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BTCC Race Three - Reverse Grid

Our WHO BTCC reverse grid race starts with a ping-pong ball being picked out of a hat. Ten balls are numbered 5 to 14 and refer to placings in Race Two. Ball #10 was drawn and that put Matthew on pole for race three, with ninth placed driver Ollie alongside him on the A Final grid. Andy and Alex found themselves down in the C Final.

   

The D Final would see who would join them and whether Daniel Mc and James could score their first championship points of the day. It was Mark and Isaac who took control of this one - Rob and the two Daniels running them very close in the early stages. James couldn't quite keep up, but had - across qualifying and two races - done a decent job on his BTCC debut. Mark and Isaac held their nerve to finish in the top two positions, Rob and Daniel E disappointed not to profit from a lapse of concentration. Daniel Mc missed out on championship points in fifth.

   

Our joint championship leaders started from the front row in the C Final. Alex had maximum success ballast, with Andy also on a big power reduction. As they gradually pulled away, Stephen managed to keep in touch and was right up behind Andy when the grey Civic had an early off. At half way, Alex led Andy and Stephen, with Mark, Kev and Isaac a lap back. Having looked after his Soft tyres in the middle of the race, Andy pushed hard to catch Alex towards the end. The final two laps saw Andy close right up and a lunge to the line was just a little to late - Alex won by a nose.

   

That put all the Race Two A Finalist in the B Final - just two step-ups available to access the big points. Alex gradually moved up through the field, but Andy got caught behind Terry and a coming-together saw both de-slot and lose ground. After 8 laps, Oliver led Alex, followed by Mike, Simon, Andy and Terry - all still on the same lap. Alex moved past Oliver into the lead, meaning Andy had a lot to do to stay in touch with Alex in the championship. Another strong finish saw Andy move past Mike and Simon, but Oliver's advantage was too much to close down in the final two laps. Alex and Oliver stepped up, Andy was stranded on 9 points for seventh place.

   

Matthew had pole for the A Final, but his car ended Race Two with problems. Repairs in between and a brief test on track suggested things were good again for the Colin Turkington BMW. In fact Matthew led early on, battling hard with Dean as Alex gradually climbed up the order. The C and B Final winner was up to third on lap 4 and dispatched Dean and Matthew to take the lead on lap 7. Matthew was still looking strong in second, although Dean and Oliver weren't far behind. At half distance it was Alex, Matthew, Dean, Oliver, Ollie and Ash. Dean was putting pressure on Matthew and took second place on lap 11. Alex was controlling the race at the front, but any mistakes could still be costly. A scrappy ending for Matthew saw a podium place slip away and Oliver take full advantage.

Here's some of that A Final action...



And this is how Race Three ended...

   

Huge congrats to Alex on achieving a potential championship-winning double step-up and A Final win!

   

However, there are still three races next month - and anything can happen...

   

Next... An 18-car Muscle Car Mondiale race.