Touring-Cars.Net brings you a roundup of quotes from the weekend’s races at Donington Park. Following three action-packed races there were plenty of talking points as the championship nears its conclusion.
Race one saw several leading drivers taken out in an incident at the chicane, whilst races two and three produced some brilliant drives from the leading men in the country. Here’s what they had to say afterwards.
Gordon Shedden – 1st, 2nd & 6th
“I am delighted. We know the Civic is a good car around Donington Park so this was a golden opportunity to capitalise on that and I was able to. I had to fight hard to get to the front in the opening race and then I used my head to hang on to second place in race two. I am right in the mix for the title for the first time so I am pleased about that. Anything could happen at Brands Hatch but we at the Honda Racing Team will be doing absolutely everything we can to make it work for us.”
Matt Neal – 5th, 8th & 1st
“The Civic was a fantastic car today and we’ve been able to turn up the pressure in the race for the championship. I was slightly disappointed with what happened at the start of the second event because I honestly believe we would have been in a position to win that race but these things happen in motor racing. There was a small problem with my clutch and I couldn’t help but creep forward and got a jumped start penalty. Nevertheless, we have managed to cut the gap to the leader in the points and that’s what we set out to do.”
“It will be gloves off at Brands Hatch now – I am the one doing the chasing so the pressure is going to be on everyone else.” – Matt Neal
Jason Plato – DNF, 3rd & 3rd
On his race 1 incident – “Matt got inside Onslow-Cole on the back straight and then I got a good run on Matt. The plan was to follow him through on the inside but as he (Matt) got on the brakes a bit early, I just caught him a little bit. Then he had a slide and bounced off the barriers, spearing back into me. It’s a racing incident which certainly wasn’t in the game plan, but these things happen.
“Brands Hatch is going to be really exciting; it’s all to play for, although I’d have liked more of a buffer. I wanted to get ahead of Andrew and I knew that it would take a mistake from him. I got a good lunge and managed to get through. You have to think about points, but I knew I was right alongside him so the line was mine. A big thanks goes out to my team for all their efforts, skill and dedication. It just shows if you dig deep you can get a result. We’ve had a good day.”
Steven Kane – 6th, 6th & 4th
“”Generally a good weekend, after our qualifying it’s actually a positive result. In the first race the car showed it had the pace as I came from 21st to 6th, I could even have nipped in to claim 4th if I hadn’t been hit by Boardman. Race two wasn’t quite so good for me, I was blocked by Chilton and that cost me time but race three was another solid result. The last thing I wanted to do was fall off at this stage of the season. In the last race my tyres didn’t come on till lap 5, once they did I was quick but it was a little too late – all in all I’m happy, Brands suits the BMW and we were quick on the media day so we shall see how it goes.”
Mat Jackson – 3rd, 5th & 8th
“”I’m chuffed and I think today was a real positive. Shame about the last race, that was my fault as I took the kerb too hard, then bounced off Jordan and ended up in the gravel. Other than that the car was quick and we had the pace again. Qualifying was frustrating for me and we still need more pace on the Saturday but I’m confident going into Brands Hatch. It’s hard on tyres, especially on the front wheel drive cars so we have a good chance of doing well.”
Rob Collard – 16th, 7th & 2nd
“I was really unlucky in race one, I just wanted to keep my nose clean and keep out of trouble, I was comfortably sitting behind the pack but then I just got caught up in that accident, I tried to go round Matt Neal but got caught out by Jordan. But I was happy in the end with the race three outcome, I couldn’t get onto Matt Neal as a Honda with no ballast is unbelievable quick around there but I was happy with the Independent win.”
Andy Neate – 15th, 15th & DNF
“Luck didn’t seem to be on my side this weekend, Kane made the first race difficult for me and I couldn’t make any headway in the second. I was hoping to make amends in the third but that just wasn’t to be.”
Shaun Hollamby – 14th, 19th & DNF
“I managed to pick my way through all the accidents. It was good to be able to keep the two West Surrey Racing BMW’s behind me over the closing laps.
“Set-up changes made a great improvement to the car for race 2, making it much more raceable. Unfortunately, I ran wide onto the grass on the exit of Redgate on lap 8, after which the back of the Golf began to step out on faster corners.
“It [a wheel bearing failure in race 3] possibly began when I ran onto the grass in race 2.
“It was an up and down weekend, but we were in the mix for the first 2 races. It was great to be able to have battles in both races, despite our lack of engine power. Most importantly, AmD Milltek Racing.com have got to the final round of the BTCC. We have a straight car and no engine problems for Brands Hatch in three week’s time.”