The second Round of the 2021 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship wasn’t without its fair share of drama, so a recap of the full 15-lap encounter will definitely come in handy for fans to make sure they didn’t miss a moment of the action!
The contest was interrupted by two major incidents, resulting in no fewer than four cars with significant damage, before Josh Cook doubled up, as the BTC Racing star scored his second victory of the day.
The Ford Focus of Andy Neate (Racing with Wera & Photon Group) made contact with Glynn Geddie’s Cupra Leon (Team HARD. with Autobrite Direct), whilst Jade Edwards’ Honda (PHSC with BTC Racing) was also collected as the cars ran through turn one for the first time.
All three cars made heavy contact with the barrier, and the Team HARD-run machine of Geddie barrel-rolled to an eventual standstill. The drivers involved were thankfully unharmed in the accident but the race was immediately halted by a red flag.
The restart got off to a similar start when the Toyota Gazoo Racing UK car of Rory Butcher slammed into a tyre-stack after a high-speed run through Noble, as the Scotsman battled with MB Motorsport accelerated by Blue Square’s Jake Hill and Ginsters EXCELR8 with TradePriceCars.com’s Tom Ingram.
The second race of the season eventually settled, but not before pole-sitter Cook had slid through the Complex into Ingram’s Hyundai i30N, although both cars were able to continue relatively unscathed.
Cook held P1 from start-to-finish and was joined by the perfect rear-gunner in the shape of BTC Racing team-mate Dan Cammish, who ensured that Hill had to settle for third – albeit securing a second impressive podium of the day for the Ford Focus man.
Halfords Racing with Cataclean’s Daniel Rowbottom snatched a fantastic fourth after he got the better of two-time champion Jason Plato, as the Honda driver made a stellar move stick on the exit of the final chicane.
Ingram claimed another top six finish, having been compromised by the earlier incident with Cook, as well as then dealing with the attentions of Team BMW’s Colin Turkington for much of the race.
Laser Tools Racing’s Aiden Moffat and Ash Sutton were eighth and ninth respectively, with the latter producing another stunning recovery drive following an early pit stop that sent him to the rear of the field.
The Team BMW duo of Tom Oliphant and Stephen Jelley were next in the order, with both having reason to celebrate post-race after it was confirmed that they would occupy the front row of the grid for the final encounter of the day.
The full result is available here and ITV’s race in 60-second highlights clip of the contest can be viewed below. Check back tomorrow for the final round from Thruxton’s season-opening race weekend!
