Race two report

Sun 4th October 2009 Jason Plato took a dramatic sixth win of the season in race two at Brands Hatch to ensure the title will be decided in a three-way shoot-out in the final race of the season.

The top three drivers in the championship filled the three steps of the podium after an eventful 18 laps of the Brands Hatch GP circuit. After his win earlier in the day, Plato started from pole position, but it was Tom Chilton who led out of the first corner, ahead of Plato and Fabrizio Giovanardi. Rob Collad moved up to fourth from sixth on the grid and a sideways Matt Neal allowed Colin Turkington through to seventh before Druids.

As in the first race of the day, the safety car greeted the leaders as they finished the first lap. Martyn Bell and Matt Hamilton were both in the gravel and their cars required recovering.

The race restarted on lap five, with Chilton continuing to lead from Plato and Giovanardi. Behind the leaders, Rob Collard was fourth and very quick. He set two consecutive fastest laps after the restart and closed right up on the back of Giovanardi. The Airwaves BMW driver clearly didn’t want to get involved with the championship battle though, sitting behind the Vauxhall.

With Plato and Giovanardi running in the top three, Turkington was languishing down in seventh, with the Vauxhalls of Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan sandwiching him. Neal was struggling for pace and lost out to Paul O’Neill at Druids on lap six.

The top five were all running together as Plato continued to pressure Chilton at the front. Turkington was keen to join in the battle at the front, but was frustrated by Jordan for several laps, as the Vectra proved tough to pass. Turkington eventually made the move on lap 12 when Jordan ran wide at Paddock.

It didn’t take the Team RAC driver long to pull away and close on Jonny Adam ahead. Turkington was up to fifth by the end of lap 13 and everything was gearing up for a sensational end to the race.

The action unfurled on lap 16. Plato challenged Chilton for the lead, edging past at Druids. Giovanardi followed him through into second and Turkington – who had already passed Collard – was up to third. It put the three championship contenders into the top three positions and Giovanardi was forced to defend from Turkington.

The positions remained static for the final couple of laps however, as Plato clinched win number six. Giovanardi was second and Turkington third. Collard finished fourth, ahead of Jonny Adam, Chilton and Paul O’Neill. Matt Neal, Tom Onslow-Cole and Gordon Shedden completed the top ten.

The number eight was selected after the race, handing pole position for the final race of the season to Matt Neal. Turkington (262 pts) starts sixth, Giovanardi (258 pts) seventh and Plato (254 pts) eighth in what will be one of the most competitive finishes to a BTCC season in recent history.