Impressive Onslow-Cole rewarded with race three win

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Sun 22nd August 2010 After twice handing victory to his teammate in today's earlier races, Tom Onslow-Cole was finally rewarded for his efforts with a win in race three at Silverstone.

The Team Aon driver eased to victory after passing Paul O’Neill on lap nine, taking his third fastest lap of the day along the way.

After finishing sixth in race two, it was O’Neill who benefitted from the reverse grid draw to start from pole position for the final race of the day. He led the pack away from the line and opened up a sizeable advantage as Plato and Neal tangled behind him.

Meanwhile, Alex MacDowall stalled on the grid and his Chevrolet Cruze was left stranded as the pack rushed past him. Unfortunately, Martin Depper was left unsighted and hit the back of the RML car. It gave MacDowall the bump-start he needed, but it was the end of Depper’s race and triggered the deployment of the safety car at the end of the first lap.

The safety car period wiped out O’Neill’s advantage at the front and it was always going to be tough for the Sunshine.co.uk racer to keep the rapid Focus behind him from this point on. O’Neill fought hard for the next two and a half laps, but in the end the Ford was just too quick.

So, for the third time in as many races, Onslow-Cole found himself leading the race. This time though, there was another car between him and teammate Chilton and while it remained that way, there was no question of him letting this win slip through his hands.

As the race went on, Onslow-Cole’s position became stronger. Running fourth, Chilton came under attack from Mat Jackson. The Airwaves BMW passed the Focus with six laps left, knocking Chilton down the order in the process.

Meanwhile, Jackson’s teammate Steven Kane became involved in a battle with fellow BMW driver Rob Collard. It ended when the pair tangled with Andrew Jordan and the Pirtek Racing Vectra spun into the gravel at Becketts.

Jason Plato endured a frustrating race after his contact with Matt Neal at the first corner. It was the Chevrolet that came off worse and Plato was left to work his way up the order from the back. He eventually made his way back up to ninth.

At the end of the extended 25-lap race, it was much-deserved win for Onslow-Cole, ahead of O’Neill. Jackson took third, despite a last lap that saw him defending heavily against Matt Neal. Shedden finished fifth, in front of Chilton, Kane, Nash and Plato. Remarkably, the final point for tenth went to Alex MacDowall. The rear end of his Chevrolet was stoved in after his startline punt from Depper, but he managed to get the car to the end of the race.

Leaving Silverstone, Jason Plato continues to top the championship standings, but it’s not Tom Onslow-Cole in second. After collecting a huge 44 points at Silverstone, he’s just 14 points off the lead. Matt Neal is third, a further nine points behind.