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Jackson holds on to win race three at Brands Hatch

BTCC News | Sun 2nd May 2010

After the drama and controversy of race two, race three had a lot to live up to, but the final race at Brands Hatch did not disappoint. Mat Jackson took victory but only after a late tyre scare.

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Steven Kane started the race from pole position for Airwaves BMW, but he was headed into the first corner by Tom Boardman. Jackson was up to third from 11th, ahead of Andrew Jordan and David Pinkney.

The rain had finally stopped falling at Brands Hatch ahead of the race and tyre choice was the key question on the grid ahead of the race. On the front row, Kane and Boardman both opted for grooved wets, as did Paul O'Neill in fourth, James Nash in 10th, Jackson in 11th and Rob Collard in 12th. Other drivers chose either slicks all round, or a mix of wets and slicks. This choice was to become crucial as the track continued to dry over the course of the race.

At the end of the first lap, Boardman, Kane and Jackson were pulling away at the front as the slick runners struggled. It was another poor race for Plato, who pulled off the track for the second consecutive race.

Steven Kane was putting Boardman under pressure for the race lead and made several attempts to pass the SEAT Leon. By the time he made the move stick on lap three, the leading trio had a seven-second advantage over those behind them.

Boardman lost second place to Kane at Paddock Hill Bend on lap four and the two Airwaves BMWs began to pull away at the front.

However, the leaders were left cursing when the safety car was deployed on lap five, after Arthur Forster spun into the gravel at Paddock. Unfortunately the safety car missed the leaders and picked Alex MacDowall in sixth position. That mean the pack had to pass and the pace slowed so that the correct order could be resumed ahead of the restart.

The restart came on lap eight, by which time there was a clear dry line emerging around the Brands GP circuit.

Jackson led the restart well, ahead of Kane and Collard, who was now up to third. James Nash was sitting fourth and Boardman was fifth. The battle for sixth to ninth positions involved MacDowall, Andrew Jordan, Matt Neal and David Pinkney.

MacDowall ran wide at Clark Curve on lap 10 and lost places to Pinkney, Neal and Jordan. Tom Chilton then tried to squeeze inside the Focus at Paddock, making contact with the rear right corner of the Cruze and sending it sliding into the gravel on the outside of the corner, complete with a broken rear right wheel.

With MacDowall stranded, the safety car made its eighth appearance of the day on lap 12. It was clear by now that the longer the race went on, the tougher it would become for the slick-shod cars at the front.

Racing resumed with five laps remaining and Jackson again opened up a healthy gap to his teammate. In fact, Kane found himself under pressure from Collard. Meanwhile, Matt Neal was the leading driver on a combination of slick and wet tyres and he quickly passed Boardman to go fifth.

Neal passed Nash on lap 15 and then had just the three BMWs to catch with three laps remaining. This was also the first lap when he was quicker than the BMWs, showing that the track had dried enough to make slicks the tyres of choice.

At the start of lap 16, Neal was five seconds behind Collard in third. He eventually caught and passed the WSR BMW at Westfield on lap 17. At the start of the final lap, he was closing rapidly on second placed Steven Kane. Once again, he took the place at Westfield, leaving him two corners to catch race leader Jackson.

Despite having a deflated left rear tyre, Mat Jackson held on to take his first win of the year. Neal finished second, ahead of Kane. Collard was fourth, with Jordan fifth and Chilton sixth. Nash ended the race in seventh, while Boardman was eighth and Shedden ninth. Tom Onslow-Cole took the final championship point.

After a disappointing weekend, Jason Plato’s championship lead has been wiped out and he is now tied on 67 points with Matt Neal. Steven Kane is third and Paul O’Neill fourth. Mat Jackson is up to fifth.

Rounds 10, 11 and 12 of the 2010 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship take place at Oulton Park over the weekend of 5-6 June.

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