Jackson wins race one at Silverstone

Date published : 30 Aug 2009 - 11:12:19

Mat Jackson claimed his third British Touring Car Championship victory of the year in Race 1 at Silverstone, leading home an unprecedented 1-2-3 for the RML-run Chevrolets.Despite being beaten to the first corner by the Motorbase BMW of fellow front-row starter Rob Collard, Jackson spent only three laps behind his rival, putting a sensational move on Collard at Brooklands to grab a lead he would never lose.Collard began to back up the chasing back, his rear-wheel drive BMW seemingly unable to stick to the racing line as well as the front-wheel drive Chevrolets.Jason Plato made it by at Woodcote on lap 13, with James Nash in the third RML car following him through at the next corner. Nash claimed his first BTCC podium and also set the race's fastest lap in the process.Colin Turkington also made it by Collard to finish fourth after a solid race, the WSR BMW driver increasing his championship lead from nine points to 11 over Fabrizio Giovanardi.Giovanardi, though, was one of the stars of the race, climbing from eighth on the grid to fifth by the chequered flag, and lapping within three tenths of a second of the ultimate pace, while his Vauxhall team-mates were half a second slower.Former grand prix winner Johnny Herbert finished 13th on his BTCC debut in his Team Dynamics Honda, having had a terrific battle with Andrew Jordan's Vauxhall during the second half of the race.The race suffered two safety car periods, the first to remove the crashed cars of Tom Onslow-Cole (Arena Ford) and Anthony Reid (WSR BMW) from the gravel at Brooklands; and the second to clean up oil dropped by Martin Johnson's retired Boulevard Vauxhall.Classified:Pos Driver Make Time 1. Mat Jackson Chevrolet 29:26.257 2. Jason Plato Chevrolet + 1.246 3. James Nash Chevrolet + 1.497 4. Colin Turkington BMW + 2.220 5. F.Giovanardi Vauxhall + 3.067 6. Rob Collard BMW + 5.170 7. Stephen Jelley BMW + 5.286 8. Jonathan Adam BMW + 6.347 9. Paul O'Neill Honda + 6.69610. Matt Neal Vauxhall + 7.31011. Tom Chilton Ford + 7.43612. Andrew Jordan Vauxhall + 11.13513. Johnny Herbert Honda + 11.25314. Harry Vaulkhard Chevrolet + 16.51515. Martyn Bell Honda + 18.40316. John George Honda + 20.126Not classified: Driver Make Laps David Pinkney Honda 22 Martin Johnson Vauxhall 15 Anthony Reid BMW 3 Tom Onslow-Cole Ford 3Fastest lap: Nash, 1:00.941 on lap 10