BTCC Wins for Giovanardi and Plato at Rockingham

23 April 2007

Vauxhall’s Fabrizio Giovanardi and SEAT’s Jason Plato (Oxford) shared the victories in today’s (Sunday) three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship rounds at the Rockingham circuit in Northamptonshire. A pair of wins for Italian Giovanardi have seen him move into second position in the standings, although it is Plato, today’s third race winner, who remains on top as the championship next heads to the fastest circuit on the calendar – Thruxton in Hampshire – on 6 May.

Plato’s success today also means he is now equal second on the BTCC’s all-time race winners’ chart, tied on 36 victories with two of his former team-mates Alain Menu and Yvan Muller. But even though he has increased his championship lead, the 2001 champion has reiterated his belief that this year’s title race is going to be one of the closest-fought in BTCC history.

Indeed, today’s cut and thrust action resulted in mixed fortunes for many of Plato’s chief rivals, notably reigning champion Matt Neal (Droitwich) and Colin Turkington (Portadown) who each suffered retirements and slipped down the points table. By contrast, emerging talents Mat Jackson (Henley-in-Arden), Tom Onslow-Cole (Kingston) and Matt Allison (Norwich) were each able to shine.

Plato said: “We’ve been very competitive all weekend and I’m delighted to have won again and moved up the charts! But Vauxhall has now clearly re-emerged as a winning force and the BMWs and Hondas – and a few others – are also proving increasingly difficult to stay ahead of… it’s no secret that we’ve not got the fastest car in a straight line and Thruxton is the fastest circuit on the calendar. I’m not expecting it easy there.”

A delighted Giovanardi, whose wins today were also the first for Vauxhall’s new Vectra model in the BTCC, added: “I am very happy with our results today. Both my team-mate Tom Chilton and I have been on the pace in every session and race here, with or without success ballast in the Vectra, which is a sign that we now have a very competitive car. We know it is very strong along the straights so I think we will be in really strong shape at Thruxton.”

Vauxhall’s strong form at Rockingham has enabled it to more than double its advantage over SEAT in the Manufacturers’ championship from 15 to 32 points, while its VX Racing squad has also moved past SEAT Sport UK into the lead of the outright Teams’ standings. Jackson, thanks to fourth and second place results in his Jacksons MSport BMW 320si, has taken control of the Independents Drivers’ table. Team RAC remains the top Independent Team, despite a difficult weekend.

BTCC.net

See series calendar for British Touring Car Championship 2007

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