Four podiums at Donington for VX Racing

VX Racing held the lead in the Manufacturers/Constructors championship with four podium finishes for the team’s three drivers at the Donington round of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship this weekend. Matt Neal extended his lead in the Drivers’ standings to 13 points, with two podium finishes, Andrew Jordan recorded his first second place finish in BTCC, while reigning champion Fabrizio Giovanardi salvaged just one third position from the three races.

Heavy rain 15 minutes before the first race of the day laid the foundations for a dramatic spectacle around the Donington Park circuit this morning. Starting his first BTCC race from pole, 19 year-old Jordan initially struggled for traction off the line, but held his position into the first corner. Jordan then came under attack from James Thompson however, who managed to slip through into first place at Craner Curve. Behind him, Neal had made a good start from eighth, but was forced onto the grass half way round the first lap and dropped back to 15th place. Having started at the back of the grid, Giovanardi made a lightning start and was 14th place at the end of lap one.

In an action packed race Giovanardi was charging through the field and was eighth by lap five, while Neal was also making a good recovery following his excursion off track and was just behind his team mate in ninth place. The duo soon closed in on Jason Plato and Jonathan Adam, and as Plato made a move on Adam, Giovanardi also tried to find a way though. Behind him, Matt Neal took advantage of the battle ahead of him and passed his team mate to take seventh place and began to chase down Plato.

In a frustrating race for the 2008 champion, Giovanardi found himself held up behind various multi-car battles and lost out a number of times as various cars clashed and spun off track in front of him. In the closing stages of the race Giovanardi’s frustration was clear to see, as the VX Racing driver tried to pass a resilient Plato. Ahead of him, team mate Neal was clearly on a roll and had made it up to third place to make it a double podium for VX Racing, with Jordan crossing the line in a strong second place. Unable to find a way past Plato, Giovanardi had to be satisfied with eighth place.

Race two at Donington Park was a calmer affair as the rain ceased and the track dried out. Lining up in their finishing positions from race one, Jordan and Neal both carried success ballast of 36kg and 27kg respectively, while Giovanardi was free from ballast in eighth place on the grid. As the lights went out Rob Collard dived through the middle of the VX Racing cars of Jordan and Neal to take second place before the first corner. Neal wasn’t about to give though, and closed in on Collard and passed him to take second on lap five. Jordan tried to follow his team mate past the BMW, but sustained damage as he tagged the back of Collard’s car and retired a few corners later.

Jordan’s retirement elevated Giovanardi to fourth place, and the determined Italian was soon chasing down Adam for the final podium spot, passing the BMW driver on lap eight to take third and VX Racing’s second double podium of the day.

With the top ten finishers from race two reversed for race three, Giovanardi lined up eighth, with Neal tenth, both running with success ballast. Having retired from race two, Jordan started from 18th place. Light rain before the final race of the day provided tricky conditions as the drivers waited for the lights to go out. Giovanardi made a strong start and surged into sixth place, while Neal was forced to defend from Thompson off the line. All three VX Racing drivers were on a charge, by lap five Giovanardi was lying second , while Neal was involved in a prolonged battle with Turkington. Jordan was busy fighting his way through the field, passing both the Ford Focus cars and later David Pinkney to climb to eighth place. VX Racing saw a turn of fortunes in the final stages of the race however, as Neal and Jordan struggled to defend their positions with worn tyres. Giovanardi also lost out as he was tapped into a spin by Vaulkhard while running in second. Managing to recover the car, Giovanardi went on to cross the line fifth, while Neal was eighth with Jordan 11th.

Having taken seven podiums from nine starts, championship leader Matt Neal said, “After qualifying, it was going to be a really tough day today, but the car was fantastic in the first race. The second race also went really well so I knew we had a good car in the wet and in the dry. Unfortunately for the third race we got something in between. The car felt fantastic for the first five laps, and then as soon as I’d taken the edge off the front tyres I couldn’t really fight to keep position. It’s a shame but it’s a good weekend overall; I’ve had two podiums which I’m over the moon with.”

Reflecting on his race weekend, Jordan said, “I got a bit too much wheel spin off the start in race one and then was a bit too hot into the first corner and lost the back of the car which allowed James [Thompson] to get past me. Nevertheless, it was my best result in touring cars so far, so I was pleased with it. In the second race I tried to follow Matt (Neal) as he made a pass through the hairpin but I made contact with the rear of Collard’s car on the exit. It was game over then because I had a problem with the left front, which was really disappointing.

“Race three was also frustrating because I had good pace in the car but I used my tyres up to quickly in the first part of the race. Once the tyres had gone off there was nothing else we could do. It was a very frustrating weekend in many ways, we seem to have one good race and then problems, the pole was fantastic and the podium in the first race was good, but we just need to have a weekend where we are consistently up there.”

Giovanardi suffered a frustrating outing at Donington adding, “There was little I could do in the first race, I was caught up in everyone else’s battles and lost time in the middle of a bunch of drivers who were fighting for nothing. Even though I finished third in race two I was disappointed as I couldn’t catch Matt [Neal] and James [Thompson] who were both running with ballast. Race three could have been a really good result, but I lost out again, and I’m not happy about the move that Vaulkhard made, it ruined both our races.”

VX Racing lead the Teams’ and Manufacturers/Constructors’ Championships and Matt Neal heads the Drivers’ title chase by 13 points. The fight now moves on to Oulton Park from 30 – 31 May, for the fourth event of the 2009 season.