ROCKINGHAM RACE ONE:
GIOVANARDI HEADS VAUXHALL 1-2
Fabrizio Giovanardi and Tom Chilton have given Vauxhall a
1-2 finish in the first of today’s (Sunday) three Dunlop
MSA British Touring Car Championship rounds at the Rockingham
circuit in Northamptonshire.
Giovanardi led all the way to give Vauxhall’s new Vectra
model its first win in the BTCC. The Italian driver also set
the race’s fastest lap.
Chilton (Reigate) finished second after overtaking SEAT’s
championship leader Jason Plato (Oxford) when the latter slithered
over a trail of oil laid on the track by another car and lost
momentum.
Plato's team-mate Darren Turner (Leamington-Spa), who had
qualified on pole position, failed to start the race after
his SEAT suffered mechanical problems on the grid.
Today’s second round of three will start at 13.40.
ROCKINGHAM RACE TWO:
GIOVANARDI DOUBLES UP
Fabrizio Giovanardi made it two out of two as he won the second
of today’s (Sunday) Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship
rounds at the Rockingham circuit in Northamptonshire.
As in race one, Italian Giovanardi led all the way in Vauxhall’s
Vectra to again stand on top of the podium.
Taking second place, his first BTCC podium result, was 19-year-old
Team RAC BMW driver Tom Onslow-Cole (Kingston). He twice swapped
places with Vauxhall’s Tom Chilton (Reigate) before
making the position his own on the final lap. Chilton finished
third.
Notably, reigning champion Matt Neal’s (Droitwich)
Team Halfords Honda Civic crashed out of the race in a collision
with Colin Turkington’s (Portadown) Team RAC BMW.
Heading into this afternoon’s third race of three,
SEAT’s Jason Plato (Oxford), fifth in race two, leads
the standings with 55 points but is now only five clear of
Giovanardi.
ROCKINGHAM RACE THREE:
PLATO WINS TO STRETCH LEAD
SEAT driver Jason Plato (Oxford) has won the third of today’s
(Sunday) three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship
rounds at the Rockingham circuit in Northamptonshire.
Plato, starting from fifth on the grid, took advantage of
a first-corner collision among the drivers ahead of him to
take a lead he would never relinquish. He also set the race’s
fastest lap.
Second position went to Mat Jackson (Henley-in-Arden) in
his Jacksons MSport BMW 320si, while third was Plato’s
team-mate Darren Turner.
Plato leaves Rockingham leading the championship on 72 points,
16 ahead of Vauxhall driver Fabrizio Giovanardi, winner of
the day’s first two races, on 56. Third is Giovanardi’s
team-mate Tom Chilton (Reigate) on 48.
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