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British Touring Car Championship
Oulton Park - Race 1 Report - 9/6/13

By MJP Media | 9 June 2013

Jason Plato and Sam Tordoff consolidate their qualifying performance with a 1-2 finish for MG KX Momentum Racing in the first race at Oulton Park.

Jason Plato and Sam Tordoff celebrate a 1-2 victory with Gordon Shedden 3rd

Following a short break, the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship roared into action today at Oulton Park for the first of three races from the fabulous Cheshire circuit.

Yesterday's qualifying session saw Jason Plato secure pole position in his MG KX Momentum Racing MG6 with team-mate Sam Tordoff an impressive 2nd, giving MG a front row lock-out for the start of race 1. Having qualified half a second slower than Plato, Honda Yuasa Racing's Gordon Shedden started on the second row of the grid alongside Dave Newsham in the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis, the highest qualifying non-'works' driver. Pirtek Racing's Andrew Jordan and Dynojet's Frank Wrathall started on row 3.

Andrew Jordan's Honda Civic - oil leak or exhaust wrapping?

At the start, the MGs got away well but Gordon Shedden was soon attacking Sam Tordoff for 2nd place, briefly drawing level but unable to pass before the MGs extended a slight lead over his Honda Civic. Behind the leaders the battle for 4th place was intense with Dave Newsham being chased by Andrew Jordan who in turn was being caught by Colin Turkington in the eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sport. Meanwhile, Frank Wrathall has slowed right down and pitted, effectively putting him out of contention.

On lap 7, Andrew Jordan passed Dave Newsham however there was now smoke coming from the rear of Jordan's Honda Civic. Colin Turkington tapped the rear of Newsham's Toyota Avensis causing it to slide wide but Newsham held his position only to loose it to Turkington on lap 8. The smoke from Jordan's Civic was getting worse and it was thought to be because of an oil leak however the team determined that it was due to wrapping on the exhaust system and he was not black-flagged.

Jason Plato leads Sam Tordoff to a MG KX Momentum Racing 1-2 in the first race

At the front it was still Jason Plato and Sam Tordoff with reigning BTCC champion Gordon Shedden 3rd, his Honda Civic seemingly unable to match the straight line speed of the MGs. From his promising 4th place start, Dave Newsham lost more places as the race progressed when he was passed by Matt Neal then Mat Jackson, dropping him to 8th place.

At the chequered flag it was a 1-2 victory for MG KX Momentum Racing team-mates Jason Plato and Sam Tordoff. Gordon Shedden finished 3rd with Andrew Jordan 4th, Colin Turkington 5th and Matt Neal 6th. Lea Wood won the Jack Sears Cup for S2000 specification cars following a penalty awarded to Liam Griffin. Plato's victory brings him to within 3 points of championship leader Matt Neal as we look forward to the second race of the day.

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