Halfords Yuasa Racing's Matt Neal secured victory in the final BTCC race at Oulton Park, whilst Sam Tordoff claimed an impressive second place finish to maintain the lead of the overall standings.
Tordoff tops Neal by just one point in the championship, with both drivers now pulling clear of the chasing pack after impressive performances in the final encounter in Cheshire.
Honda originally looked in place to score a one-two finish after Gordon Shedden muscled his way past Josh Cook's MG on the opening lap. The two bright orange Civic Type Rs immediately pulled away from the rest of the field, but reigning champ Shedden was never close enough to challenge his team-mate. Disaster struck for the Scotsman on the penultimate lap when a puncture forced him out of contention.
Cook – already reeling from the earlier attack by Shedden – was now embroiled in a fairly heated debate with Tom Ingram's Toyota, as the pair tapped and nudged their way through the entire contest. The battle would eventually play into the hands of the experienced Jason Plato. Ingram was run onto the grass as the gaggle of cars ran down to Lodge for the final time. The Speedworks star was detemined not to let Cook past, but in holding up his rival he merely opened the door for the Silverline Subaru BMR Racing car of Plato to run around the outside and steal the final place on the podium.
Rob Collard also made his final move on the run to the chequered flag, rounding off a staggering display from the Team JCT600 with GardX driver. The veteran had seemingly carved his way through the field in each of the Oulton Park races but misfortune had so far prevented him from scoring a top result. He would not be denied in race three, however, as he stormed from 25th to sixth - beating Colin Turkington's Subaru to the line by just 0.041s.
Andrew Jordan was eighth for Motorbase Performance, whilst Jake Hill and Adam Morgan were provided with some positives following a bruising day of action. Hill had driven well in the earlier bouts but had to wait until the final race for a well deserved top ten finish, as did Morgan, who had wrestled balance problems with his WIX Racing Mercedes A Class for the entire weekend.
2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 12 – Oulton Park
1 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing 22m 18.716s
2 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +9.481s
3 Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +11.662s
4 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +11.760s
5 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +11.827s
6 Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +12.015s
7 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +12.056s
8 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +12.299s
9 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +12.494s
10 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +12.936s
11 Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +13.589s
12 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +13.853s
13 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +15.163s
14 Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing with Team Parker +15.880s
15 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +17.775s
16 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +18.629s
17 Daniel WELCH (GBR) Goodstone Racing +22.670s
18 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +23.262s
19 Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +23.457s
20 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +25.925s
21 Chris SMILEY (GBR) TLC Racing +30.492s
22 Kelvin FLETCHER (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +43.085s
23 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +44.168s
24 Warren SCOTT (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing+58.224s
25 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com +1 lap
DNF Dan LLOYD (GBR) Eurotech Racing +3 laps
DNF Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR +3 laps
DNF James COLE (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +4 laps
DNF Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +8 laps
DNF Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +8 laps
DNF Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club 0 laps
DNF Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport 0 laps
