Jelly and Plato Share Rockingham BTCC Wins
20 September
2009
Stephen Jelley and Jason Plato were the winners of today's three HiQ
MSA British Touring Car Championship races at the sun-soaked Rockingham
circuit in Northamptonshire. It was undoubtedly the best day of Leicester-based
Jelley's career: he took his first-ever win in the series in race one
and then added to it with another victory in race three, in doing so
becoming the eighth different race-winner in the BTCC this season...
However, all eyes are now on his Team RAC BMW team-mate Colin Turkington
who will go into Finals Day at the world-famous Brands Hatch Grand
Prix circuit in Kent on Sunday 4 October leading the championship standings
and still on course for his first BTCC first Drivers' title. But he
will arrive at Brands Hatch under intense pressure from two of the
most successful names in the sport - Vauxhall's reigning champion,
the Italian Fabrizio Giovanardi and 2001 winner Plato in his Racing
Silverline Chevrolet.
Northern Irishman Turkington appeared to struggle to tenth and fourth
position in today's first and second race while Giovanardi finished
them in sixth and third and Plato second and first. Suddenly his lead
over Giovanardi was down to just five points with Plato only 20 adrift
having arrived at Rockingham 42 behind.
But in race three the tide turned back in Turkington's favour as he
survived being pushed into a half-spin by Plato to finish fourth. In
contrast, Plato needed a pit stop for quick repairs to his car and
finished out of the points. Incredibly, so did Giovanardi whose car
limped across the line with damage from a bash with former F1 star
Johnny Herbert's Team Dynamics Honda Civic.
Herbert was one of several star performers in today's third race -
the other being Tom Chilton who gave his Team Aon squad's new Ford
Focus its first top-three result in the BTCC with a third-place finish.
Significantly, it is the first time that the Ford name has appeared
on the BTCC podium since 2000.
Up front, though, Turkington will go to Brands Hatch's title-deciding
final round with a 13-point advantage over Giovanardi while Plato now
has 28 points to make up.
Turkington, aged 27 and who has led the championship since mid-season,
said: "For a moment in race three it looked like I'd be leaving
Rockingham no longer the leader - it was a bit of a heart-in-mouth
moment in the incident with Jason as the outcome could have been very
different. But this time a bit of luck was with me while it was Jason's
and Fabrizio's turn to suffer a bit of misfortune. So now this is it
- just the final hurdle to clear but it's a very high hurdle. Jason
and Fabrizio are world class drivers so I'll need to be at the top
of my game to keep them where they are."
Giovanardi, champion these past two years and going for a third straight
title, added: "I said before Jason could still come into it and
here he is! I don't mind too much the gap to Colin - I am still quite
close and he is maybe going to experience some new emotions. But he
will be supported by his team-mate Jelley who has hit strong form at
the right moment for his team. It is also good that there are three
drivers who can win at the final round as it keeps it very exciting
for everyone involved."
And said Oxford-based Plato: "I really thought I was right out
of it before Rockingham and I still believe 28 points is too much to
make up. Realistically, it is Colin's and Fabrizio's to lose - all
I can do is try and win races on the day and the rest is up to them."
Meanwhile, today's double race-winner Jelly commented: "Crikey,
what a day I've had! Awesome. I'm really proud because I achieved both
my wins the hard way by catching and passing people. Days don't get
much better than this..."
Elsewhere, Turkington has provisionally won a third consecutive Independent
Drivers' title - Plato can still equal his points tally but will lose
out on the number of privateer wins (he has four compared to Turkington's
nine). However, the fight for the outright and Independent Teams' championships
will very much go to the wire. VX Racing leads Team RAC in the outright
Teams' table by 58 points with a possible 81 to be scored at Brands
Hatch. And Team RAC leads the Independent Teams' standings by 38 points
with a maximum of 45 to be had at the season finale. Vauxhall/VX Racing
has already secured Manufacturer/Constructor honours.
For full Rockingham race reports, results and images visit the BTCC's
official website www.btcc.net
BTCC.net
See series calendar for British
Touring Car Championship 2009
Related Story 07.09.2009 - BTCC Heads to Unique Rockingham Track
