Chilton leads Ford one-two

Date published : 22 Aug 2010 - 11:31:35

Tom Chilton headed a one-two finish for the Arena Ford squad in the opening British Touring Car Championship race at Silverstone.Chilton had trailed Onslow-Cole for the first half of the race, but on lap 12 the latter slowed on the start/finish straight, pulled off the racing line and dropped back to second.Onslow-Cole blamed a gearshifting problem on his lack of speed on that lap, but he was able to remain on Chilton's tail for the final 10 laps, finishing 0.2 seconds behind him.Jason Plato increased his championship lead to 27 points over Matt Neal as he took his Chevrolet to third place, ahead of his team-mate Alex MacDowall.Andrew Jordan drove well to fifth, staying right behind the Chevrolets for the entire distance in his Eurotech Vauxhall.Rob Collard (WSR BMW), held off a determined Paul O'Neill (Tech-Speed Honda) for most of the race, but pulled away from his rival to secure an easy sixth during the final laps.The most intense battle of the race came between Honda driver Neal and the Motorbase BMWs of Steven Kane and Mat Jackson.After hitting Kane's car at Luffield on lap 10, both Neal and the BMW man were passed by Jackson, but in Neal's attempts to regain eighth at Becketts next time round, he forced both himself and Jackson wide, both drivers losing ground.A recovering Neal eventually got by Kane on the last lap while his team-mate Gordon Shedden, who dropped to 19th at the start, fought back to complete the top 10.Pos Driver Car Time/Gap 1. Tom Chilton Ford 22m35.870s 2. Tom Onslow-Cole Ford + 0.282s 3. Jason Plato Chevrolet + 2.895s 4. Alex MacDowall Chevrolet + 3.071s 5. Andrew Jordan Vauxhall + 3.764s 6. Rob Collard BMW + 6.473s 7. Paul O'Neill Honda + 7.598s 8. Matt Neal Honda + 8.773s 9. Steven Kane BMW + 9.936s10. Gordon Shedden Honda + 10.386s11. James Nash Vauxhall + 10.940s12. Tom Boardman SEAT + 11.764s13. Mat Jackson BMW + 15.222s14. Philip Glew SEAT + 19.144s15. Andy Neate BMW + 23.721s16. Lea Wood Honda + 26.819s17. John George Honda + 40.784s18. Martin Johnson Vauxhall + 44.893s19. Arthur Forster BMW + 47.047s20. Martin Depper BMW + 53.210sRetirements: David Pinkney Vauxhall 8 laps Shaun Hollamby Volkswagen 0 laps