Onslow-Cole wins first Oulton race

Date published : 06 Jun 2010 - 12:12:03

Tom Onslow-Cole took his second British Touring Car Championship victory of the year in the opening race of the day at Oulton Park.The Arena Ford driver started from pole position and led the whole race, despite incessant pressure from Honda's Gordon Shedden.Rob Collard moved his WSR BMW ahead of Jason Plato's Chevrolet into Old Hall on the second lap and latched onto Shedden's tail as the front three opened up a lead of a second on the rest.Onslow-Cole, Shedden and Collard remained tied together throughout most the 17 laps, with Collard three times drawing alongside Shedden's Civic on the run out of the Island hairpin, only for the Scotsman to defend his position well.Onslow-Cole, who was himself hit by Shedden at Island on lap 12, hung on to win by 0.348s. After inheriting a victory at Brands Hatch after on-the-road winner Tom Chilton was disqualified, this was his first 'proper' success since Thruxton in 2008.Behind the front three, Plato held fourth for most of the race, but lost it when Mat Jackson hit him from behind at Cascades with three laps to go.Plato skated across the grass and dropped to 10th in the process while Jackson's Motorbase BMW came home fourth.Chilton (Arena Ford), Steven Kane (Motorbase BMW) and Alex MacDowall (Chevrolet) were next up, while Matt Neal's eighth place gave the Honda driver a two-point lead in the championship over Plato.Paul O'Neill, who began the day fourth in the championship, did not start the race after a late gearbox change for his Tech-Speed Honda.Andrew Jordan, who started last after an engine change forced him to miss qualifying, also retired with falling oil pressure. The Eurotech Vauxhall driver will miss the second race while the team replaces another engine.Pos Driver Team Time/Gap 1. Tom Onslow-Cole Ford 26m23.471s 2. Gordon Shedden Honda +0.348 3. Rob Collard BMW +1.173 4. Mat Jackson BMW +2.097 5. Tom Chilton Ford +2.862 6. Steven Kane BMW +3.464 7. Alex MacDowall Chevrolet +5.120 8. Matt Neal Honda +6.090 9. James Nash Vauxhall +6.33010. Jason Plato Chevrolet +11.62911. Andy Neate BMW +16.85112. John George Honda +17.91113. Lea Wood Honda +18.86814. Martin Depper BMW +19.02515. Martin Johnson Vauxhall +40.58516. Arthur Forster BMW +41.07217. Shaun Hollamby Volkswagen +6 lapsNot classified David Pinkney Vauxhall 10 laps Andrew Jordan Vauxhall 4 laps Matthew Hamilton Honda 2 laps Tom Boardman SEAT 1 lap Paul O'Neill Honda 0 laps