While soft tires deteriorated quickly at Brands Hatch each car had to run them in one of the day’s three races. Priaulx, who started from the pole in race one, ran on soft tires. He was quick at the start but he fell back, finishing seventh. Collard won ahead of Volkswagen CC racers Aron Smith and Jason Plato.
As Priaulx ran the second fastest lap in race one he started race two on the front row next to pole sitter Plato. Plato led at the start, but fell back with a puncture, leaving Priaulx and Honda Civic R Type racer Gordon Shedden to battle for the lead. In the end Shedden edged out Priaulx by just .040 seconds. Sam Tordoff, the third WSR BMW racer, finished seventh, while Collard, on soft tires, finished fourteenth.
Race three starting positions in BTCC are decided by a lottery to select the position from which the top finishers are inverted. Ten was chosen, so Priaulx started ninth on the grid. He ran a strong race as the top ten cars stayed close together. Priaulx moved up to seventh after a safety car period and finished there. Honda racer Matt Neal won ahead of MG6 racer Jack Goff, Smith, and Tordoff in the best finishing BMW. Collard retired after he was punted off into the gravel at the start.
BTCC runs again on April 18 and 19 at Donington Park. Information on the series, the drivers, and the teams is available on the BTCC website.—Brian S. Morgan
