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British Touring Car Championship
Croft - Race 1 Report - 24/6/12

By MJP Media | 24 June 2012

Matt Neal wins the first race from Croft Circuit as Jason Plato's car suffers yet another pre-race failure. Rob Collard finished 2nd with Gordon Shedden 3rd.

Matt Neal takes victory in the first race at Croft Circuit
Matt Neal takes victory in the first race at Croft Circuit

In a repeat of the pre-race drama at Oulton Park, Jason Plato failed to make the start of the first race from Croft Circuit as his MG KX Momentum Racing MG6 once again suffered technical problems on the way to the grid. At Oulton Park it was a suspension failure but this time it was a problem with the throttle control which had started during the qualifying session yesterday.

The race started with the Honda Yuasa Racing Team Civic of Matt Neal in pole position alongside the Pirtek Racing Honda Civic of Andrew Jordan. With Gordon Shedden's Honda Yuasa Civic starting 3rd, it was a dominant display from the Honda Civic drivers.

Matt Neal on the podium with Gordon Shedden (left) and Rob Collard (right)
Matt Neal on the podium with Gordon Shedden (left) and Rob Collard (right)

Off the line, Gordon Shedden and Andrew Jordan both got good starts and passed Matt Neal who had problems with the clutch on his car which caused him to get a poor start. Rob Collard also got a good start in his eBay Motors BMW 320si and moved up to 4th as an incident involving Daniel Welch's Proton Persona, Nick Foster's eBay Motors BMW 320si and Dave Newsham's Team ES Racing.com's Vauxhall Vectra brought out the safety car. A spin on the first lap caused Frank Wrathall to drop from 4th on the grid to 15th.

On lap 6, Matt Neal passed Andrew Jordan to take 2nd place and as Jordan went wide, Rob Collard slipped past to take 3rd. Neal soon started putting pressure on Shedden who was running 9Kg heavier than his team-mate due to the success ballast he was carrying. Collard was also putting pressure on Neal and an exciting battle ensued for the top 3 places. Matt Neal finally passed Gordon Shedden on lap 12 at which point Rob Collard saw his opportunity and passed the recovering Shedden to take 2nd place.

Jeff Smith crashes out of the race
Jeff Smith crashes out of the race

At the chequered flag it was victory for Matt Neal ahead of Rob Collard in 2nd and Gordon Shedden in 3rd. Andrew Jordan held on to finish 4th with Rob Austin a well deserved 5th in his Audi A4. Andy Neate completed the 6 places in his MG KX Momentum Racing MG6.

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