Morrison wins at Donington

A spectacular drive put Alan Morrison on top of the podium for the first time this season in the final round of the 2002 British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park today.

The two Honda Racing drivers dominated the feature race from start to finish with a potential 1/2 result thwarted by Priaulx's ECU problems. However, Priaulx gained a podium finish in the sprint race when he finished second.

Qualifying: Priaulx narrowly missed out on two pole positions in an afternoon that proved the form of the Honda Civic Type-Rs. The Guernseyman only registered one lap time during the first session before engine problems kept him in the pits. That time was good enough to hold pole for the majority of the session before eventually being pushed back to fourth. Priaulx then confirmed the car's potential by taking pole position for the feature race. Morrison, carrying ballast from his second place finish in Brands Hatch, qualified seventh and sixth, although he was on his quickest lap of the afternoon when the second session was red flagged.

Sprint race: An impressive start for Morrison saw the Ulsterman gain two places by the first bend where he was punted into the gravel by the MG ZS of Anthony Reid. Returning to the back of the pack, Morrison then put in an impressive drive that saw him claw his way back into eighth place by lap 19 of an extended 20-lap race. On the final lap, Morrison dropped back two places in order to be on minimum weight for the feature race.

Priaulx was a dominant force on the track right from the start. Having gained a place on lap one, Priaulx used the first safety car period to his advantage and moved up into second position behind James Thompson. A closely-fought battle with Matt Neal ensued which saw the Vauxhall driver briefly push the Civic Type-R back into third. Priaulx regained the advantage on lap 16 when Neal locked his rear brakes and slid sideways. The battle for second had allowed Thompson's Vauxhall Astra Coupe to build up a solid lead and although Priaulx didn't have enough time to mount a serious challenge for victory, the Guernseyman put in a phenomenal final lap to finish right on Thompson's tail.

Feature race: Honda Racing again set the pace in the feature race. By lap two the drivers were lying first and second and lapping faster than any other cars on the track with Morrison gaining the fastest lap of the race on lap three. The duo started pulling away from the rest of the pack until Morrison pitted on lap nine, returning to the track in seventh place, at the head of the pit stoppers. Priaulx pitted on lap 14 and returned to the circuit immediately behind Morrison. Priaulx then experienced intermittent ECU problems, causing him to lose places in between lapping second fastest after his team-mate. By lap 16, Morrison was out in front, building up an impressive lead over Warren Hughes in the MG ZS. Further ECU problems forced Priaulx back into sixth place but he regained pace to pick off two competitors until he was battling Thompson for third. Some spectacular final laps saw Morrison cruise across the finish line a remarkable 12.714 seconds ahead of Hughes while Priaulx battled valiantly with Thompson, almost gaining the advantage in the final stages of the race but finishing fourth by a mere 0.1 seconds.

Alan Morrison (Driver- Civic 27): "I'm thrilled with the result and it's a great way to end the season. The car was running beautifully and the pit stop was perfectly timed. It was a good tonic after the sprint race where I wasn't given the opportunity to show what we could do. It's just a shame about Andy as I thought we were going to finish the season with a 1-2 for the team which would have been well-deserved."

Andy Priaulx (Driver - Civic 28): "It was obviously frustrating as the engine cut out six or seven times during the race yet in between the car was lapping well and we were really setting the pace. It's a good result for Alan, I'm just disappointed I wasn't on the podium alongside him!"

Mike Earle, Honda Racing team principal: "It's been a bittersweet weekend for us. Andy's second was great but we could have won the sprint race and Alan's win was again marred by the fact that we should have had a 1-2. But that's racing for you."

Honda gained further glory when James Kaye won the 2002 BTC Production Class championship in Synchro Motorsport's Civic Type-R.