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British Touring Car Championship
Knockhill - Race 1 Report - 23/8/15

By MJP Media | 23 August 2015

Rob Collard takes his 3rd win in the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship after a thrilling first race at Knockhill. Mat Jackson gets Motorbase Performance their first podium of the year.

Rob Collard celebrates his 3rd win of the year

Following a thrilling qualifying session, Andy Priaulx took pole position for the first race of the day from a bright and sunny Knockhill circuit. The Team IHG Rewards Club driver lined up alongside his West Surrey Racing team-mate Sam Tordoff for JCT600 Racing with GardX, making it a front row lock-out for the BMW 125i M Sports. Mat Jackson qualified 3rd and started on the 2nd row of the grid in his Motorbase Performance Ford Focus alongside Rob Collard in the 3rd BMW. The Team BMR RCIB Insurance drivers struggled around the short and twisty circuit with Colin Turkington qualifying 9th and championship leader Jason Plato qualifying down in 22nd.

With Exocet AlcoSense racer Hunter Abbott on a plane to London to attend the birth of his first child, the lights went out to start the race. Mat Jackson got an excellent start from 3rd on the grid and was leading by the end of the first lap ahead of Andy Priaulx. Rob Collard had also made up a place to run 3rd ahead of team-mate Sam Tordoff in 4th and local hero Gordon Shedden 5th in the Honda Yuasa Racing Civic Type R.

Rob Collard, Mat Jackson and Andy Priaulx

With Mat Jackson extending his lead, Gordon Shedden passed Sam Tordoff for 4th place on lap 3 as Tordoff slipped down to 7th. After a brief period under safety car conditions racing continued with Jackson in the lead from Andy Priaulx and Rob Collard. Jason Plato was still well off the pace and circulating last in his Volkswagen CC. Fellow Team BMR driver and defending BTCC champion Colin Turkington was also struggling in 10th place, with team-mate Aron Smith re-joining the fray three laps down on lap 14 following the repair of accident damage.

At the front, a battle for the lead was developing with Andy Priaulx and Rob Collard closing in on leader Mat Jackson. Collard passed Priaulx for 2nd place on lap 19 then set about hunting down Jackson. Collard's efforts were rewarded on lap 21 when he overtook the Motorbase Performance driver to take the lead for JCT600 Racing with GardX.

Rob Collard on the podium with Mat Jackson

At the chequered flag it was a well-deserved victory for Rob Collard with Mat Jackson 2nd. Pole-sitter Andy Priaulx came home in 3rd place with team-mate Sam Tordoff 4th - a good result for West Surrey Racing who prepare the BMWs. Honda Yuasa Racing duo Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal crossed the line 5th and 6th with Rob Austin, Andrew Jordan, Adam Morgan and Colin Turkington completing the top ten finishers.

With the grid for the 2nd race of the day being determined by the fastest lap times from race one, Mat Jackson will start in pole position alongside Gordon Shedden. Rob Austin will start on row two with Rob Collard while Andrew Jordan and Sam Tordoff will start on row 3. With Tom Ingram and Jack Goff starting at the back of the grid, Colin Turkington will start on row 4 alongside Jason Plato with Andy Priaulx and Matt Neal on row 5.

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