Race one report

Sun 20th September 2009 Stephen Jelley claimed his first BTCC victory in the opening race of the day at Rockingham. However, as Jelley celebrated, his championship-leading teammate Colin Turkington was left frustrated down in tenth position.

Fabrizio Giovanardi finished sixth, claiming five points and closing the gap to Turkington to just seven points. Meanwhile, Racing Silverline driver Jason Plato crossed the line in second, continuing his late surge into contention for the title.

It was Plato who started from pole position, but Jonny Adam’s Airwaves BMW led into Turn 1, ahead of Jelley and Rob Collard. Further down the order, there was a clash at the Deene hairpin on the opening lap. Matt Neal was squeezed onto the grass heading into the corner, leaving him unable to slow down and he speared into the side of Johnny Herbert’s Team Dynamics Honda Civic.

The safety car was deployed at the end of the first lap, but it was only a brief outing as racing resumed two laps later. Adam held on at the front, but his Airwaves teammate Rob Collard lost third position when he was passed by Plato and Jackson going through Gracelands.

Adam was at the front, in search of his first BTCC win – he was demoted after he crossed the line first at Brands Hatch in the season opener. Jelley was right on the Scot’s tail, but Adam looked to have the pace to hold on. Jason Plato closed on the lead pair and Jelley was left looking in his mirrors while trying to keep in touch with the race leader.

It was just before the mid-point of the race when Jelley seized his opportunity. Adam left the door open at Deene and Jelley was straight through. It got worse for Adam when he was passed by Plato a couple of laps later and then by Mat Jackson on the following lap.

With Jelley now in the lead, the question was whether he could hold his cool and fend off the attack of the charging Chevrolets.

The battle for the championship was playing out a little bit further down the order. Fabrizio Giovanardi started seventh, but spent much of the race chasing former VX Racing driver Paul O’Neill for sixth position. He eventually found a way past and would have settled for taking a couple of points out of Colin Turkington, who was challenging for ninth.

Turkington struggled for pace in qualifying and it didn’t seem to have got any better for the first race. He was on the back of James Nash when he got a little too close. The RAC BMW tapped the rear of the Chevrolet coming out of Deene and it was just enough to send Turkington spinning. He didn’t lose much time, but any hopes of making it further up the order were instantly dashed. Turkington eventually climbed back to tenth to take a single point.

At the front, Stephen Jelley was untroubled, heading to the chequered flag and clinching his first win. Plato finished second, ahead of Jackson, who extends his run of podium finished to seven. Rob Collard passed Airwaves BMW teammate Jonny Adam to finish fourth. Adam was fifth, Giovanardi sixth and Andrew Jordan seventh. Nash, O’Neill and Turkington completed the points-scoring positions.

Race winner Stephen Jelley said, “That was awesome. The car has been good all weekend. I was disappointed not to be on pole yesterday, but it’s great to get the win. I knew we had the legs, but I just couldn’t quite find a way past Jonny [Adam]. Then he made a small mistake and I didn’t need asking twice!”