qualifying went to Dave Newsham – also the first S2000 car on the grid. Gordon Shedden failed to set a competitive time. The Team Dynamics mechanics successfully got the Civic out on track, having completed repairs to the fire damage from free practice, however Shedden stuttered to a halt out on track. In his brand new NGTC Ford Focus, Redstone Racing’s Mat Jackson set the 16th fastest time in the session.
Good weekend: Mat Jackson Performed well on NGTC debut. Looked strong in race three, but missed out on podium.
Inside BTCC 10
Dave Newsham Second in race one prior to disqualification and then victory in race three..
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