BTCC 2015 race report: Snetterton

Jack Goff takes his maiden BTCC race win, but it was Colin Turkington's day at Snetterton

Defending British Touring Car champion Colin Turkington made it two out of three victories at Snetterton this weekend.

The 2014 champion converted his pole position into a win for the opening race, followed home by teammates Aron Smith and Jason Plato for a Team BMR podium lockout. Turkington was never troubled throughout the race, as Smith and Plato were left in is dust to squabble over second and third, with a one-second gap between the pair for the majority of the race.

Meanwhile, the MG of Andrew Jordan kept pace with the Volkswagens and continued to hound Plato all the way to the finish. Former World Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx got in on the act and diverted Jordan’s attention from Plato by closing up to finish fifth, while Honda driver Matt Neal rounded off the top six places.

Thanks to his blistering pace in the first race and subsequent fastest lap, Turkington started race two on pole position. And despite carrying the extra maximum success ballast for his victorious efforts from race one, he continued his faultless drive in race two to once again take the chequered flag.

The poleman was aided by a less than sterling getaway from second-on-the-grid Sam Tordoff in his BMW 125i, who bogged down and slipped behind the Mercedes A-Class of Adam Morgan and Andy Priaulx.

Chaos ensued further back in the field, as Honda teammates Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden made contact with each other going into Hamilton corner halfway around the opening lap. The impact sent Shedden spiralling into the barrier and ending his race.

During the second lap, Aron Smith and Dave Newsham collided at Hamilton corner too, the damage proving terminal for both cars. As the race settled down, Turkington stayed in the zone all the way to the finish and led home Morgan, Priaulx, Plato and Tordoff.

Elsewhere, MG teammates Jack Goff and Andrew Jordan finished sixth and seventh, while Mat Jackson brought his Motorbase Ford Focus home in eighth.

The third and final race saw Jack Goff take his maiden BTCC race victory of his career and MG’s first race win of the season.

Goff made the most of his reverse grid pole position and led every lap of the race, soaking up the pressure and finishing ahead of Jason Plato and third-placed Andy Priaulx.

Priaulx made an expert overtake on Plato around the outside of Riches on the opening lap, but Plato showed his vast experience by re-taking second place back from Priaulx, after utilising his inside line gently squeezing the BMW in the esses.

During this fight, Goff extended his gap at the front to 1.9sec and held this margin until the penultimate lap when Plato started to close in on the MG.

Sam Tordoff couldn’t quite get within overtaking distance on Priaulx and settled for fourth place, while Andrew Jordan finished fifth and kept his championship chances alive. Elsewhere, Mat Jackson made an excellent pass on the in-form Colin Turkington to round off the top six.

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