Onslow-Cole cedes victory to Chilton in race two

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Sun 22nd August 2010 Tom Chilton made it two wins in a row at Silverstone in round 20 of the 2010 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, but only after he was gifted victory by teammate Tom Onslow-Cole for the second time today.

Chilton started from pole position, but it was Onslow-Cole who made the better start and led through the first corner. The two Fords were trailed by Andrew Jordan and Rob Collard, who both jumped Alex MacDowall and Jason Plato off the line.

Onslow-Cole appeared comfortable at the front and Chilton, carrying 45kg of ballast to Onslow-Cole’s 36kg, was unable to match his teammate. In race one, Onslow-Cole ceded the lead to Chilton after ‘missing a gear’. This time, he slowed along the straight as he started lap 17 and allowed Chilton through as they entered the first corner.

Unfortunately for Onslow-Cole, by slowing down for Chilton, who trailed him in the championship by 22 points heading into the race, the WSR BMW of Rob Collard was soon right on the tail of the now second-placed Focus.

As Chilton cruised to his second win of the day, Onslow-Cole was forced to defend as Collard sensed the chance to equal his best results of the year. Sure enough, after a couple of attempts, Collard was through and Onslow-Cole had to settle for third at the chequered flag.

Shenanigans at the front aside, there was plenty of action throughout the race. Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan was third during the early laps, only to pit with a left-front puncture on his NGTC Vectra.

Jason Plato had another fairly quiet race by his standards, bringing home his Chevrolet Cruze in fourth position, despite a last-lap challenge from long-time rival Matt Neal.

Neal had spent much of the race battling with Paul O’Neill in the older Sunshine.co.uk Honda Integra. O’Neill was fifth until Neal found a gap on the inside at Becketts on lap 16 to claim the spot. The positions were reversed again on the penultimate lap, but then Neal won the charge to the line, finishing ahead of O’Neill., but not quite able to catch Plato.

Gordon Shedden finished seventh in the second of the Honda Racing Team Civics, ahead of Steven Kane, Alex MacDowall and Mat Jackson.

Tom Chilton said: “It was very hot out there and we had full ballast, which really hurt us. It was a case of being consistent and making no mistakes. The team have just told me we had the wrong tyres on the wrong corners, too, which explains why the car felt a bit odd.”