Round 21

No reverse grid for the third race of the day, but race two retirees James Thompson, Colin Turkington and Tom Chilton all had plenty of work to do, starting from the back of the grid.

Jason Plato once again led away from the line, followed by Matt Neal, Dan Eaves and Anthony Reid. Shaun Watson-Smith ran in fifth over the early stages. The South African had shown strongly in the first two races in his down on power Proton Impian, which is now suffering from a lack of continued development.

Of the sharpshooters starting at the back of the grid, it was Thompson that made the most rapid progress, breaking in to the top ten inside three laps. At the front, the battle to watch was between Reid, Neal and Rob Huff in the Seat Toledo. There was contact between Reid and Neal early on in the race, and Yvan Muller made the most of the squabbles to pass all four of them and claim third position. It was short-lived however, as Reid re-passed his arch enemy on lap nine.

Positions continued to shuffle, not least at the front – just after the halfway stage, Dan Eaves nipped past Plato to take the lead of the race, and Reid soon had the better of the Seat too. Muller was next up to tackle Plato, but even with a Toledo laden with 42kg of ballast, the race two winner was not going to give in easily. Firstly, Muller’s Astra Coupé emitted a worrying plume of smoke from the rear as bodywork rubbed on the Dunlop rubber, and then the Frenchman saw his race flash before his eyes as he took a high-speed excursion over the bumpy Knockhill grass.

Muller did manage to catch the slide and get the car back on track, but he was less than happy with monsieur Plato after the race. Another tape for the Clerk of the Course to review. The initial verdict: no penalties to be dished out. But an appeal from the VX Racing team saw Plato’s license endorsed…but Muller was handed exactly the same penalty!

The race action continued – as did Anthony Reid’s charge. He was putting Dan Eaves under pressure at the front, and claimed the lead from the Computeach Racing with Halfords driver on lap 15, with the MG proving too strong for the Honda.

The final podium spot played out over the final laps, with both Thompson and Turkington passing Plato, having progressed from the back of the grid together. After yet more side-by-side action, it was Turkington who emerged from the hairpin with advantage on the penultimate lap, eventually heading the VX Racing driver by just over four-tenths of a second at the chequered flag.

Rob Huff rounded out the top five, ahead of Luke Hines, Plato, Neal, Muller and Watson-Smith.

Making its mark

Knockhill’s return to the BTCC calendar was certainly not dull. With the circuit management claiming the biggest crowd for a BTCC event for eight years, there was no shortage of spectators there to see it either. On his television commentary, Tim Harvey proclaimed the third race ‘one of the best BTCC races’ he has ever seen.

The short and twisty circuit certainly provided some exciting stuff. And of course, we now have a real three-way fight for the championship with just three race weekends remaining. Anthony Reid and Colin Turkington proved just how quick the WSR MG ZS has become. There will certainly be some head-scratching in the Vauxhall camp over the next couple of weeks.

Reid is also looking good for the Independents Trophy. With a 32 point lead over Turkington, and with Matt Neal 16 points further back, Reid has a good lead to defend. But what of his (potential) ban? Reid has shown himself to be a hard charger on several occasions this year, and has been in trouble with the clerk of the course at more than one occasion. One over-aggressive move now though, and it could be curtains for the wily old fox.

So what is left to say?….Let’s hope Knockhill is on the calendar again next year!