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British Touring Car Championship
Oulton Park - Race 2 Report - 8/6/14

By MJP Media | 8 June 2014

Colin Turkington takes the lead in the Drivers' Championship after another flawless race at Cheshire's Oulton Park circuit.

Colin Turkington and Rob Collard take their 2nd 1-2 victory of the day

Following a fantastic 1-2 victory in race 1, eBay Motors team-mates Colin Turkington and Rob Collard lined up their BMW 125i M Sports on the front of the grid for the second BTCC race from the picturesque Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire. Jason Plato and Gordon Shedden started on row 2 with Rob Austin and Sam Tordoff on row 3. Following an official complaint after race 1 by Chrome Edition Restart Racing's Alain Menu, Matt Neal was handed a 1 second penalty which dropped Neal one place in the final results.

In a repeat of the first race, Colin Turkington and Rob Collard led the race from start to finish. Behind the pair, an intense battle soon developed between Jason Plato and Rob Austin. From 5th on the grid, Exocet Racing's Austin passed both Gordon Shedden and Jason Plato to be running in 3rd place at the end of the first lap. Plato was having none of this and re-took 3rd place from Austin on lap 2 only for Austin to reclaim the position on the following lap.

Colin Turkington on the podium with Rob Collard and Rob Austin

The race continued with the leaders holding their positions. The safety car was deployed on lap 7 when Dave Newsham crashed his AmD Tuning.com Ford Focus ST into the barrier at Dentons following contact with Jack Goff's RCIB Insurance Racing Vauxhall Insignia.

Racing resumed with 5 laps remaining and the eBay Motors duo re-established their lead to finish 1st and 2nd, over 3 seconds ahead of Rob Austin in 3rd place. Austin had been under pressure from Jason Plato in the closing laps, but held on to take his first podium position of the 2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car season. Jason Plato crossed the finish line in 4th place ahead of Gordon Shedden in 5th with Mat Jackson completing the top 6, over 2.5 seconds behind Shedden.

Rob Austin being challenged by Jason Plato for 3rd place

Following investigation into an incident between Rob Collard and Rob Austin, Collard was given a penalty of 3.5 seconds for overtaking Austin under safety car conditions, demoting him from 2nd to 3rd and promoting Austin up to 2nd place.

Colin Turkington's two race wins so far today mean that he has taken the lead in the Drivers' Championship going into the final race of the day. The reverse grid draw gives pole position for race 3 to Aron Smith in the Chrome Edition Restart Racing Volkswagen CC who will line up alongside Tom Ingram in the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis. Row 2 will be taken by Mat Jackson and Gordon Shedden with Jason Plato and Rob Collard on row 3.

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