BTCC 2017 Round 1 a fantastic opening weekend

What a fantastic start to the BTCC 2017 season at Brands Hatch this weekend.
With qualifying scuppered by bad weather towards the end and Eurotech Racing's Jeff Smith secured his first ever BTCC pole position.

Race 1 started and Tom Ingram secured his move before the cars had roared into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time, gliding his Toyota Avensis around the outside of Smith's Eurotech Honda, whilst contact behind forced two of the championship's big guns into retirement.

Matt Neal tried to defend against the charging rear-wheel drive BMW of Colin Turkington off the line, but unfortunately contact was made as the Honda moved across track. Both cars stuttered into retirement with damage due to the incident, whilst the Safety Car was called to retrieve the stricken machines of the two former champions.

Ingram then stayed in first and comfortably took 1st place with Shedden taking 2nd after valiantly defending the attack from the Mac Tools-backed Mercedes of Morgan who took 3rd, the pair eventually crossing the line separated by just 0.167s.

Race 2 and Halfords Yuasa Racing's Gordon Shedden grabbed victory in a frenetic second BTCC encounter after a series of incidents interrupted proceedings.
An aborted start due to a problem with Tom Ingram’s car and then a bad accident for Jason Plato at the restart which ended his race eventually led to lights out for a reduced 20-lap race,
as Ingram comfortably led the way from Shedden's Honda.
The ballast-laden Toyota Avensis couldn't hang on however, as Shedden slipped by at Paddock Hill Bend.

Shedden seemingly had things sewn up, and his place was further cemented as Collard hauled his BMW on to the rear of Ingram's Toyota. The experienced Collard nudged Ingram through Paddock Hill on lap 20 and eventually made the move stick on the run downhill. There was little time for him to make inroads into Shedden's advantage, however, and that's how the race finished.

Race 3 saw a fantastic drive from Andrew Jordan where he took the win,BMW Pirtek Racing's Jordan blasted from third on the grid to lead the pack into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time, as Mat Jackson faced heartache while trying to follow suit. Jackson's Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo with Ford went around the outside of Chilton's Vauxhall Astra, but the former ran out of road and endured a trip across the gravel.

Chilton maintained second, however Coln Turkington had different ideas, he had somehow hauled his BMW 125i M Sport from tenth to third shortly after mid-distance and he busily reeled in Chilton ahead of him. Chilton the series returnee had no answer and he allowed Turkington to nip by on lap 17.

Far from settling for second, Turkington reeled in fellow WSR driver Jordan at a rate of knots, and was on his tail for the final few laps. He tried everything he could to get by which meant a cheeky little rub through clearways, but Jordan held firm to lead home a fantastic one-two for BMW and Chilton drove brilliantly to bring the new Vauxhall Astra in in third.

Tom Ingram said after the second race: “That was absolutely fantastic, how do you put it into words? Winning here two years on the bounce – it's the best way to repay all that hard work over the winter. It's a heck of a result and I'm really pleased. Everyone was reminding me for the next race, 'get points – just get points'. As soon as I saw Rob [Collard] throw his nose down the inside at Paddock in race two, I thought, 'I remember this from last year!' We prioritsed the points and considering the weight we were carrying, third was a great return.”

Gordon Shedden had this to say after his win: “I'll take those three results any weekend of the year – it's been a brilliant start to the season. The Civic Type R felt great throughout. In fact, it was even better with the weight in race two than without it in race one, which was slightly random – but very encouraging going forward. I think this must be my best ever start to a BTCC campaign, so we're clearly going in the right direction. I'm absolutely chuffed – a very happy Scotsman heading back north tonight!”

Andrew Jordan was very pleased with his win and had this to say: “That was quite a start wasn't it with rear-wheel drive and a new team? I was getting a bit twitchy with Colin (Turkington) looking really, really strong on the soft tyres behind – the rear-wheel drive expert! We had a little rub at the end there but it was a good way to end. I knew he wasn't going to do anything silly. It's really special, to get the win on my first event with BMW Pirtek Racing and West Surrey Racing. It's down to the team – credit to the guys for all the work they've put in.”

The season continues at Donnington Park in two weeks on the weekend of 15th & 16th of April. #BTCC

TOP 10 Driver Standings

1 Gordon Shedden Halfords Yuasa Racing 48PTS
2 Tom Ingram Speedworks Motorsport 42PTS
3 Andrew Jordan BMW Pirtek Racing 41PTS
4 Adam Morgan Ciceley Motorsport 39PTS
5 Rob Collard Team BMW 36PTS
6 Tom Chilton Power Maxed Racing 29PTS
7 Colin Turkington Team BMW 26PTS
8 Jack Goff Eurotech Racing 25PTS
9 Mat Jackson Team Shredded Wheat with DUO 22PTS
10 Michael Epps Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing 20PTS