Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park

Words and Images by Chris Roberts/WiderViewPhoto.co.uk

The 4th round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship took place at the picturesque and undulating circuit of Oulton Park, Cheshire. For the 1st time since 1997 the championship used the longer International layout.

Turkington moves to the top of the Leaderboard Turkington with son and team boss Dick Bennetts Colin Turkington has reached the top of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship for the first time since his 2009 title success, claiming a dominant double victory at Oulton Park today (8 June). The 32-year-old dictated proceedings from the outset, securing pole position in a damp qualifying session on Saturday ahead of MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save’s Jason Plato and Honda Yuasa Racing’s Gordon Shedden. eBay Motors went on to enjoy a one-two finish in Sunday’s opening race in perfect conditions as Turkington held off a sustained challenge from team-mate Rob Collard. Collard got the jump on Plato and Shedden off the line and was able to protect the sister BMW ahead of him in the opening laps. The duo gradually pulled clear and although Collard remained in touching distance for the entire race, he was never close enough to make a move on Turkington. Plato and Shedden held station behind with the former completing the podium positions. Turkington doubled up in commanding fashion as he stormed to his fourth win of the season in the Turkington leads team mate Collard and Austin second contest, whilst fans’ favourite Rob Austin reached the rostrum for the first time in 2014 with a second place finish. Collard impressed again with another podium as he moved into the championship top five. Irishman Aron Smith scored a second career victory in the final showdown, leading from lights-to-flag in treacherous conditions after a deluge of rain descended on the Cheshire circuit shortly before the start. Despite coming under intense pressure throughout, the VW driver brought the car home to claim a maiden success for Team BMR. Shedden took second to move within nine points of Turkington in the standings; completing a trio of top five finishes for the Scotsman. Shedden’s team-mate Matt Neal endured a forgettable weekend, however, as the Honda driver could only muster a best of 12th place and he now risks being cut adrift from the main contenders. Reigning champion Andrew Jordan didn’t fair much better as he not only relinquished his lead in the standings but slipped some 25 points back after collecting his lowest event points haul since 2011. A full set of images can be found at my Flickr feed