Race two report

Sun 16th August 2009 Fabrizio Giovanardi took victory in the second race of the day at Knockhill, ahead of Mat Jackson and championship rival Colin Turkington. It was a busy race that saw plenty of position changes, with the drama starting before the cars even formed up on the grid.

Polesitter Jason Plato peeled off from the green flag lap to head into the pitlane with an electrical problem with his Chevrolet Lacetti. Starting second, but now with a clear track in front of him, Gordon Shedden led the pack away from the line. Mat Jackson was second, with Jonny Adam passing Colin Turkington to climb to third. Fabrizio Giovanardi also got the better of Turkington on the opening lap and also passed Jonny Adam next time around.

Adam’s race deteriorated further when Turkington re-passed him at the John R. Weir chicane. In contrast, Adam’s Airwaves BMW teammate Rob Collard made rapid progress through the pack during the first couple of laps, quickly climbing to 12th position on the tail of Andrew Jordan.

At the front, Shedden continued to lead, but with Mat Jackson right behind him. There was a gentle nudge as the pair went through the Real Radio hairpin on lap four and Giovanardi was ready and poised to take advantage if they held each other up. In the end, Giovanardi’s pace was enough to carry him past Jackson at Carlube on the following lap.

It was almost inevitable that Giovanardi would go on to take the lead and it eventually happened at the hairpin on lap eight after Shedden ran slightly wide, handing Giovanardi the chance he needed. That was that for Giovanardi as not even a safety car period could prevent him from taking win number five of the season.

The safety car period was triggered when a stack of tyres was dragged onto the racing line. It only took a couple of laps to clear but was enough to ensure the pack was bunched up together once again.

After the restart, Giovanardi quickly re-established his lead with Jackson sitting second. Gordon Shedden’s race went downhill very quickly as he lost several places. He was running third with Turkington, Adam, Paul O’Neill and James Thompson behind him. However, before long he found himself behind all of them.

After his podium finish at Snetterton, Paul O’Neill was enjoying another strong race at Knockhill, climbing to fifth after passing both Shedden and James Thompson.

As Shedden continued to drop down the order, Rob Collard continued to climb. The Airwaves BMW driver took eighth position at the hairpin on lap 22 before running wide at the Scotsma corner on the following lap and handing the position back.

At the end of the race, it was a dominant victory for Fabrizio Giovanardi, who crossed the line in front of Mat Jackson and Colin Turkington. Matt Neal was fourth, with Paul O’Neill fifth and James Thompson sixth. Jonathan Adam finished seventh and Stephen Jelley was eighth. Gordon Shedden’s dismal race ended in ninth while Andrew Jordan crossed the line tenth.