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British Touring Car Championship
Brands Hatch - Race 2 Report - 1/4/12

By MJP Media | 1 April 2012

Matt Neal takes victory in the 2nd race as Jason Plato gets his first podium finish for MG KX Momentum Racing.

Jason Plato briefly leads from Matt Neal
Jason Plato briefly leads from Matt Neal

From pole position, Rob Collard got good start to the 2nd race of the day but was later passed by Matt Neal and Jason Plato, dropping him to 3rd as his team-mate Tom Onslow-Cole slipped down to 4th from 3rd on the grid.

Whilst Collard and Onslow-Cole slipped further down the field, their eBay Motors team-mate Nick Foster was having his own problems, spinning off and rolling his BMW 320si onto its roof on lap 7 causing the Safety Car to be deployed whilst marshals recovered his stricken car.

Nick Foster rolls his eBay Motors BMW 320si
Nick Foster rolls his eBay Motors BMW 320si

When racing resumed, Matt Neal's Honda Civic came under intense pressure from the MG6 of Jason Plato who took the lead on lap 17. His success didn't last for long as Neal regained the lead on lap 19. Behind the battle at the front, Andrew Jordan had made his way up to 3rd in the Pirtek Racing Honda Civic and was starting to challenge Plato for 2nd, eventually passing the former BTCC champion on lap 24. Behind the leader, Rob Austin was challenging Mat Jackson in an exciting battle for 4th.

The race ended in victory for Matt Neal ahead of Andrew Jordan in 2nd and Jason Plato 3rd. Mat Jackson finished 4th with Rob Austin 5th and Rob Collard 6th.

Mat Jackson under pressure from Rob Austin
Mat Jackson under pressure from Rob Austin

The top 8 places from race 2 will now be reversed to form the grid for the final race of the day, putting the AmD Tuning.com Volkswagen Golf of Ollie Jackson on pole position alongside the Pirtek Racing Honda Civic of Jeff Smith. Rob Collard will start on row 2 alongside the Audi A4 of Rob Austin with Mat Jackson and Jason Plato on row 3 and Andrew Jordan and Matt Neal on row 4.

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