Race two report

Sun 17th May 2009 The Donington Park track was dry in time for the second race of the day, but the change in conditions did little to change the result, as James Thompson repeated his race one victory, becoming the first driver to win two races in this year’s championship.

Team Dynamics’ Thompson led away from pole position, surviving a hit from behind from the Airwaves BMW of Rob Collard on the way through Redgate for the first time. It was another fast start for Collard from fourth on the grid, but he was not quite quick enough to take the lead.

The leaders all made it through Redgate, but the same cannot be said for the rest of the pack. There was contact between Martin Johnson and Paul O’Neill, while Nick Leason became beached in the gravel on the outside of the right-hander.

The safety car was deployed while Leason’s BMW was recovered, which took three laps. As in the first race, it was a successful restart for Thompson, this time ahead of Rob Collard. The Airwaves BMW driver came under pressure from Matt Neal and despite defending initially, lost out to Neal at the old hairpin. Collard was slowed momentarily and this put him in the path of Andrew Jordan. Jordan tapped the back of the BMW, spinning Collard through 360 degrees, before he stylishly caught the Airwaves car and pointed it in the right direction. There was no damage, but he was down to 13th position. Jordan retired later that lap with bodywork damage.

James Thompson’s race lead came under pressure from Matt Neal, while behind them, it was Jonathan Adam in the second of the Airwaves BMWs defending third position from Fabrizio Giovanardi. Jason Plato took fifth from teammate Mat Jackson at the chicane on lap six after Jackson put a wheel on the grass.

Running in third, Jonathan Adam was working hard to defend his position. However, he put up little resistance as Giovanardi passed him into the chicane on lap eight. Jason Plato was next on the back of Adam, and it took him five laps, but the Racing Silverline driver claimed fourth position at Redgate. It was to get worse for Adam, as he lost further positions to Coin Turkington and Mat Jackson a couple of laps later, dropping him to eighth.

At the front, Thompson was under continued pressure from Neal and it seemed certain that one of them would become the first driver to win two races this year. Neal trailed his friend and rival all the way to the chequered flag, but could not find a way past. Thompson led across the line to take his second win of the day.

Following the race, Thompson said, “I’m really chuffed. It’s been a bit of the unknown for us today. I’d never driven the car in the wet and we hadn’t had a chance to run with any ballast either, so we just tweaked the car a bit and ran with it. I got a good start and I made no mistakes. There was a bit of a watching brief from Matt, but I just hoped I could eek it out to the last couple of laps and then hopefully he would think of the championship rather than go for it. But I think if there had been a chance then he would have tried his luck.”

Behind the lead pair, Giovanardi finished third, ahead of Plato in fourth. Turkington was fifth, Jackson sixth and Adam seventh. Adam Jones crossed the line eighth, with Rob Collard ninth. Harry Vaulkhard was tenth – which turned out to be a crucial position when the number 10 was drawn, reversing the top ten finishers and putting the Tempus Sport driver on pole for the final race of the day.