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BTCC Race Two

After a 30-minute lunch break, we were back with the second BTCC race of the day. The line-up for this was the result of Race One, meaning the podium finishers qualified for the A Final - with Dean, Oliver, Alex and Rob in the B, awaiting two step-ups. The 'success ballast' power reduction was also based on the Race One result, Mike getting the maximum penalty.

   

Simon and Stephen led the D Final from the off in what  was another very close race. After four laps. Kev was up to third in his Civic and in with a good chance of a top-two. By half distance, he'd been shuffled down to fifth - the last car on the lead lap. Simon still led Stephen, but some late race-drama for Simon lost him the lead and then Daniel almost took second... but not quite. Isaac was fourth, Kev fifth and Duncan sixth.

   

Ollie sprinted away from the line in the C Final, his BMW 330i always quick, but also a challenge. After four laps, he was still at the front, chased by Terry, Ash and Jeremy - the two who'd stepped up had been gapped at the back. Terry dropped back to fourth at half distance and the top three were Ollie, Ash and Jeremy. If anyone was expecting Ollie to crash and burn, they were proved wrong - the youngster was on one of his best ever BTCC drives. The others did have their wobbles, Ollie lapping second-place man Ash once and everyone else at least twice!

Could Ollie repeat that drive in the B Final? He was up against Dean, Oliver, Alex and his dad, so a it was certainly a big ask. Maybe the adrenaline was took much, but Ollie had soon lost touch with the pack - Alex leading Oliver, Dean, Ash and Rob after four laps. Just after half distance, Dean got ahead of Oliver and Rob had passed Ash for fourth...

   


As the race moved into the final stages, Alex was well clear, but there was a big battle for the remaining pair of step-up places. Oliver needed to keep things clean in second, but Dean had slipped to fourth behind Rob, who'd made steady progress in his MG. The chequered flag fell on Alex and Oliver and then - a lap back - Rob led in Ash and Dean to grab a place in the feature race.

Alex's progression meant all three championship contenders were in the A Final. Frontrunner Andy needed a better race this time, but the pressure was on - another first-lap off saw him back in sixth. He'd recovered to fourth by lap four, chasing Mike, Alex and Oliver. Things went from bad to worse, another off returning him to the back and then getting nerfed into the Armco by the leaders whilst being lapped. As Mike, Alex and Oliver powered away to stand on the podium and grab the big points, Andy did get past Rob and Ryan to salvage fourth place. After his third successive race win, Mike had the momentum and was surely favourite to lift the trophy.

   

   
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That race really shook up the championship standings - Andy going into the final race with a single point lead over Mike. The maths looked very simple...

   

That race would be a partial reverse-grid, the number nine drawn by Kev gave pole to Ollie - Dean and Ash joining him in the A Final. The four qualifiers for the B Final would be Ryan, Rob, Andy and Oliver, with Alex and Mike in the C Final. And the top five from Race Two would carry a 'success ballast' power reduction into the championship-decider.

However, before all that, we have a Carrera Classic Nascar race to look forward to!