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British Touring Car Championship
Oulton Park - Race 3 Report - 8/6/14

By MJP Media | 8 June 2014

Aron Smith takes victory for Chrome Edition Restart Racing in the final race of the day from Oulton Park.

Aron Smith celebrates his first win of the 2014 season

Following investigation into an incident in race two 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. In a strange quirk of fate, this demotion meant that Collard would start race three ahead of Austin by virtue of the reverse grid system which also put Aron Smith on pole alongside Tom Ingram. Mat Jackson and Gordon Shedden started on row two with Jason Plato and Rob Collard on row three.

As the lights went out to start the final BTCC race of the day on a wet but drying track, it wasn't long before the action started when Hunter Abbott collided first with Matt Neal followed by Jack Goff at the first corner. Abbott managed to recover, however for Goff and Neal, their race was over - Neal hitting the barrier with great force, sending the tyre wall and the rainwater within it flying. The safety car was deployed while marshals removed Neal's stricken car and repaired the barriers.

Matt Neal crashes out on the first corner

When racing resumed, Aron Smith held his position at the front of the pack, followed by the Airwaves Racing Ford Focus ST of Mat Jackson in 2nd, Rob Collard 3rd for eBay Motors, Gordon Shedden 4th for Honda Yuasa Racing and Jason Plato 5th for MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save ahead of Colin Turkington. A massive slide by Jackson at Cascades on lap 3 saw him drop many places, finishing the lap in 14th place. Gordon Shedden had also passed Rob Collard to take 2nd place.

As the race settled down, Mat Jackson set about the task of making up the places he lost in the opening laps, however this proved difficult and he managed to make up only 5 places to finish 9th. At the front of the field, Aron Smith was in control of the race in his Chrome Edition Restart Racing Volkswagen CC with Gordon Shedden in his Honda Yuasa Racing Civic Tourer unable to catch Smith who held on to the lead to take his 2nd career BTCC race win and his first of 2014. This also marks the first race win for the Chrome Edition Restart Racing team. Gordon Shedden maintained his position to finish in 2nd place to add to his championship points tally with Jason Plato 3rd and Colin Turkington 4th. Rob Austin and Sam Tordoff completed the top 6 places.

Gordon Shedden was the most successful Honda driver at Oulton Park

After the race had ended, Jason Plato was given a 1.5 second time penalty for an incident involving Colin Turkington, depriving Plato of his 3rd place and promoting Turkington to the position instead.

Aside from Gordon Shedden who had top 5 finishes in all three races, the Honda drivers really struggled around the Oulton Park International circuit in the variable conditions. Shedden's team-mate Matt Neal could manage only a 12th and a 13th place result in the two races he completed. Reigning Drivers' Champion Andrew Jordan also had a disappointing weekend, achieving only 15th, 10th and 8th in the three races.

As the championship table currently stands, Colin Turkington leaves Oulton Park in the lead of the Drivers' Championship on 183 points with Gordon Shedden 2nd on 174 following consistent performances all weekend. Former championship leader and defending BTCC champion Andrew Jordan is now down in 3rd place on 156 points after a disappointing weekend for the Pirtek Racing driver. Jason Plato is 4th with Rob Collard 5th and Matt Neal 6th as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship now heads for North Yorkshire and the Croft circuit on June 28th and 29th.

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