Tom Chilton has won the second race of the day at Silverstone, with Rob Collard second and Tom Onslow-Cole third. However the win was not without controversy as on lap 17 the lead changed hands from early leader Onslow-Cole to Chilton. In a similar manner to the first race of the day, which was initially put down to a gearbox issue for Onslow-Cole, Chilton then went on to take the victory for the team.
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The team orders situation at Team Aon is made all the more bizarre when one considers that Onslow-Cole was substantially ahead in the points going into this weekend. Indeed, had it not been for the position changes then Onslow-Cole would currently be second in the points. However given that Grahame Chilton is the vice president of Aon Group, the influence is perhaps a little more understandable.
Onslow-Cole was almost able to follow his team-mate accross the finish line, but for a late move by Rob Collard. Going into Brooklands the BMW driver made contact several times with the Ford in front and was able to muscle through into second place, relegating Onslow-Cole to third. Judging from Onslow-Cole’s post-race interview however he was not impressed with the move.
Jason Plato was fourth, not far behind the leading trio. However the former champion got off to a terrible start and was passed by both Andrew Jordan and Rob Collard before the first turn. Jordan would later drop out of contention after a puncture, but it meant Plato struggled to make up the lost ground.
Matt Neal came from eighth on the grid to finish in fifth after a race long battle with Paul O’Neill that was only resolved at the final corner. The duo swapped positions several times during the race and coming out of Luffield Neal tapped O’Neill’s Integra and was able to beat him to the finish, by a mere 0.070 seconds.
Gordon Shedden and Steven Kane were also involved in the same group and finished in seventh and eighth respectively.
Alex MacDowall lost out at the very start of the race – like team-mate Plato he got off to a terrible start, and also lost several positions further round the opening lap. By the end of lap one he was down into ninth, the position he would finish in come the end of the race after struggling to make progress.
Mat Jackson took the final point for tenth after an incident filled race. He was tapped into a spin at the opening corner of the race by a wayward Andy Neate – an incident that would cause terminal damage to the steering on Neate’s car. Jackson then set about recovering lost ground and, after an incident that saw John George get nudged out of the way, pushed through from 18th at the end of the first lap to take 10th.
James Nash and Tom Boardman once again finished in 11th and 12th positions as they struggled to move up the order in another BTCC race with a low attrition rate.
The race once again brought bad luck for David Pinkney who again retired early on, coasting into the pits with drivetrain problems.
Reigning BTCC champion Colin Turkington took part in the draw for the race three reverse grid – which means the top 6 will be reversed. This means that pole position for the race has gone to Paul O’Neill. The full top ten grid is: O’Neill, Neal, Plato, Onslow-Cole, Collard, Chilton, Shedden, Kane, MacDowall and Jackson.