Reigning champion Matt Neal scored two wins at Mondello Park, but it was series newcomer Mike Jordan who stole the show with a win in just his second meeting in the BTCC.

RACE ONE

Matt Neal scored his first win of the season in the opening race at Mondello Park, with a dominant performance that saw the Team Halfords driver lead from lights to flag.

After qualifying on pole position, Neal made a quick start to hold onto the lead through the first corner. Jason Plato led the SEAT charge, tagging onto the rear of the leader. Neal enjoyed the batter pace of the pair early on in the race, setting a new lap record on his second tour.

At stages in the race, Plato looked to have the speed to close on Neal, but ultimately the Integra was too strong and the gap at the end of the race was exactly half a second in Neal’s favour.

On his first win of the year, Neal said, “I managed to make a good start and pushed for the first few laps. After that, I tried to manage the tyres. Jason pushed me hard again towards the end and I was really on it. I was focusing on not making a mistake, because he’s no fool. I knew that if I made a mistake, he’d be through.”

Behind the lead pair, Plato’s SEAT teammate James Thompson was himself under pressure from a charging Colin Turkington in the first of the Team RAC MGs. But just like at the front, there was no way past. Despite the best efforts of Turkington, Thompson finished in third position.

Gordon Shedden had a lonely race on his way to a fifth place finish, but the other real battle was behind him. Tom Chilton spent the whole race keeping fellow VX Racing driver Fabrizio Giovanardi behind him. Although Giovanardi looked quicker than his younger teammate, the twists of Mondello Park prevented him from passing. Chilton’s slower pace also meant that Giovanardi was forced to defend from Team RAC driver Rob Collard.

Collard’s attack was cut short however, when his engine failed on lap seven and he coasted into the pits.

The latter stages of the race continued to see battles on the track, but there were no further position changes.

Second placed Jason Plato said, “There wasn’t a lot left in me towards the end of the race. We were really pushing. I had my headlights on and I tried every trick in the book, but he didn’t fall for it.”

RACE TWO

There were engine changes for Rob Collard and Fabrizio Giovanardi ahead of race two. Giovanardi looked to be in trouble before the start when he returned to the pits after heading out to the grid, but he was able to start from the back of the pack.

Even so, Giovanardi’s race was not a long one. He was one of a number of drivers involved in contact on the opening lap. His VX Racing teammates Gavin Smith and Tom Chilton both ended up in the gravel at the first corner. SEAT’s James Thompson was knocked violently sideways by a lunge from Gordon Shedden – the Honda driver braking far too late for the corner and using Thompson to stay on the track. It was a move that would later lead to Shedden being excluded from the race.

Thompson’s first lap misery continued when he was hit by Martyn Bell and Rob Collard as he tried to recover. The double champion was forced to retire without completing a lap. Giovanardi also pulled off to the side of the track on the first lap.

Perhaps expectedly, the safety car was on track at the start of lap two, to allow the stricken cars to be safely recovered.

It was lap seven before the race restarted, with Neal leading from Plato, Turkington, Shedden and Mike Jordan. After starting from the back of the grid, Rob Collard made quick progress through the pack, passing both David Pinkney and James Kaye around the outside at Honda on the restart to climb to seventh. Next up for Collard were Mark Proctor and Mike Jordan, who he eased past before the end of the lap.

Just a lap later and the safety car was out again. This time, the cause was a Fiona Leggate spin. With the pack bunched up once again, there were just seven laps remaining when racing got underway again.

Jason Plato kept the pressure on Neal at the front, but the SEAT attack turned to defence as Turkington kept Plato honest over the course of the remaining laps. There was a tap to the back of the SEAT from Turkington, but Plato used his experience to stay in front.

Matt Neal stayed strong at the front to take his second win of the day, with Plato in second and Turkington third. Collard looked set to finish fourth, until he slowed for the second time in two races, this time due to an electrical problem. Gordon Shedden crossed the line fourth, but was subsequently excluded, promoting Dave Pinkney to fourth and his best result in the BTCC to date.

Gavin Smith finished fifth, ahead of James Kaye, Mike Jordan, Mark Proctor and Martyn Bell.

RACE THREE

Race two winner Matt Neal drew the number eight from Alan Gow’s deck of grid-reversing cards, leaving Mark Proctor to start from pole position for the final race of the day. But his Fast-Tec Motorsport team lost their race against time to repair the damaged Honda Civic in time to take up its slot at the front of the grid.

Mike Jordan was left to fill the front row alone in the ex-Matt Neal Honda Integra, but the experienced Team Eurotech driver was not troubled by such unfamiliar territory. Jordan led the pack away from the line and defended valiantly the advances of local hero Gavin Smith in the early stages of the race. As the laps past, the threat to Jordan looked to be coming from Colin Turkington in the Team RAC MG ZS, but Jordan stayed strong to take his first win in the BTCC, on just his second weekend of trying.

After the race, Jordan said, “The guys were great, the car was fantastic. What a race. We hoped we might get a podium during the year, but to get a win here is just amazing.”

Behind Jordan, Gavin Smith took up second position, with Matt Neal, winner of races one and two, in third. It only took Neal a handful of laps to find a way past the Irishman though. There was also an early drive-through penalty for SEAT’s Jason Plato after he lined up in the wrong slot on the grid.

The battle to watch on the track quickly became Rob Collard vs Fabrizio Giovanardi. There were a couple robust moves as early as lap two that left Collard chasing Giovanardi, and the pair became involved in a five way fight for second that also included Smith, Neal and Turkington.

Turkington made second his own, with the Giovanardi-Collard battle becoming a fight for third. Matt Neal was behind them, but had to cope with his mirrors being filled by the SEAT of James Thompson. It was status quo until lap ten when Collard made an attempt to get back past Giovanardi at turns 7A and 7B. It resulted in contact, and ultimately retirement for Collard.

Neal and Thompson also passed Giovanardi, who finished fifth. Smith was sixth, with Plato seventh, Tom Chilton eighth, Dave Pinkney ninth and Martyn Bell rounding out the top ten.

While Matt Neal leaves Mondello Park in the lead of the championship, this will undoubtedly be remembered as the weekend that Mike Jordan took a very popular first win in the BTCC. There are surely more to follow.