Race two report

Sun 30th August 2009 It was another Chevrolet victory in race two at Silverstone, but this time it was Jason Plato who took the honours, equalling his teammate Mat Jackson’s tally of three wins for the season so far.

The race started dry but became drizzly in the second half, playing into the hands of Fabrizio Giovanardi, who once again demonstrated awesome car control in the slippery conditions.

At the start, Jackson led away from pole position, with Plato in second and Colin Turkington third. Giovanardi started fifth, but was passed off the line by Rob Collard, although he was soon back on level terms when he passed James Nash before the end of the first lap.

The Vectra was quickly on the tail of Collard’s BMW, who was in turn challenging Colin Turkington for third. There was a change on lap three when Collard caught the kerb going into Brooklands, which caused him to slide momentarily, losing just enough ground for Giovanardi to tap the back of him. Collard caught the Airwaves BMW, but Giovanardi was through and Collard dropped down the order.

James Nash managed to pass Giovanardi while he was scrapping with Collard, but the reigning champion was up to fourth within a couple of laps. His next target was championship leader Colin Turkington.

Meanwhile, there was a change at the front with Plato getting the better of Racing Silverline teammate Mat Jackson along the straight to take the lead of the race.

With 12 laps completed, the rain started to fall. It wasn’t heavy enough to force a change to grooved tyres, but the track quickly became slippery. Ever masterful in the rain, Giovanardi was in his element. Add to that the fact that the rear-wheel drive BMWs struggle on a deteriorating track and it’s no surprise that the Italian soon passed Turkington to move into a podium position.

First race winner Mat Jackson was second until he ran wide a couple of times, opening the door for Giovanardi, who pounced and made the position his own. That left the VX Racing driver with five laps to chase down race leader Plato.

Giovanardi was quick, but so was Plato. There were to be no further changes and Plato went on to win for the third time this year. Giovanardi finished second to close the gap to Turkington, who could only manage fourth behind Mat Jackson. Fifth place went to Tom Chilton, ahead of Andrew Jordan, Jonny Adam and Johnny Herbert. Rob Collard finished ninth, with Rob Collard tenth.