Miss anything? Read our Thruxton recap

Thruxton saw another 3 different winners in the 2009 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship. In three action packed races, Vauxhall took their first 1-2-3 in five years, Fabrizio Giovanardi climbed back into contention for the championship, Colin Turkington took his and Team RAC’s first win of the season and series returnee Mat Jackson took another win for RML. Here we bring you a driver-by-driver round-up of the weekend in championship order.

Matt Neal (Currently 1st in driver’s championship, 64 points)

Took two more podium finishes to prove that he is once again Mr consistency in the 2009 field. Followed Giovanardi home in the first race, happy to settle for a generous helping of points. In the second race he applied more pressure on the Italian for the win, but ultimately lost out to Colin Turkington and slipped to third as his tyres went off. In the final race of the day, starting from eighth position and carrying 27kg of ballast he could only manage seventh place as the best of the works drivers.

Colin Turkington (Currently 2nd in driver’s championship, 58 points)

Took his and Team RAC’s first win of the season with an excellent performance in race two, after having earlier had to settle for fourth in race one behind the three Vauxhall’s. His move around the outside of Giovanardi to take the win was superb, and he later admitted it was one of his best wins. The third race of the day saw Turkington land 10th on the grid and the race was a struggle to ninth from there whilst carrying maximum ballast.

Fabrizio Giovanardi (Currently 3rd in driver’s championship, 47 points)

Came to Thruxton needing a strong weekend after a disastrous Brands Hatch by the Italian’s high standards. Duly got what he wanted, with a win, a second place and an eighth, outscoring everyone else. Benefitted from not carrying any ballast in the first race, with a fully-ballasted team-mate Neal happy to settle for second making Giovanardi’s job easier. Carrying maximum lead in race two, Giovanardi lead for the majority before losing out to Turkington on the final lap as his tyres went off. Admitted to suffering with the set-up in the final race and made little progress from his grid position.

Rob Collard (Currently 4th in driver’s championship, 41 points)

Came to Thruxton hoping to pick up healthy points at his local track, knowing that the car is not at its strongest on the high-speed circuit. In race one he was battling with Jelley for eighth when contact caused him to spin out, dropping him to 17th. Fought back in race two to finish fifth - 12 places higher than where he started. Started and finishes 5th in race three but was involved in close battles all race-long with James Thompson, Matt Neal and Jason Plato.

Jason Plato (Currently 5th in driver’s championship, 36 points)

Had a much more low-key weekend than Brands. Admitted that Thruxton should suit the Chevrolet, but on race day he could do no better than a 10th, 6th and 4th place finish respectively. Was hampered in race one by a vibration that caused him to pit to be on the safe side, with a later safety car spell allowing him to catch the pack up and salvage a point. Raced to sixth in round five and was involved in a coming-together with Paul O’Neill. Benefitted a single position in the reverse grid for race three and finished fourth.

Adam Jones (Currently 6th in driver’s championship, 34 points)

Continued his impressive run of consistency for Cartridge World Carbon Zero Racing, giving the team something to cheer about as team-mate Eaves had a torrid weekend. Sixth in race one, eighth in race two and a superb second in race three gave Jones plenty to cheer about. He has now scored four second-placed finishes in his BTCC career and surely a debut win is just around the corner.

Stephen Jelley (Currently 7th in driver’s championship, 29 points)

Went even better than his Brands Hatch meeting to show that he is continuing to develop as a BTCC racer. Another seventh and fourth place finishes in the first two races (just like Brands) but this time added a sixth in the final race to make this his strongest BTCC race weekend. Contact with Collard in the opening race was the only downside to his day’s racing.

Mat Jackson (Currently 8th in driver’s championship, 22 points)

Announced his return to the championship with RML shortly before the weekend, in similar style to Plato a few weekes previously. Having never raced a Chevrolet Lacetti before he was learning about the car all weekend. Put in consistent times through free practice and set 10th fastest time in the all-important qualifying session. Finished the strongest Chevrolet driver in his first race of ‘09 after Plato pitted and followed it up with another points finish in race two. Was given a front-row grid slot for the final race of the day and led every lap of the race on his way to victory after getting the jump on pole man O’Neill at the start.

Jonathan Adam (Currently 9th in driver’s championship, 16 points)

Difficult qualifying session saw him line up on the sixth row of the grid, alongside Collard. Was involved in close battles in the lower half of the top ten in race one but tyre wear eventually dropped him to 12th. Only went one place better in Round 5, just missing out on the points with 11th. Round 6 would prove to be another challenging race as the youngster spun out after slightly touching the grass, dropping him to the back of the field. Eventually fought back to twelfth, but admitted it was a tough and frustrating weekend.

Andrew Jordan (Currently 9th in driver’s championship, 16 points)

After an unlucky Brands Hatch, Thruxton promised so much more for Jordan. Completed a Vauxhall 1-2-3 in the first race, but it was all downhill from there on. Contact with Jelley in the second race forced him onto the grass and in a spin down to last place. Was running in 13th in the final race of the day when a puncture scuppered any chance of a points finish.

James Thompson (Currently 11th in driver’s championship, 14 points)

Was announced as the replacement for Gordon Shedden shortly after Brands Hatch, making it four previous champions out to do battle at Thruxton. Despite still getting used to the car over the weekend put in some impressive performances and was involved in many close battles. Finished 11th in his first BTCC race since 2006 after close battles with the three Chevrolet drivers. Took a solid seventh in race two and made it onto the podium for the third race.

Gordon Shedden (Replaced by James Thompson for the rest of the season)

Dan Eaves (Currently 13th in driver’s championship, 10 points)

After an impressive return at Brands, Eaves Thruxton weekend can be considered nothing other than a disaster. After qualifying in ninth, Eaves was unable to even make the start of the first race after breaking his car’s steering rack on the formation lap. In race two he received a punt from Nick Leason’s BMW, pitching him backwards into the barrier at high speed and causing substantial damage to the car. The team still managed to get him out for race three, but contact with the Ford Focus of Tom Chilton ended that race early as well.

“I was catching Mat and I honestly think we would have won that race without the Safety Car” - Paul O’Neill

The Rest

Harry Vaulkhard was unable to take full advantage of the top end power of the Chevrolet Lacetti and failed to add any points to his tally at Thruxton. Paul O’Neill returned to the championship in excellent style, lapping consistently inside the top ten in every session, and collecting two points finishes. Although he was knocked out of a strong points position in race two, it gave O’Neill a stronger starting position for the final race - pole. It could so easily have been a poidum or even a win but for a cruel puncture in the final race of the day when he was running in second position.