Dave Newsham won the third British Touring Car Championship race at Knockhill, taking his second victory in two successive meetings after leading the race from start to finish.
Click here for the full Round 21 results.
Scot Newsham, who started from pole position after being selected in the random draw, led the race from start to finish and was never under any significant pressure, despite losing ground in the closing laps of the race as his tyres wore.
Pirtek’s Jeff Smith took his first ever podium finish in the BTCC in second, withstanding pressure from Honda’s Matt Neal, who finished in third despite pressuring Smith hard in the closing stages of the race.
However there were major troubles for Neal’s two main championship rivals – Jason Plato failed to even start the race after turbo boost problems sidelined his MG6, whilst Gordon Shedden was forced to retire after blocking his radiator with grass during an off-track excursion in avoidance of an incident ahead.
Smith’s Pirtek team-mate Andrew Jordan finished in fourth but was unable to challenge the duo in front, in exactly the same specification Honda Civic’s. Jordan’s best chance at a podium came on the final lap when Neal slowed himself trying to pass Smith, although the positions remained unchanged.
Tom Onslow-Cole worked his way up from ninth on the grid to finish fifth overall, on the WSR team’s most successful weekend ever in the BTCC, with the team having had all three of its cars inside the top ten in all three races for the first time.
Paul O’Neill’s strong return to the BTCC continued as he took his Speedworks Toyota to sixth and his third top ten finish of the day. Nick Foster was just two tenths behind O’Neill at the flag, despite trying hard to find a way past in the closing stages of the race.
Redstone Racing (Motorbase)’s Árón Smith had his strongest weekend in the BTCC to-date with another top ten finish in eighth, despite a dramatic moment when he was pitched sideways by Foster approaching the chicane. The winner of the day’s earlier two races, Rob Collard, could only manage ninth in race three, carrying the maximum 45 kg of success ballast. Mat Jackson completed the top ten in his NGTC Ford, after battling hard with Collard in the final few laps of the race.
Dynojet’s Frank Wrathall was unable to start the race due to engine problems encountered earlier in the day.
The results mean that Neal now leads the championship with 287 points, whilst Shedden is second on 277. Plato’s disastrous three races mean that he has lost significant ground in the title race, although he remains third with 251 points.