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British Touring Car Championship
Brands Hatch - Race 1 Report - 21/10/12

By MJP Media | 21 October 2012

Matt Neal revives his championship title hopes with a dominant win in the first race of day from Brands Hatch. Gordon Shedden extends his championship lead as Plato struggles in the wet conditions.

Tom Onslow-Cole, Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan celebrate on the podium
Tom Onslow-Cole, Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan celebrate on the podium

After 27 races at 9 circuits around Britain, the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship reaches a thrilling climax today when the 2012 title is decided by the final 3 races of the season at Brands Hatch in Kent.

Tom Onslow-Cole secured pole position for the first race of the day with his eBay Motors BMW 320si and was joined on the front row of the grid by BTCC title contender Andrew Jordan in the Pirtek Racing Honda Civic. Fellow title contenders Matt Neal, Jason Plato and Gordon Shedden started 3rd, 5th and 7th respectively.

Matt Neal being chased by Andrew Jordan
Matt Neal being chased by Andrew Jordan

Tom Onslow-Cole got a good start to the race and held onto the lead for 2 laps. Matt Neal also started well and passed Andrew Jordan for second place by the end of the first lap before setting about the task of passing Onslow-Cole which he succeeded in doing on lap 3.

Behind the leaders, Plato was having a difficult time in the MG KX Momentum Racing MG6 loosing 5th place to fellow title rival Gordon Shedden on lap 2 and losing a further 2 places on lap 3 when he was overtaken by Dave Newsham in the Team ES Racing.com Vauxhall Vectra and Aron Smith in the Redstone Racing Ford Focus. This dropped Plato to 8th where he remained to the end of the race, losing valuable championship points to his rivals.

Tom Onslow-Cole leads the pack around the Brands Hatch GP circuit
Tom Onslow-Cole leads the pack around the Brands Hatch GP circuit

Matt Neal led from lap 3 to the chequered flag, with his Honda Yuasa Racing team-mate Gordon Shedden finishing 5th. Andrew Jordan held on to finish in 2nd place giving Honda a 1-2 result. Tom Onslow-Cole finished a well-deserved 3rd with Aron Smith 4th.

With just 2 more races left in the 2012 season, Gordon Shedden has extended his lead in the championship and now holds an 18 point advantage over Jason Plato. Importantly, by virtue of his win and setting the fastest lap of the race, Matt Neal is now only 2 points behind Plato, raising the prospect of the Honda Yuasa drivers repeating last year's 1-2 championship result.

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