BTCC Touring Cars - Rounds 5 & 6 - Thruxton

Click on the small image to reveal full the size photograph
All photographs copyright (c) Kelvin Fagan 2002

British Touring Car Championship
Sprint Race 15 Laps

Anthony Reid kept up MG Sport and Racing's run of podium finishes with third place in the opening 15-lap Sprint Race at Thruxton this afternoon. Battling for position all the way through the 15-lap race, Reid was right with the car in second at the end. Team-mate Warren Hughes finished eleventh after being hit by another car on the opening lap – effecting his handling.

The high-speed Hampshire circuit poses some unique challenges, and Reid was initially third, only to lose a place to Matt Neal on the fourth lap: “I had some oversteer at Church – which is a sixth gear, 130mph corner – and Matt Neal had the momentum to go past me,” explained Anthony.

Anthony stayed with Neal, taking third when Yvan Muller retired from second place with a mechanical problem.
" I'm pleased to take finish in the points again and on the podium,” said Anthony. “This race showed what a good car the MG ZS EX260 is, it was great through the corners."

Warren had to battle a handling problem for much of the race – courtesy of contact from another car - and ultimately finished eleventh.
"I got a good hit on the opening lap, it put me into a half-spin” explained Warren. “That effected the handling and it was a really hard race from then on."

The Team Atomic Kitten MGs had mixed fortunes. Gareth Howell was in the thick of a dicing clutch of cars and came home tenth, while Colin Turkington retired from seventh after a wheel problem. "The car is good round here,” said Gareth, “we're going to make some changes before the Feature Race, but that race was a real battle." "I lost a rear wheel," explained Colin. "It was a shame – the car was good and I could do what I wanted with it."

1 James Thompson GB Vauxhall Motorsport Astra 19mins47.539secs
2 Matt Neal GB Egg Sport Vauxhall Astra -2.402secs
3 Anthony Reid GB MG Sport and Racing ZS EX260 -2.882secs
4 Andy Priaulx GB Honda Racing Civic Type-R -10.239secs
5 Tim Harvey GB Team Halfords Peugeot 406 Coupe -16.953secs
6 Dan Eaves GB Team Halfords Peugeot 406 Coupe -17.196secs
7 Aaron Slight NZ Barwell Motorsport Vauxhall Astra -19.841secs
8 Paul O'Neill GB Egg Sport Vauxhall Astra -21.995secs
9 David Leslie GB TSP Proton Impian -23.172secs
10 Gareth Howell GB Team Atomic Kitten MG ZS EX259 -24.61secs

British Touring Car Championship
Feature Race – 30 Laps

Thruxton's 30-lap Feature Race proved a disappointing one for MG Sport and Racing. Anthony Reid – third in the Sprint Race earlier in the afternoon – was eliminated in an incident with another car, which also led to the retirement of Team Atomic Kitten's Colin Turkington. Warren Hughes was running well until a problem on his pit stop saw him stationary in the pits for much longer than intended – putting a strong finish out of his reach.

Anthony was running fourth – and battling for third – on lap 21 when contact was made to the rear of his MG ZS EX260. Anthony said: “In the second race I had 42kg extra (success ballast) but it didn't alter the handling although I could feel the weight was there. The team made a fantastic pit stop and I got back out there to battle with Matt (Neal) and Colin (Turkington). Coming out of chicane and along the pit straight I had a nudge from behind, which spun me around and I collected Colin Turkington. Disappointed - but I'm really pleased with the progress we've made with the mechanics of the car this weekend.”

Warren was much happier with his car after repairs to the damage from when he had been hit in the opening race, which made his wheel problem all the more frustrating: “The car was much improved for the second race after repairing suspension damage. I was doing some competitive lap times in the first stint before the pit stop. At the pit stop we had a problem changing the front right wheel due to a nut cross-threading. I lost valuable time in the pits and it was game over really for a decent result. It's been a disappointing weekend for me but it means I'm not carrying any weight into the next round.”

Both Team Atomic Kitten MGs suffered punctures, causing them to make extra pit stops, Gareth Howell finishing down the order after Colin Turkington was eliminated.

Commenting on the weekend, MG Sport and Racing MD Rob Oldaker said: “MG has had a mixed weekend really. Firstly, pre qualifying at Le Mans with a 5th and 8th against the best in the world is terrific. Today at Thruxton we gained another podium finish but incidents in the feature race meant a disappointing 10th place for Warren. But, looking on the positive side, we go to Silverstone with no extra weight.”

Dick Bennetts, managing director, WSR, summed up the team's weekend: “I'm very pleased with our qualifying positions. Getting a podium in round 5 was fantastic and we were looking forward to a similar result in the feature race. Anthony and Matt Neal's contact however, resulted in Anthony and Colin retiring, which was a disappointment for Anthony and the team.”