Tordoff Becomes 15th Different Race Winner In 2018

Sam Tordoff led home a Motorbase one-two, ahead of stablemate Tom Chilton, whilst Ricky Collard completed a hugely popular podium in the opening BTCC race at Silverstone.

Tordoff led away from pole position in his Team GardX Racing with Motorbase Ford, but immediately came under attack from the fast starting BMW of Ricky Collard. The young rookie pushed too hard on the run down to Copse for the first time, however, running his BMW 125i M Sport wide on the exit of the corner. Collard dropped to fifth as Chilton slipped into second in the Shredded Wheat-backed Focus, with BMW Pirtek Racing's Andrew Jordan and WIX Racing with Eurotech's Jack Goff now in third and fourth respectively.

The opening exchanges resulted in drama further down the field as contact sent Rob Austin's Alfa Romeo spinning backwards across the grass at Maggotts. The Giulietta unfortunately came careering back on track and tagged Matt Neal's Halfords Yuasa Racing Honda into retirement. A separate incident between Chris Smiley and Josh Cook left the latter's Vauxhall stranded in the gravel.

A safety car was called but the action was soon underway and as action packed as ever with the final place on the rostrum changing hands on two occasions. A power problem for Jordan's forced him out of contention and Collard passed Goff around the outside to move into third in the latter stages.

The fight for victory was always close but Tordoff fended off the attentions from Chilton to grab his first win of the season, whilst Collard's maiden podium was met with huge celebrations from his Team BMW squad.

Goff grabbed fourth ahead of the impressive Matt Simpson and Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport's Adam Morgan, whilst the Team HARD VW of Mike Bushell enjoyed a good run to seventh.

Colin Turkington's grip on the championship was strengthened with an eighth place finish, whilst his main challengers struggled. The Ulsterman made steady progress from 18th on the grid and now holds a 50-point advantage over Speedworks Motorsport's Tom Ingram.

The Mercedes of Tom Oliphant finished ninth with Halfords Yuasa Racing's Dan Cammish rounding out the top ten.

Sam Tordoff said: "It was long overdue! The first job was getting a good start because I knew Ricky (Collard) would be quick off the line, then I settled into a rhythm. I made it difficult for myself when I stuck a wheel on the gravel and let Tom (Chilton) in. I knew in my head what I wanted to do but I’d be lying if I thought it would go quite that well. Tom was racing for the win but we kept it clean. I knew from the body language of Tom’s car that he was trying and we had no team orders. I’m not looking forward to running maximum success ballast in race two, though!"

Tom Chilton said: "He’s [Tordoff] been so fast. He made one mistake at Luffield and I thought ‘here we go’ with ten laps left and his front tyres going off. We turn in so early on the brakes into Luffield and that makes it impossible to overtake. I gave him one last push on the last lap and our bumpers must have only been a couple of millimetres from each other. With the hard tyre and 66 kilograms on board for the second one, it’s going to be a difficult one."

Ricky Collard said: "It’s unbelievable. I’m going to kick myself. I said I wasn’t going to lift into turn one. I didn’t, but it didn’t pay off. To come away with a podium is incredible. It’s in your mind that you’re dropping back but I was so focussed on going for the win that I didn’t think about anything else. I was desperate to get by Jack (Goff) which I then did. It was a shame for us with Andrew (Jordan) suffering some mechanical trouble but it was awesome for us. I don’t know if I’ll try the outside line with the weight on for race two. We’ll see how it pans out. I’m here to score points for Team BMW and West Surrey Racing. Being a junior, I have to learn all the time and I’m so thankful to everyone at the team for giving me such a good car and this opportunity."

2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 25 – Silverstone

1 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team GardX Racing with Motorbase 25 laps
2 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +0.468s
3 Ricky COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +3.967s
4 Jack GOFF (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech +6.018s
5 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +6.193s
6 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport +6.484s
7 Mike BUSHELL (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +10.987s
8 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +11.415s
9 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +11.942s
10 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +13.416s
11 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +14.185s
12 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +14.751s
13 Brett SMITH (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech +16.327s
14 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +20.329s
15 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +20.551s
16 Dan LLOYD (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +21.975s
17 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +22.405s
18 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +23.021s
19 Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +23.516s
20 Ollie PIDGLEY (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +25.516s
21 James COLE (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +26.102s
22 Sam SMELT (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +27.724s
23 Josh CAYGILL (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +33.556s
24 Ethan HAMMERTON (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +43.517s
25 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +1 lap
26 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing +1 lap
27 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +9 laps
28 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +10 laps
29 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +13 laps
30 Josh COOK (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +23 laps
31 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +23 laps

16th September 2018