Results MSA BTCC Brands Hatch
NEAL CROWNED CHAMPION; WINS FOR EAVES, PLATO &
COLLARD
Dan Eaves, Jason Plato and Rob Collard were the winners of
today's (Sunday) final three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car
Championship races of 2005 at Brands Hatch, Kent but the driver
of the day was undoubtedly Matt Neal who for the first time
in his career finally became crowned BTCC Champion.
Neal's family-run Team Halfords squad has also become the
first independent team to win British motor sport's most prestigious
title against the might of the manufacturer outfits since
1991. It was in 1991 that Neal made his BTCC debut and since
he has won the independents drivers' title five times and
even scooped £250,000 for beating all the manufacturer
teams' drivers in a race at Donington Park in 1999. But the
overall title has always eluded him. Until today, that is.
"It’s an emotional moment. It’s fabulous,"
said Neal. "Everybody who’s involved in backing
this team has won today. If you’d told me before the
season started that I’d be crowned champion, when you
think of who we’ve been up against – Vauxhall,
SEAT and some other very good teams and drivers – I’d
have struggled to believe it."
Vauxhall, meanwhile, has won a fifth consecutive manufacturers'
title ahead of SEAT. But it is Team Halfords that has clinched
the teams' title over Vauxhall's VX Racing squad and SEAT
Sport UK. Team Halfords and Neal also end the season as dominant
winners of the Independents Trophy's teams' and drivers' championships
respectively.
Race 1, 15 laps (39.30miles)
Weather / Track: Sunny / Dry
Eaves Wins Race One
Team Halfords' Dan Eaves led all the way from the first BTCC
pole position of his career and set a new race lap record
around Brands' full-length Grand Prix circuit to secure his
fifth win of the season at the wheel of his Honda Integra.
Eaves' only worry came when a safety car period erased his
advantage over the field, but at the restart he was again
able to draw clear. Vauxhall's Gavin Smith maintained second
until the penultimate lap when he was overtaken by his title-chasing
team-mate Yvan Muller. On the final lap, SEAT's Jason Plato
and Team Halfords' team-mates Matt Neal and Gareth Howell
also squeezed past Smith who finished a frustrated sixth.
The result meant Neal's championship lead over Muller was
now down to 26 points. In race two, therefore, Muller would
need to finish inside the top four and score nine more points
than Neal if he was to keep alive his fading title hopes.
BTCC officials later punished Howell for his part in an incident
with Rob Collard whose WSR MG span off the track. Howell not
only received two penalty points on his competition licence,
but was also ordered back six places to 11th on race two's
starting grid.
Result:
1. Dan EAVES (GBR), Team Halfords/Honda Integra, 24m35.507s
2. Yvan MULLER (FRA), VX Racing/Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch,
+1.089s
3. Jason PLATO (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Toledo Cupra, +1.430s
Fastest Lap: Eaves, 1m33.178s (RECORD)
Race 2, 14 laps (36.68 miles)
Weather / Track: Sunny / Dry
Plato Wins, Neal Takes Title
Plato took his third win of the season after pressuring early
leader Eaves into a mistake. Eaves had led from pole position
but 2001 champion Plato seized his moment to move to into
the lead when the Team Halfords driver made a mistake at the
tricky Westfield Bend. Plato then went on to achieve an untroubled
victory.
Eaves finished second but all eyes were on Neal in third who,
having set the race's fastest lap, crossed the line to become
the new Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champion. Neal's drive
to the title was not straightforward, however. Through the
first corner, his car was sideways across the track after
tangling with Vauxhall's Colin Turkington. At mid-distance,
Neal's Honda Integra and title rival Muller's Vauxhall Astra
Sport Hatch then dramatically made contact at high speed.
Muller's car suffered a punctured tyre and the Frenchman,
his title hopes now in tatters, needed to make a pit stop.
Neal, meanwhile, survived to take more than enough points
to put the crown beyond Muller's reach.
Muller finished 12th - out of the points - and that meant
he was now just four points clear of Eaves in the battle to
be championship runner-up heading into the day's third race,
the final race of the 2005 season.
Completing the top six were Howell, Smith and SEAT's James
Pickford. But officials later excluded Howell and added a
further four penalty points to his competition licence for
barging Pickford off the track mid-race. This meant all those
behind were promoted a place and Andy Neate, on his BTCC debut
in new entry Team Nuts with Daniels Motorsport's Vauxhall
Astra Coupe, took tenth and therefore pole position for race
three thanks to the top ten reversed grid rule. Collard, who
initially finished tenth, was elevated to ninth and would
thus start from second on the grid.
Result:
1. Jason PLATO (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Toledo Cupra, 22m07.148s
2. Dan EAVES (GBR), Team Halfords/Honda Integra, +1.690s
3. Matt NEAL (GBR), Team Halfords/Honda Integra, +2.114s
Fastest Lap: Neal, 1m33.491s
Race 3, 17 laps (44.54 miles)
Weather / Track: Sunny / Dry
Collard Wins Hard Fought Season Finale
Rob Collard came out on top of a hard fought final race of
2005 to take his second win of the season. Collard took the
lead at the start, but was under massive pressure throughout
from Pickford. At one stage, Pickford nosed ahead, but his
and Collard's cars made contact and the latter was able to
keep in front to the finish. Collard also lowered the lap
record that had been smashed earlier in the day.
Behind, Smith held off newly-crowned champion Neal and then
a late charge from Howell to end his rookie BTCC season with
a strong third place finish. Neal fell back to an eventual
fifth behind Howell when his car's bodywork started rubbing
on a tyre.
The race's chief talking point, though, was the multi-car
pile-up that eliminated three of the BTCC's biggest names
- Muller, Eaves and Plato. As they completed lap one, Muller
ran into the back of Eaves' car and the pair of them went
spinning off into the barriers. Plato was unable to avoid
them and also ran off the track into retirement.
Result:
1. Rob COLLARD (GBR), WSR/MG ZS, 29m25.626s
2. James PICKFORD (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Toledo Cupra,
+1.914s
3. Gavin SMITH (IRL), VX Racing/Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch,
+8.508s
Fastest Lap: Collard, 1m33.148s (NEW RECORD)
Final Leading BTCC Points After Brands Hatch:
Drivers:
1. Matt NEAL 316pts
2. Yvan MULLER 273pts
3. Dan EAVES 269pts
4. Jason PLATO 208pts
5. Tom CHILTON 175pts
6. Colin TURKINGTON 174pts
Manufacturers:
1. VAUXHALL 781pts
2. SEAT 629pts
Teams:
1. Team Halfords 573pts
2. VX Racing 470pts
3. SEAT Sport UK 306pts
|
