Team JCT600 with GardX driver Sam Tordoff scored a victory in the second Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship contest at Rockingham, producing yet another incredible drive in the BMW 125i M Sport.
Tordoff had earlier fought back from 28th on the race one grid to finish tenth in the opener, and he continued his surge through the order this time around by picking his way past several rivals in the early stages.
Running in third place by mid-distance, Tordoff then cruised up behind the Motorbase Performance duo of Andrew Jordan and Mat Jackson. He disposed of Jordan with consummate ease before repeating the trick by Jackson on lap nine.
"Fair play to the team because once again my engineer John made a big call with setup and it transformed the car – it was absolutely beautiful," enthused Tordoff. "It was probably my most enjoyable race ever. I could put the car wherever I wanted and after yesterday it’s a fantastic turnaround.
"I’ve become better at parking reservations to one side and concentrating on the driving, telling the guys it would be okay. The Fords knew what was coming. Fair play to them, they knew they were in a different race to me. Race three’s damage limitation. The hard tyre with 75kgs doesn’t bode well but we’ll take what we can get, hopefully a top 10."
The ballast-laden Ford of Jackson couldn't hang on to second either as he was first relegated by team-mate Jordan with West Surrey Racing's Rob Collard following suit in the closing stages.
"We thought there might be a win on with Mat (Jackson) on more weight," said Jordan. "I could see him struggling and with Sam’s (Tordoff) pace, I didn’t fight it too much. We had the call to make the right decision and play nicely. We’re clever boys and we know we don’t need to be fighting too hard.
"Mat’s fighting for championship points and it’s a good result really for the team and our sponsors. Up until a couple of laps from the end I was eking out time on Rob (Collard) but he made it really close right at the end."
Ashley Sutton took another top five finish for MG, although his stablemate Josh Cook was caught up in unfortunate first lap drama. Contact between the MG6 and Jason Plato's Subaru forced both cars out of contention.
Matt Neal maintained his consistent championship challenge with sixth, ahead of Aron Smith - the BKR man enjoying one his most competitive meetings since the team's fading early season form. Smith will have been further bouyed by the post-race reverse grid draw, which led to him being rewarded with pole position for today's final encounter.
The two Mercedes' squabbled over eighth place with WIX Racing's Adam Morgan eventually getting the better of Laser Tools Racing's Aiden Moffat.
Gordon Shedden rounded out the top ten having fallen down the order from pole position, with the team putting his difficult race down to tyre choice and the maximum success ballast being carried by his Honda Civic Type R.
2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 23 – Rockingham:
1 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX 22m44.838s (81.87 mph)
2 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Motorbase Performance +2.886s
3 Robert COLLARD (GBR) Team JCT600 Racing with GardX +3.085s
4 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Motorbase Performance +6.863s
5 Ash SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +15.027s
6 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +18.661s
7 Aron SMITH (IRL) BKR +21.341s
8 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +22.624s
9 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +25.489s
10 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +28.536s
11 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +29.025s
12 James COLE (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +29.937s
13 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com +30.221s
14 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +30.742s
15 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +37.517s
16 Jake HILL (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +45.687s
17 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +46.268s
18 Stewart LINES (GBR) Maximum Motorsport +46.474s
19 Alex MARTIN (GBR) Dextra Racing +46.775s
20 Mark HOWARD (GBR) BKR +1:11.838s
DNF Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +1 laps
NC Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +5 laps
NC Warren SCOTT (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +6 laps
DNF Jack GOFF (GBR) Team IHG Rewards Club +12 laps
DNF Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +12 laps
DNF Tony GILHAM (GBR) TLC/RCIB Insurance Racing +14 laps
DNF Martin DEPPER (GBR) Eurotech Racing +15 laps
DNF Jason PLATO (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +15 laps
DNF Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +16 laps
DNF Dan WELCH (GBR) Goodestone Racing +16 laps
