BTCC Oulton Park – Rowbottom takes first BTCC win in two-part race

Dan Rowbottom took his first ever BTCC race win in round ten of the British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park in a two-part race.

On lap eight Tom Oliphant was pitched into a spin by Jason Plato, before being collected by Excelr8 drivers Chris Smiley and Rick Parfitt. On the restart Rowbottom took the lead and held on for the win.

The two Team Dynamics Honda’s made the best start and swamped pole sitter Senna Proctor at the start. Shedden led with Rowbottom close behind, Proctor fell to fifth with Morgan and Butcher getting past too.

Into the long sweeping left hander at Cascades, a few cars were forced off track, with Colin Turkington being one of them, sending him to the back.

By lap three the Honda’s were two seconds clear, as there were five second penalties dished out to Josh Cook, Ollie Jackson and Sam Smelt for being out of position at the start.

With title challenger Tom Ingram starting at the back of the grid, Ash Sutton was thinking about capitalizing on his rival being at the back. However Sutton was in the pits on lap four and fell to the back.

Proctor was recovering from his poor start and by lap seven he managed to pass Butcher at the tight hairpin and went into fourth place.

On lap eight Jason Plato dived down the inside of Tom Oliphant at the final corner, and made contact, spinning the BMW round and leaving him stationary at the top of the hill.

He was an innocent bystander as Chris Smiley hit him, and then shortly after RIck Parfitt careened into him to bring out the red flag. After a short period once debris was cleared, there was a six lap restart.

On the restart Rowbottom held onto the lead and held on, despite a strong fight from his team mate Gordon Shedden. The Scot has previous at Oulton when fighting with team mates, having collided with team mate Matt Neal a few years back to deny the team a 1-2.

Rowbottom held on for his first BTCC win with Shedden, Morgan, Butcher, Jelley, Moffat, Plato, Hill, Proctor and Goff rounding off the top ten.

Pos Driver Car Team +/-
1 Dan Rowbottom Honda Civic Type R Team Dynamics 8:45:702
2 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic Type R Team Dynamics +0.384
3 Adam Morgan BMW 330i M Sport Ciceley +2.104
4 Rory Butcher Toyota Corolla Toyota Gazoo +5.885
5 Stephen Jelley BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +6.170
6 Aiden Moffat Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +7.053
7 Jason Plato Vauxhall Astra Power Maxed +7.469
8 Jake Hill Ford Focus MB Motorsport +7.829
9 Senna Proctor Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +8.082
10 Jack Goff Cupra Leon Team HARD +8.444
11 Carl Boardley Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +9.405
12 Ollie Jackson Ford Focus MB Motorsport +10.629
13 Dan Lloyd Vauxhall Astra Vauxhall Astra +10.897
14 Ash Sutton Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +10.955
15 Josh Cook Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +11.690
16 Aron Taylor-Smith Cupra Leon Team HARD +14.195
17 Tom Chilton BMW 330i M Sport Ciceley +14.373
18 Colin Turkington BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +14.593
19 Tom Ingram Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +15.331
20 Jack Butel Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +15.580
21 Jade Edwards Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +16.384
22 Jack Mitchell Cupra Leon Team HARD +17.203
23 Sam Smelt Toyota Corolla Toyota Gazoo +17.530
24 Sam Osborne Ford Focus Motorbase +4 Laps
Retirements
DNF Rick Parfitt Jr Hyundai i30N Excelr8 Crash
DNF Chris Smiley Hyundai i30N Excelr8 Crash
DNF Tom Oliphant BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR Crash
DNS Nicholas Hamilton Cupra Leon Team HARD Mechanical

 

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