Having missed out on victory last time out at
Donington Park,
Tom Onslow-Cole made amends in the opening race of the weekend for a first HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship win in VX Racing colours.
After a dominant performance in qualifying, Onslow-Cole ran near the front throughout the race and having got into the lead, was able to control proceedings from the front for a comfortable win ahead of
Colin Turkington and
Jason Plato.
When the race itself got underway, Onslow-Cole didn't make the best of starts which allowed Gordon Shedden to lead into Campbell for the first time, Onslow-Cole meanwhile came under pressure from Jason Plato who had the inside line into the right-hander at Campbell but was then forced to concede the place to the Vauxhall as they turned left into Cobb, with the birthday boy quickly setting off to chase after Shedden as the Scot tried to break away.
Behind the top two, Plato held third ahead of Fabrizio Giovanardi, Colin Turkington and
Matt Neal, with Tom Chilton, Darren Turner – who ran wide at Church – Mike Jordan and
Mat Jackson rounding out the top ten.
On the second lap, Jackson managed to get ahead of Jordan on the run up Woodham Hill and ‘Old One' was soon dropping further back after losing position to both son Andrew and Steven Kane in the following laps.
Out front, Shedden and Onslow-Cole were breaking away from the chasing pack, with Plato appearing to hold up the cars behind him – with Giovanardi and Turkington both fixed onto the rear of the Leon TDi. Neal, Turner, Chilton and Jackson meanwhile were also closing in on the battle for third.
On lap seven, Giovanardi made his move to try and get past Plato at the Complex after getting a run on the SEAT out of Club but Plato was able to fight back to maintain his position. However, the delay to Giovanardi was enough to allow Turkington to make a move and he gladly took fourth place from the Italian.
