With just three race weekends left on the 2012 British Touring Car calendar, including Rockingham, the championship has reached a crucial stage. Knockhill provided another dramatic weekend which saw the eBay Motors Team come away with two strong 1-2 finishes, Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal picking up two and one podiums respectively, Dave Newsham taking his second successive race three win, and Jason Plato only picking up a handful of points in race two. After sitting out Knockhill Rob Austin will be returning to the grid after his campaign to raise funds was a success, while Howard Fuller will make his debut for Team HARD as Robb Holland has other commitments. Dan Welch and Lea Wood will be absent this weekend with Paul O’Neill’s one weekend stint also meaning he won’t be racing. Also returning will be AmD’s Ollie Jackson with Will Bratt and Liam Griffin both returning in Silverstone.
Track Stats
Track Name: Rockingham Motor Speedway
Circuit Length: 1.94 miles
Number of Laps: 16
Race Distance: 31.04 miles
Lap Record: 1:24.550s F Wrathall (2011)
Current drivers who have won: Matt Neal and Jason Plato (four wins), Gordon Shedden (two wins), and Mat Jackson (one win)
If you need a reminder about the action at Snetterton you can read the round-up here as well as keeping up to date with season statistics.
The Championship Standings
(with movement indicators after Knockhill)
The Championship Standings
1. Matt Neal 287 (-)
2. Gordon Shedden 277 (-)
3. Jason Plato 251 (-)
4. Andrew Jordan 247 (-)
5. Rob Collard 228 (-)
6. Tom Onslow-Cole 209 (↑)
7. Mat Jackson 187 (↓)
8. Dave Newsham 146 (↑)
9. Jeff Smith 121 (↑)
10. Frank Wrathall 118 (↓)
Independent Standings
1. Andrew Jordan 299 (-)
2. Rob Collard 265 (-)
3. Tom Onslow-Cole 250 (↑)
4. Mat Jackson 233 (↓)
5. Dave Newsham 176 (↑)
6. Jeff Smith 170 (↑)
7. Frank Wrathall 163 (↓)
8. Nick Foster 160 (-)
9. Lea Wood 137 (-)
10. Aron Smith 136 (↑)
The Rockingham timetable can be found here.
The eBay Motors Team had an impressive showing at Knockhill with Rob Collard winning two of the three races and Tom Onslow-Cole coming second to Collard’s wins. Their team-mate Nick Foster also finished in the top ten at all three races and he is just nine points off entering the top ten of the overall championship, and in the lead up to Rockingham he has stated his intentions to get there. Elsewhere Matt Neal has a ten point cushion over his team-mate while a dismal weekend at Knockhill dropped Jason Plato further back. He was punted off track during race one by Aron Smith, finished in eleventh in race two, and failed to start race three due to a boost problem. A.Smith had had his best qualifying – starting third on the grid – and converted that into a fourth a sixth and an eighth. We could see him on the podium before the season is out. With just three rounds remaining Rockingham could prove crucial for him and so he will be hoping to have a strong weekend. Dave Newsham, who took his maiden British Touring Car win at Snetterton, won race three at Knockhill with Pirtek’s Jeff Smith finishing on the podium for the first time. If people not directly involved in the championship battle can continue to take results like this, then they could have an impact on the championship by taking points away from the main protagonists. In 2011 Neal and Shedden won a race each, with Tom Chilton taking the third win of the day. Plato took pole on the Saturday but was nearly involved in a bust-up with Neal afterwards, having given the Honda driver the finger, Neal tried to respond with his fist. Let’s hope they do their talking on the track this year!
The 'H' Duct 