BTCC - Knockhill: Two wins for Subaru, one victory for Toyota
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing Team’s Jason Plato and Ashley Sutton are the winners of two races in the seventh round of the 2017 British Touring Car Championship at the Knockhill Racing Circuit in Scotland. The winner of the third race was Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram in a Toyota Avensis.
Team BMW’s Colin Turkington scored finished third in all three races at Knockhill, taking the championship lead after twenty-one races in 2017.
Jason Plato wins Sunday’s first race at Knockhill
96th career victory for Jason Plato
Jason Plato confirmed his status of the most successful driver in the BTCC history with his 96th career win in Sunday’s first race which he started from the pole position. It was his 50th BTCC pole position in a career.
All four starters from two front rows remained on their positions until the end of the race. Subaru Levorgs occupied the front row and Plato won the race ahead of his teammate Ashley Sutton. Team BMW’s Colin Turkington and Rob Collard started from P3 and P4, finishing the race in the same order after 24 laps.
James Cole made it three Levorgs in the Top 5, beating Tom Ingram’s Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis. Rookie Senna Proctor showed his potential by finishing seventh with Power Maxed Racing’s Vauxhall Astra. Championship leader Gordon Shedden finished in the 11th place, losing a lead to Colin Turkington.
Ash Sutton wins Race 2 at Knockhill
Fifth win of the season for Ash Sutton
In the second race, top five places were occupied by the same drivers as in the first race. Ash Sutton won the race ahead of Jason Plato, scoring his fifth win of the season in the #116 Subaru Levorg. Colin Turkington and Rob Collard finished at P3 and P4 again. James Cole was fifth again.
The race had two part. Soon after the start five cars were involved to a multi-car accident on the opening lap. With cars scattered in the gravel and across the track the race was inevitably red flagged. After the restart, Plato was leading until lap 11, when Sutton made a move to earn a victory which help him to stay close in the championship contention.
Colin Turkington finished third again to maintained his championship-leading position. Rob Collard finished fourth and also stayed in a game for the championship title. Halfords Yuasa Racing’s Gordon Shedden finished in the sixth place.
Tom Ingram scored hos third win of the season at Knockhill
Third win for Tom Ingram
Tom Ingram was a dominant driver in Speedworks Motorsport’s #80 Toyota Avensis in the third race of the weekend. He started third on the grid, behind Ant Whorton-Eales and Rory Butcher. Ingram jumped to P2 on the opening lap and then inherited a lead on the next lap following a mistake of race leader Whorton-Eales, who damaged his Audi.
After that, Ingram built a gap to seven seconds ahead of Gordon Shedden before the Safety Car was deployed on lap 18. The race was interrupted because Ollie Jackson’s Audi stopped on track. Ingram easily defended a lead on the restart. One more Safety Car period followed when Will Burns went off the road to the barrier. Ingram stayed in front on the last restart to take his third win of the season.
Four championship contender were behind Ingram’s back until the penultimate lap when Rob Collard made a mistake and dropped from P3 to P11. His mistake promoted Colin Turkington to P3 and his third podium of the weekend, behind Scotsman Gordon Shedden. Ashley Sutton finished fourth, passing his teammate James Cole on the last lap.
Check the full results of BTCC races at Knockhill
After seven rounds and 21 races, Colin Turkington (West Surrey Racing/Team BMW) leads with 265 points, four more than Ashley Sutton (Team BMR/Adrian Flux Subaru Racing). Gordon Shedden (Team Dynamics/Halfords Yuasa Racing) is third with 253 points on his account, five more than Team BMW’s Rob Collard.
The next BTCC round is scheduled for August 27 at Rockingham Motor Speedway.
Photos: btcc.net,
