VX Racing’s Yvan Muller made it ten podiums from ten starts this year, and extended his championship lead to 31 points over James Thompson as the BTCC made it’s first ever visit to Rockingham Motor Speedway. However it was MG and Honda who left the Northamptonshire circuit having made most progress, each celebrating two drivers in the top three during the day, and for Honda, their second win of the season.

With an all-Honda front row for the first race of the day, hopes were high for either Neal or Morrison to break the Vauxhall deadlock which has seen the marque fail to win just one race from the first eight this year. It was Irishman Morrison who started the race from pole position, but Neal made the better getaway, out-dragging his team-mate in to the hairpin bend at Deene for the first time. An unusual corner, it sees the entire pack brake hard, and the result is that all cars become very much bunched up and position changes are guaranteed. Anthony Reid emerged with his MG ZS in third position, with Muller fourth and Hughes fifth.

Early retirements included Colin Turkington, whose was forced to pull off the track as he approached the Tarzan hairpin on lap four: “I’m not sure what happened to the car. I was running strongly and suddenly the car just seemed to die. I think it was the engine so I had to pull over. I’m really disappointed after qualifying so well.” Frustration also continued for Team Halfords, as neither Peugeot 307 made it past the second lap of the race.

As the drivers were beginning to settle in to a rhythm, the safety car was deployed on lap seven, to enable debris to be recovered from the circuit. A frantic restart a couple of laps later saw Reid pass Morrison for second at the chicane before both lost out to Muller at Deene. The end of lap ten saw the opening of the pitstop window, and race leader, Matt Neal, was first to pit, followed by Reid and Muller. All enjoyed quick pitstops and rejoined the track in the same order. Biggest losers in the pits were Paul O’Neill and Rob Collard, who both lost time to their rivals.

With the stops done and dusted, the Hondas of Neal and Morrison set off in to the distance and were not troubled for the remainder of the race. Race winner, Neal, commented, “I had a good start but I thought I was very lucky to ahead of Alan Morrison or he would have just been gone! We had a great pit stop which is something the team really needed. I know they have been practising and it certainly paid off.” Morrison was disappointed not to have won but was enthusiastic at having brought home a Honda one-two: “I made a great start and because of that I’m slightly disappointed that I didn’t win but it’s still a great result for Honda. I was dicing with Matt (Neal) and I was trying on the inside and the outside but when it’s your team-mate you have to be a bit more careful or else I could have ended taking both of us off.”

Behind the Hondas, there was a five-way battle for third place, with Reid holding the position initially. He and Muller exchanged positions a number of times, as Thompson, Pyper and Chilton closed in. Before long, Rob Collard had also joined the group, not taking long to make an impression. With Chilton having passed Pyper, his Independent rival was Collard’s first scalp, followed by Chilton. He then closed up on the works Astra of Thompson, overtaking the defending champion at one point. He commented, “It was great to put some of the moves on some of the drivers that I did. I went round the outside of Gavin around the Esses, and then the same with James (Thompson). I was on the pace of the works cars towards the end of the race and if the MG wasn’t right behind me and if Gavin hadn’t been closing in, I would have had a look at getting past Thompson. I got round him once and then he went back past, but I thought ‘this could end in tears’ so we chose to sit behind him and just take the Independents victory.”

In the closing stages of the race, Muller showed the form which he has demonstrated all year, overcoming Anthony Reid to claim third position and yet more championship points. “It was a great battle for third place and to get a podium with my weight penalty was a good result”, said the Frenchman. “But I am upset about the fact that sometimes it looks like VX Racing are running to a different set of rules to the rest of the grid. It was obvious today that that was not the case as the MG of Reid was constantly hitting me throughout the race.”

Their impressive showing in race one of the day meant that the Hondas of Neal and Morrison gained a considerable quantity of success ballast between races. Neal took on board an extra 66Kg, whilst for Morrison it was 54Kg. The extra weight did not seem to affect the pair away from the line, as Neal led going in to Deene for the first time. However, the optimism was to be short-lived as Neal slowed shortly after starting his second lap, retiring from the race. In the confusion that followed, Anthony Reid emerged with the race lead, trailed by Muller and Morrison. Colin Turkington was yet again forced in to retirement, pulling off the track on lap seven.

Particularly impressive over the opening laps of the race was David Leslie in the Team PSP Proton. Having started from 11th position on the grid, he had progressed through to fifth by the end of lap two, settling in between James Thompson and lead Independent driver Rob Collard. However a cooling system problem saw Leslie bring the car in to the pits to retire on lap nine. "The car is so much better now”, said the experienced Scot. “It was great running on the pace in 5th ahead of the eventual podium-place MG in round 10, but I suffered a racing accident which damaged the cooling system. Just before half distance, I decided retirement was more sensible than overcooking the engine."

As the pitstops got underway, race-leader Reid was amongst the first to come in, and once again, the front-runners all enjoyed trouble-free stops. With normal order resumed on-track after the pitstop, there was hardly time to draw breath before the safety car was once again deployed. Coming through the fast ‘Turn 4’, Tom Boardman had closed up on the Production class leading BMW of Michael Bentwood. Boardman’s Peugeot 307 has a quicker straight-line speed than the BMW, and as a result, the youngster pushed the rear end of Bentwood’s car just enough to see him end up in the wall and out of the race. There was some concern as Bentwood initially complained of neck pains, but the former F3 driver was later given the all clear by the Toca medical staff. Boardman continued, but was later excluded from the results.

With the wreckage of the BMW cleared to the side of the track, racing was able to resume. With four laps remaining, it should have been just a sprint to the finish, but in this case there was the added complication of an impending thunderstorm, with flashes of lightning clearly visible behind the Turn 1 grandstand.

Anthony Reid looked in good shape to take MG’s first victory of the season and make rounds nine and ten the first meeting of the year with no Vauxhall driver on the top step. However, it was not to be. The experienced driver made an unfortunate error going in to Deene, spinning and handing the race lead to James Thompson, who was quickly passed by team-mate Muller. Reid rejoined relatively quickly and eventually took the chequered flag in second place, but he was inevitably disappointed: “That was a race lost. It was my own fault. On the restart I got the jump on everyone and I had a clear gap to the three behind, but I just out-braked myself. It’s just one of those things. I’ve been racing for years and I know not to do it, but I did it anyway! It can’t be helped.”

Muller held on for his fifth win of the year, despite the torrential rain starting to fall just in time for the final lap. Warren Hughes fended off Thompson to take his second podium finish in two meetings, whilst Rob Collard capped a successful day with another impressive performance to take fifth overall and another Hilton Independents Cup victory. Collard said, “We needed to get a couple of good wins under our belt, and I’m very pleased now that we’ve got back to where we were at the start of the year. At Mondello and Brands Hatch we went very well, but then it all went pear-shaped at Thruxton! I think we’ve got the rhythm back in the car and I’m confident we can continue like this!”

Looking forward to rounds 11 and 12 at Croft in three weeks time, race-winner Muller commented, “All of the Hondas will be light again at Croft, and Turkington as well. They will all be quick. It won’t be easy.” Possibly not, but Muller will still be the man to beat. The Frenchman has been on the podium after each of this season’s ten races, and his title chances are looking more than good.

Photos: Motorphoto.co.uk