BTCC: Adam Morgan keeps his cool in Thruxton heat to move into title contention as Honda struggle

High temperatures and punctures were the order of the day in a dramatic three races at Thruxton

Adam Morgan clinched a race win and two thirds at Thruxton (BTCC)

Adam Morgan announced himself as a genuine British Touring Car Championship title contender after becoming the first double-winner of the season after securing three podiums from three races at Thruxton.

Race day was blighted by tyre troubles due to the unexpected hot temperatures for the weekend, with race one seeing four punctures cause chaos and lead to the remaining races being reduced from 16 to 12 laps on safety grounds following talks between BTCC officials and tyre suppliers Dunlop.

The decision was take due to the events in the opening race, which saw Tom Ingram lead from pole ahead of the fast-starting Honda Yuasa Racing Civic Type R of Matt Neal, who despite carrying maximum ballast from his race three win at Donington Park was able to leapfrog Aiden Moffat.

Both Ingram and Moffat were shuffled down the order though after contact at The Complex on the opening lap, allowing Neal to take the lead ahead of MG Racing’s Josh Cook and WIX Racing’s Morgan in the Mercedes A-Class.

Morgan soon passed Cook and took advantage of Neal’s conservative approach over the kerbs in the final chicane to pass the Honda on the start/finish straight before building a gap out on front.

Moffat repeated the move on Neal, only to suffer a puncture on lap 10 as the chaos began. Matt Jackson, in the Motorbase Performance Ford Focus, also saw a puncture ruin his race as well as the right-rear bodywork due to the delaminating tyre, but it would be Neal’s troubles that would trigger a red flag and bring a premature end to the race.


 Josh Cook inspects the damage to his MG after hitting Matt Neil 
 (BTCC)

Neal suffered a puncture on the run to the Club Chicane, forcing him wide and leaving a gap on the inside of the exit for Ingram to dive through. Following the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota were a string of cars, and when Neal tried to force his way into the pit lane he was collected by an unsighted Cook that triggered a big accident, with Neal’s teammate Gordon Shedden, Eurotech Racing’s Jeff Smith and Jake Hill in the RCIB Insurance Racing Avensis all being caught up in the crash. With cars littered across the start-finish straight, the race was red flagged to hand Morgan victory ahead of Ingram and Andrew Jordan.

News came that the remaining two races would be reduced by four laps in a bid to avoid the tyre issues that blighted race one. Morgan got a strong start from pole with Jordan getting by Ingram off the start with the latter hit with a drive-through penalty for a jump start.

Jordan had to wait until the penultimate lap before he could get by Morgan, who was beginning to struggle with the extra weight, and the West Surrey Racing BMWs of Rob Collard, Jack Goff and Sam Tordoff were in close pursuit. Collard was able to get by for second, but both Goff and Tordoff were caught napping by a charging Shedden who had come from the rear of the field to finish fourth behind Morgan, with Jordan holding off Collard to take his first win since Croft in 2014

The reverse grid for the final race of the day saw Dan Welch’s Proton put on pole ahead of Jackson, but the Motorbase Focus flew off the line to take a lead he would not relinquish. Welch would be taken out of the running a few laps later with broken right-front suspension at Segrave.

That move Shedden up to second, but the reigning champion miraculously prevented himself from going off after contact from Collard, with his Honda at nearly 90 degrees before he recovered. The contact did allow Goff and Neal through, and Neal would find a way past the BMW into second.


 Andrew Jordan passes Adam Morgan on the way to race two victory 
 (BTCC)

That left Goff open to attack from Shedden down the back-straight, but as the Honda rounded the BMW on the outside, Goff locked up and hit Shedden heavily, sending both of them off and forcing Shedden out of the race as he pulled off into the pit exit. The crash allowed Morgan to benefit and secure his third podium of the day, with Jackson just holding off Neal for the win despite the charging Honda driver catching Jackson incredibly fast on the final lap to come home just two-tenths of a second behind the race winner.

Mat Jackson crosses the line ti win race three ahead of Matt Neil (Getty)

The result saw Neal just about hold on to first place in the drivers’ standings, although he was joined by Collard on 101 points with Morgan just three points further back and Jackson moving on to 90 points.

Results

Race 1: 1 Adam Morgan (Gbr) Mercedes Benz 14mins 41.826secs, 2 Tom Ingram (Gbr) Toyota 14:45.136, 3 Andrew Jordan (Gbr) Ford 14:45.646, 4 Jeff Smith (Gbr) Honda 14:46.941, 5 Martin Depper (Gbr) Honda 14:47.650, 6 Rob Collard (Gbr) BMW 14:48.290, 7 Sam Tordoff (Gbr) BMW 14:48.758, 8 Jack Goff (Gbr) BMW 14:50.005, 9 Daniel Welch (Gbr) Proton 14:50.498, 10 Jake Hill (Gbr) Toyota 14:50.635

Race 2: 1 Andrew Jordan (Gbr) Ford 15mins 59.415secs, 2 Rob Collard (Gbr) BMW 15:59.816, 3 Adam Morgan (Gbr) Mercedes Benz 16:01.206, 4 Gordon Shedden (Gbr) Honda 16:01.393, 5 Jack Goff (Gbr) BMW 16:02.201, 6 Sam Tordoff (Gbr) BMW 16:02.432, 7 Daniel Lloyd (Gbr) Vauxhall 16:02.898, 8 Mat Jackson (Gbr) Ford 16:05.616, 9 Daniel Welch (Gbr) Proton 16:06.449, 10 Rob Austin (Gbr) Toyota 16:06.675

Race 3: 1 Mat Jackson (Gbr) Ford 15mins 54.641secs, 2 Matt Neal (Gbr) Honda 15:54.897, 3 Adam Morgan (Gbr) Mercedes Benz 15:59.209, 4 Josh Cook (Gbr) MG 15:59.407, 5 Ashley Sutton (Gbr) MG 15:59.647, 6 Rob Collard (Gbr) BMW 16:00.101, 7 Rob Austin (Gbr) Toyota 16:00.723, 8 Sam Tordoff (Gbr) BMW 16:00.932, 9 Daniel Lloyd (Gbr) Vauxhall 16:05.174, 10 Mike Epps (Gbr) Toyota 16:05.974