GR MOTORSPORT MAKE IT 3 IN A ROW

Snetterton Night Race

Sprint Race 17 Laps

Rounds 15 & 16 of the www.theAA.com MSA British Touring Car Championship saw GR Motorsport extend their lead in the BF Goodrich Team Championship. With "Young Guns" Gareth Howell 2nd in the 17 lap Sprint Race, followed by dominating the evenings Feature Race to win, with team-mate Mat Jackson clinching 3rd.

With a 25 second gap between the two classes it was Production Pole Sitter Simon Harrison who was forced to hold the eager Drivers at bay. Graves executed a storming start, which put him ahead Harrison. Graves went on to dominate the Production class in the remainder of the wet race. It was anybodies guess who would emerge from Riches first, as a sea of brake lights embarked upon Riches disappearing into the spray. Howell who qualified 4th made a ballistic start forcing himself down the inside of Harrison to claim second as they emerged.

Jackson was making good use of the wet condition's picking off the field lap after lap moving up to 5th position. Battling Midfield Rick Kraemer fell victim to the charging Works Vauxhall Driver of Jason Plato, forcing Kraemer off the track. In the closing stages Jackson was all over the Peugeots rear bumper of Harrison. The determined Jackson passed the Peugeot Ace for 4th, with Howell 2nd

Howell: "I'm really pleased but I was more worried about Rob Collard behind me than Graves in front of me. I tried so many things to get grip get grip and it was a bit of a lottery call out there."

Feature Race 34 Laps

With the ever changing weather conditions the 34 Lap race produced fantastic racing seeing 3 different drivers from 3 different teams lead, as they all tip-toed their way around the 1.9mile circuit. Whilst everybody around was losing it, Howell demonstrated his shear skill in the wet to win.

Harrison's lead was short lived as Pyper nudged ahead on lap 2. Lap 3 witnessed another change - this time with Graves taking the lead at the Esses from Alfa Romeo Driver Pyper. There was little in it with only five thousandths of a second separating the lap times of Pyper and Graves. Pyper once again passed Graves for the lead, passing Graves through Russell Bend on Lap 7. Lurking behind the two was Howell, waiting patiently for his moment.

Teammate Jackson also demonstrated his wet weather skills as he climbed the leader board. Jackson next victim on his way to the top was Mark Lemmer in the Honda Accord. Jackson's car control was phenomenal, proving too much for Lemmer. Lemmer out braking himself took to the grass - advantage Jackson.

On Lap 18 having passed Pyper, Howell took the lead off Team Kaliber Sport's Simon Graves. Jackson 4th had 3rd place man Harrison firmly in his sight. Jackson launched an attack for 3rd on the leading Peugeot by taking the inside line which gave him the advantage over Harrison. Howell continued to dominate the race, taking the top step on the rostrum for the first time this year.

Howell: "Delighted it was a tremendous race. I didn't expect to be able to pull away but I did. I over shot the Esses at one point and ran wide but luckily the gap was big enough. I was really pleased to see the chequered flag."