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British Touring Car Championship
Donington Park - Race 3 Report - 19/4/15

By MJP Media | 19 April 2015

Race 3 at Donington Park sees drama with a damp start as Matt Neal takes a fantastic win to end the day and now leads the Drivers' Championship standings.

Race 3 podium - Gordon Shedden (3rd), Matt Neal (1st) and Andrew Jordan (2nd)

Following the reverse grid draw Josh Cook's Power Maxed Racing Chevrolet Cruze was in pole position ahead of Rob Collard in the JCT600 Racing with GardX BMW 125i M Sport, Jason Plato in the Team BMR Volkswagen CC, Andrew Jordan's MG 888 Racing MG 6GT and Adam Morgan in his WIX Racing Mercedes A-Class. There was uncertainty on the grid as there was rain in the air and the track was getting damp with real rain forecast towards the end of the race. With Cook on the standard tyre and both Collard and Plato on softs it was possible that Cook could be slower early on then come back strongly as the soft tyres go off after about lap 9.

The lights went out and Rob Collard got a blistering start to get into the first corner ahead of Josh Cook, Jason Plato and Andrew Jordan. Collard and Cook were able to open a small gap on the first lap so the fight was between Plato, Jordan and Adam Morgan for 3rd. On lap 3, Matt Neal was able to get past Morgan and Cook retook the lead at the end of the lap!

Andrew Jordan on the way to his first BTCC podium of 2015

Andy Priaulx's poor weekend continued as he was forced into the pits on lap 3 with exhaust damage whilst out on the circuit. Meanwhile Aron Smith was on a charge. Starting from 12th on the grid, he was up to 5th on lap 5 while Turkington was also on a mission. Lap 6 saw Matt Neal tag Andrew Jordan and then Sam Tordoff and Jack Goff collided, going off into the barriers at the chicane. Whilst this was going on, race leaders Josh Cook and Rob Collard had their 4 second advantage ruined when the safety car was deployed on lap 8 to recover the two beached cars.

The restart ought to be perfect for Aron Smith who, having fought his way up to 3rd was now right behind Josh Cook and Rob Collard but carrying no success ballast. They restarted after 4 laps of the safety car and Cook got a great start. Smith immediately got past Collard and set off after Cook. Collard was now 3rd with Matt Neal 4th and Jason Plato 5th. Again, the top two started to build a small gap with 7 laps to go however it was short lived as the fight for the lead continued. On lap 14 Smith had a bit of brain fade and took Cook off when there was clearly no need and when they re-joined it was with Collard in front, Neal 2nd, Jordan 3rd with Gordon Shedden 4th and Cook 5th and Smith 6th. This was turning out to be the most exciting race of the year so far and the crowd were going wild.

Josh Cook defending the lead in the early stages of the race

Lap 17 saw four cars into the Craner Curves vying for the lead and after some bumping and boring it was now Matt Neal from Andrew Jordan in 2nd with Gordon Shedden 3rd and Rob Collard 4th. At the flag it was Matt Neal who took the race win from 6th on the grid with Andrew Jordan 2nd and Gordon Shedden 3rd. There is little doubt that the stewards will want to look at Aron Smiths driving standards as his move on Josh Cook did not appear necessary and did not involve the racing line.

As the drivers and teams leave Donington Park it is Matt Neal who leads the Drivers' Championship with 75 points, 2 points ahead of Colin Turkington on 73. Gordon Shedden is third on 68 points with Andrew Jordan 4th on 63 and Jason Plato 5th on 58. Next up is the super-fast Thruxton circuit in Hampshire on the 9th/10th May and we will bring you all the news between now and then.

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