DRIVER ANALYSIS
MATT NEAL Team Dynamics Honda
The Honda driver had warned that this circuit would play to the strengths of the Civic – and boy, he was right. Pole was followed by a great start to win race one, and then a solid third place in the second event put him firmly in the hunt. Left with a happy haul of 45 points.
ANDREW JORDAN WSR BMW 125i M Sport
That Jordan was even able to get into the car last weekend was a miracle, given how poorly he was feeling. A stomach virus left him vomiting after every on-track session, and he had to get dispensation from the doctors to race. Two top six finishes were his reward until he was ruled out of race three on health grounds.
BRETT SMITH Eurotech Honda Civic
Qualified a superb third in his Civic, but fluffed his start in race one to drop to the fringes of the top 10, but banked eighth. A wild ride through the Church infield and damage in race three meant that he only had that race one score to cling on to.
DAN CAMMISH Team Dynamics Honda
For his first time at Thruxton, Cammish did a solid job in qualifying with third, but admitted that Neal had showed him a few tricks. Third in the opening race was strong and he should have been able to build from there. A slip off track at Church in race two caused a DNF. Was 13th in race three.
ADAM MORGAN Ciceley Mercedes-benz
The circuit has favoured the Merc in the past, but Morgan came to the meeting with 66kg. He lugged that to 14th in the opening race, but once free of the shackles, he flew. A climb to seventh in race two rewarded him with pole for race three – it was a chance he didn’t squander.
CHRIS SMILEY BTC Norlin Honda Civic
One of the stars of the show at Donington Park was on the pace yet again, despite not having had the benefit of a test at the circuit beforehand, like most others had. He qualified on row five and raced intelligently for three top 10s.
TOM ° INGRAM Speedworks Toyota
Stripped of a lap in qualifying that would have seen him line up in sixth, he started 10th but race one was his nadir, with an alternator problem forcing him to retire. The Toyota man was fired up on his climb from 32nd to 12th in race two and improved that to seventh in race three. A real rescue job.
SAM TORDOFF Motorbase Ford Focus
It was only poor fortune that had stopped Tordoff from being in the top six of the title hunt. Three excellent races at Thruxton provided him with three top four finishes – but that’s only lifted him to 14th in the table given his awful start to the year. There is plenty more to come with more performances like this.
TOM CHILTON Motorbase Ford Focus
Thruxton is his favourite circuit, and it is a joy to watch him attack it. However, the downside of his aggressive style is that the Dunlops don’t tend to last. Fifth in race one was a good starting point, but his weekend unravelled after that.
COLIN TURKINGTON WSR BMW 125i M Sport
A great return to form for Turkington, who hit the ground running from the moment the cars took to the track. Two podium finishes and a fifth place in race three made him the highest scorer in his most racy weekend of the season so far. He is back to the front and he is hungry to regain ground in the title chase.
JOSH COOK Power Maxedvauxhall
Went the wrong way with set-up in qualifying and was on a rescue mission after that. Fought up from 15th to ninth in race one, which set up a mighty charge in race two with only 15kg of ballast on the Astra (including a controversial pass on Jordan). The flip side was 75kg for race three, but sixth capped a solid weekend.
ASH SUTTON Team BMR Subaru Levorg
The Subarus were nowhere at the weekend, but Sutton can always be relied upon to drag the most available from it. That proved to be 11th in race two. Race three was a write-off after a driveshaft failure on the warm-up lap and then a spin.
JACK GOFF Eurotech Honda Civic
Goff was mystified with his car in race one, with a lack of straight-line speed hampering him. He worked hard with the team to rectify the issue and they turned a corner after his 13th in race one. Eighth in race two pointed the way, but he still had to pass six other cars for second in race three, which he did with aplomb.
SENNA PROCTOR Power Maxedvauxhall
The teenager was one of the most spectacular drivers around the fast sweepers at the back of the track but was racing with one eye on contact: one more penalty and he will earn a one-race ban. Was sensible for all three races, and showed maturity to let Goff into second in race three when his tyres wilted rather than battle too hard.
ROB COLLARD WSR BMW 125i M Sport
A tough weekend for Collard, who was all at sea with the set-up of the BMW throughout qualifying and races one and two. He was suffering from understeer and couldn’t shake it off. A battling 10th in race three was the only solace.