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British Touring Car Championship
Rockingham - Race 1 Report - 23/9/12

By MJP Media | 23 September 2012

Jason Plato dominates the first race from Rockingham as Matt Neal struggles with a broken hand. Gordon Shedden narrows the gap at the top of the points table with a solid second place finish.

Jason Plato celebrates victory at Rockingham
Jason Plato celebrates victory at Rockingham

Following a stunning performance in yesterday's qualifying session when he set a new BTCC qualifying lap record in his MG KX Momentum Racing MG6, Jason Plato started the first race of the day at Rockingham from pole position. Gordon Shedden joined Plato on the front row of the grid in his Honda Yuasa Racing Team Honda Civic, having qualified in 2nd place. Defending BTCC champion and current championship leader Matt Neal qualified in 6th place whilst suffering from a broken hand he sustained in a motorbike accident a couple of weeks ago.

After a blistering start, Jason Plato soon established a commanding lead on the opening lap. On lap two he extended his lead and set what would become the fastest lap of the race with a lap time of 1:23.255. In a class of his own, Plato further extended his lead unchallenged to secure victory for MG KX Momentum Racing.

Gordon Shedden, Jason Plato and Andrew Jordan
Gordon Shedden, Jason Plato and Andrew Jordan

Behind Plato, a three-way battle developed between Gordon Shedden, Andrew Jordan and Mat Jackson. Jordan passed Shedden on the first lap and the three started to pull away from the rest of the field. The Honda Civics of Jordan and Shedden stayed ahead of the Redstone Racing NGTC Ford Focus of Mat Jackson throughout the race who crossed the finish line 13 seconds ahead of the eBay Motors BMW 320si or Rob Collard in 5th.

Elsewhere, Matt Neal finished 6th following a battle with Andy Neate who brought the 2nd MG6 home in 7th place. Tom Onslow-Cole, Rob Austin and Nick Foster completed the top 10 places. Howard Fuller was delighted to finish in the points for Team HARD. on his BTCC debut race.

Andrew Jordan, Gordon Shedden and Mat Jackson
Andrew Jordan, Gordon Shedden and Mat Jackson

With Gordon Shedden finishing in 2nd place, he has narrowed the championship points gap to team-mate Matt Neal to just 5 points with Jason Plato a further 18 points behind. Just 10 points behind Plato, Andrew Jordan is still in contention.

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