THOMPSON BEATS MULLER TO TITLE BY ONE POINT
James Thompson is the new 2004 Green Flag British Touring
Car Champion after beating Vauxhall team-mate Yvan Muller
to the crown by a single point in the championship’s
final round at Donington Park today. Muller won the race but
Thompson, who finished third, crucially earned a bonus point
for setting the fastest lap to stay ahead by the narrowest
of margins. Meanwhile, WSR MG driver Anthony Reid has become
HarrierZeuros Independents Trophy champion and, for the fourth
consecutive year, Vauxhall and its competition brand VX Racing
have lifted the BTCC’s Manufacturers’ and Teams’
titles.
Thompson’s title came after arguably the closest ever
finish to a BTCC season. In the first of today’s final
three rounds he finished second to open out a 13-point lead
over Muller at the top of the championship. Muller finished
the race only seventh after he was controversially forced
off the track trying to pass Thompson.
In the second race, however, Muller struck back with second
place, while Thompson was fifth meaning the gap between them
going into the day’s final round was down to six points.
The outcome of the race and, ultimately, the title balanced
on a knife edge throughout.
Victory in the race for Muller, his fifth of the season,
and third for Thompson meant they were effectively tied on
points. In that case, Muller would have retained his 2003
Champion’s trophy thanks a greater number of wins than
Thompson. However, 2002 Champion Thompson’s vital fastest
lap earned him the bonus point he needed to reclaim the title
that Muller took away from him last year. Thompson’s
fastest lap was also a race lap record around Donington’s
shorter National circuit for modern-era BTCC cars.
The fact that just one point separated Thompson and Muller
at season’s end is proof of how close their fight for
title glory has been in 2004. SEAT Sport UK driver Plato’s
second place in the final round also meant the season ended
with the BTCC’s last three Champions standing on the
podium – he won the title with Vauxhall in 2001.
Thompson said: “This is absolutely fantastic, I’m
so, so emotional. I had a feeling Yvan would win the race
as he always pulls it out of the bag when he needs to, but
once I’d got fastest lap I knew third was good enough.
“Yvan is class and, well, one point in it … what
more can I say about him? The BTCC is a fantastic series.
It’s given me so much pleasure over the years and is
going from strength to strength so this is fantastic …”
Muller was sporting in defeat and at least has the consolation
of ending the season with more wins than team-mate Thompson.
Indeed, his win today was his first since Mondello Park back
in June. Muller said: “Yes, it’s disappointing
to finish only one point behind, but that’s life, that’s
racing. We finished first and second four years in a row and
that’s fantastic for Vauxhall.”
Plato’s second place in the final round guaranteed
he finished third in the final points standings. He had won
the opening race after starting from pole position, although
had to concede first place on the opening lap to Thompson
– whose bonus point for leading also had a critical
bearing on the championship standings. Plato was quick to
re-pass Thompson, though, and, aided by the fastest lap, drew
clear for his seventh victory of the season – more than
any other driver has achieved in 2004.
Finishing tenth in the opening race to earn pole position
for the day’s second race – thanks to the top
ten reversed grid rule – was Plato’s SEAT team-mate
Robert Huff. But it was Team Honda’s Tom Chilton, starting
from second on the grid, who forced his way into a lead he
would hold until the chequered flag for his second win of
the season. Chilton, at 19 years old the BTCC’s youngest
driver, needed to keep cool in the closing stages for closing
on him was Muller, who set the fastest lap.
Reid’s success in the Independents Trophy was sealed
after the second race. In the opening race, Independents victory
went to Reid’s WSR team-mate and only realistic title
rival Colin Turkington when he finished third overall having
swapped positions continually with second-placed Thompson.
Computeach Racing with Halfords Honda driver Dan Eaves then
took Independents wins in the second and third races with
third and fourth place finishes overall.
Eaves’ results mean he has beaten beat team-mate Matt
Neal by one point to third in the final Independents standings.
Neal disastrously suffered retirements in all three races
today, his only highlight coming when he led the opening seconds
of the first race before contact from Thompson sent him off
the track. Thompson was later fined and had his competition
licence endorsed for the incident.
Vauxhall’s and VX Racing’s Manufacturers and
Teams successes were, in the end, achieved by considerable
margins, although each was pushed hard during the season,
such has been the growing strength of the opposition. Honda,
with its official team plus Computeach Racing with Halfords,
racked up enough points to finish second in the Manufacturers’
standings ahead of SEAT in third. But it was SEAT Sport UK,
in its first BTCC season, which pushed VX closest for the
Teams’ crown. Strong points finishes for Reid and Turkington
today enabled WSR to hold onto third in the Teams’ championship
ahead of Computeach Racing with Halfords.
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