BTCC 2001: Rounds 13 & 14 – Knockhill

It was over the border to Scotland for rounds 13 and 14 of the 2001 British Touring Car Championship. Knockhill was the location, just half an hour away from Edinburgh, and the teams arrived off the back of a Jason Plato victory last time out at Donington Park.

The demanding, undulating circuit meant the cars had to be set up with softer springs and heavier shock absorbers for the weekend.

And it was all change in the Lexus team, as Kurt Luby was replaced by his teammate, Brazilian driver, Tommy Erdos.

There was a new face in the Production class as well, as Gordon Shedden, an instructor at Knockhill, was to be behind the wheel of a GR Motorsport Ford Focus.

Round 13: Sprint Race

It was joy for Plato again as he took pole position, with teammate Yvan Muller taking the second spot on the grid. In usual fashion it was the two Egg Sport Vauxhalls of Thompson and Bennett on the second row, and a good start for Erdos saw his Lexus start in fifth.

In the Production class, Shedden’s local knowledge helped him to an impressive pole position in his first race, followed by James Kaye and Simon Harrison.

As the lights went out it was Muller who got the better start and was ahead of Plato by the first corner, and he managed to stay there.

In the Production race, Kaye had made it past Shedden from the start, but managed to get a huge tank slapper on with his cold tyres, opening the door for Shedden to re-pass.

Into the second lap and the Tourers were putting on a show. Flat out driving and plenty of sideways action. It was Muller who nearly binned it coming out of the chicane, but managed a spectacular save. His loss of momentum opened the door for Plato though, and he retook the lead.

Thompson also fancied a bit of the action, but Muller closed the door on him, taking some of his paintwork in the process.

Soper had taken Erdos early on, and was giving Phil Bennett a hard time in the Astra. As Soper took a wide line into the hairpin, he switched back but absolutely clattered Bennett, sending them both careering onto the grass.

On second viewing it looked like Bennett cut across Soper, who had the better exit. Both drivers not happy with each other.

Bennett recovered, but Soper had to retire and Erdos was into fourth.

In the Production class, Shedden was pulling out a decent gap on the two Hondas of Graves and Kaye following behind. But Harrison spotted an opportunity to take Kaye for third, and executed to perfection.

Dan Eaves had made it up to fourth place in the Touring class, but a huge lock-up sent him straight into the barrier and out of the race, again promoting Erdos to fourth.

As the Tourers made their way through the Production field, Thompson got a little impatient and spun Moen around. Thankfully for Moen, he escaped relatively unharmed.

But the race for the Production victory was far from over, and the Honda of Graves had gained ground on the Shedden’s Focus, and with a great move up the inside of the final bend, took the place.

As they entered the final lap, with abandoned cars strewn all over the circuit from various retirements, the lead Tourers were bearing down on the race for first in the Production class.

Shedden’s Focus was flying (literally, over the chicane) but he wasn’t able to catch Graves who took the win. Shedden in second, followed by Harrison in third.

Plato took the victory in the Touring class, followed by Muller and Thompson. Erdos picked up a decent fourth place in his first race.

Sprint Race Results

Position	Class	Driver	Team	Car	Laps	Time	Best
1	P	Simon GRAVES	Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell	Honda Accord	20	19:30.059	57.862
2		Jason PLATO	Vauxhall Motorsport	Vauxhall Astra Coupé	20	1.208	55.423
3		Yvan MULLER	Vauxhall Motorsport	Vauxhall Astra Coupé	20	2.696	1:43.660
4		Phil BENNETT	Egg Sport	Vauxhall Astra Coupé	20	4.635	1:44.396
5		Dan EAVES	Peugeot Sport UK	Peugeot 406 Coupé	20	9.603	1:44.908
6		Steve SOPER	Peugeot Sport UK	Peugeot 406 Coupé	20	10.625	1:44.887
7		Aaron SLIGHT	Peugeot Sport UK	Peugeot 406 Coupé	20	13.909	1:45.372
8	P	Roger MOEN	HTML	Peugeot 306 GTi	20	16.337	1:48.084
9	P	Gavin PYPER	GA-Janspeed Racing	Alfa Romeo 156	20	17.371	1:48.351
10	P	Mat JACKSON	GR Motorsport	Ford Focus	20	17.898	1:48.940
11	P	Rob COLLARD	Collard Racing	Renault Clio	20	22.577	1:49.509
12	P	James KAYE	Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell	Honda Accord	20	22.587	1:48.953
13	P	Jim EDWARDS Jnr	TCR/Interactive Network Solutions	Honda Accord	20	33.857	1:48.980
14	P	Rick KRAEMER	GR Motorsport	Ford Focus	20	35.203	1:50.789
15	P	Dave ALLAN	Synchro Motorsport	Honda Accord	20	36.379	1:50.996
16	P	Annie TEMPLETON	Tech-Speed Motorsport	Peugeot 306 GTi	20	45.46	1:52.486
17	P	Simon HARRISON	HTML	Peugeot 306 GTi	20	1:31.700	1:47.978
R	P	Colin BLAIR	GA-Janspeed Racing	Alfa Romeo 156	24	DNF	1:50.964
R	P	Simon HARRISON	HTML	Peugeot 306 GTi	23	DNF	1:48.432
R		Aaron SLIGHT	Peugeot Sport UK	Peugeot 406 Coupé	21	DNF	1:44.356
R		Phil BENNETT	Egg Sport	Vauxhall Astra Coupé	11	DNF	1:43.728
R	P	Nick BEAUMONT	Team B&Q/Talksport Radio	Honda Integra Type-R	0	DNF
R	P	Colin BLAIR	GA-Janspeed Racing	Alfa Romeo 156	0	DNF	N/A
NS	P	Nick BEAUMONT	Team B&Q/Talksport Radio	Honda Integra Type-R	–	DNS
NS		Tim HARVEY	JS Motorsport	Alfa Romeo 147	–	DNS

Round 14: Feature Race

Onto the feature race and it was Plato again in pole with Muller alongside. Thompson and Bennett in third and fourth.

In the Production class it was Shedden on pole, followed by Kaye and Harrison.

The safety car pulled into the pits ahead of the rolling start, and Plato made a much better start than the last race. Everyone was through the first few corners cleanly, but Tom Boardman in the Production Peugeot had an off which took him out of the race.

And shortly after there was a huge crash for Colin Blair in the Alfa 156 as he made contact with Edwards on the pit straight and spun into the barrier at 100mph. Tyres and signage went flying, and so did the Alfa, as it flipped over and ended up on its side.

Back at the front, Muller was making a move on Plato for the lead, but couldn’t make it stick. That gave Thompson an opportunity on Muller, which he gratefully took and was up into second.

Bennett then had a sniff of an opening as well, but the battle was cut short as the safety car came out. Blair was still trapped in his Alfa and needed to be extracted. Thankfully he walked away and into the waiting ambulance.

As we got racing again, Erdos pulled off with a mechanic issue and was out of the race. Plato was still out ahead and building a lead on Thompson. Muller was trying to fight back but had to keep an eye on his mirrors as Bennett was also closing on him.

The ongoing battle meant Soper had caught up to the back of Bennett for a rematch of the earlier fisticuffs, but it was all looking fair and square in the feature race.

As Plato continued building his lead, it looked like Muller had an issue as he was fast dropping off from Thompson. Bennett saw his opportunity and took it, up into third. Soper wasn’t far behind, and took Muller too.

Muller’s Astra didn’t seem to be handling well at all, and he pitted to retire, leaving the championship wide open. A power steering problem was the culprit.

Back in the Production race it was Shedden still out ahead, followed by Graves, Kaye, and Harrison.

Thompson pitted from second for his scheduled stop, but an 11 second stop meant he was gifting an opportunity to Bennett to leapfrog him after his stop.

Plato was in from the lead and managed a 7.3 second stop, cementing his big margin out in front.

As Bennett came in for his crucial stop, the team managed a very quick 7 second stop. As he rejoined, he was indeed up into second with Thompson not far behind.

Just as Thompson was regaining ground on Bennett he straight-lined the chicane, cutting across the grass, and it was clear he too had an issue with his Astra. Just like Muller, his power steering had gone.

But unlike Muller, he was going to try and continue to the end, with vital points up for grabs. A real workout for him, as he battled with the car into every corner.

In the Production battle for the lead it was Graves challenging Shedden. Going into the hairpin, Graves gave Shedden a huge punt as they entered the braking zone. Both cars continued with big damage, and Graves took the lead. 

But not for long, as the battered Honda spun going into Duffus Dip and found the gravel. Fortunately for him, he kept going, but found himself a long way down the field.

Ultimately though, the damage from the previous incident meant it was the end of Graves’ race.

As we entered the final stages, another Astra lost its power steering. It was Bennett in second, but with just one more lap left, surely he would make it to the end.

Plato took the chequered flag, and Bennett made it over the line in second. Thompson did manage to continue, and took third with Soper in fourth.

Shedden took the win for the Production class in his first feature race, followed by Kaye, Harrison, and Collard.

A great weekend of racing; the hard kerbs took their toll on the Astras’ power steering, but nothing could stop Plato from recording two wins and moving ahead of Muller in the championship.

All to play for next, as we head to Snetterton for rounds 15 & 16 of the 2001 British Touring Car Championship.

Feature Race Results

Position	Class	Driver	Team	Car	Laps	Time	Best
1		Jason PLATO	Vauxhall Motorsport	Vauxhall Astra Coupé	45	48:06.648	55.334
2		Phil BENNETT	Egg Sport	Vauxhall Astra Coupé	45	6.558	55.432
3		James THOMPSON	Egg Sport	Vauxhall Astra Coupé	45	30.343	55.356
4		Steve SOPER	Peugeot Sport UK	Peugeot 406 Coupé	45	1:01.491	55.918
5	P	Gordon SHEDDEN	GR Motorsport	Ford Focus	44	+ 1 LAP	57.54
6	P	James KAYE	Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell	Honda Accord	44	+ 1 LAP	57.683
7	P	Simon HARRISON	HTML	Peugeot 306 GTi	44	+ 1 LAP	57.47
8	P	Rob COLLARD	Collard Racing	Renault Clio	44	+ 1 LAP	58.058
9	P	Jim EDWARDS Jnr	TCR/Interactive Network Solutions	Honda Accord	44	+ 1 LAP	58.506
10	P	Roger MOEN	HTML	Peugeot 306 GTi	44	+ 1 LAP	58.437
11	P	Paul O’NEILL	Tech-Speed Motorsport	Peugeot 306 GTi	44	+ 1 LAP	58.849
12	P	Nick BEAUMONT	Team B&Q/Talksport Radio	Honda Integra Type-R	44	+ 1 LAP	59.325
13	P	Rick KRAEMER	GR Motorsport	Ford Focus	43	+ 2 LAPS	59.112
14	P	Joanna CLARKE	Team B&Q/Talksport Radio	Honda Integra Type-R	43	+ 2 LAPS	0.001
R	P	Mat JACKSON	GR Motorsport	Ford Focus	15	DNF	58.093
R	P	Simon GRAVES	Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell	Honda Accord	15	DNF	57.548
R	P	Colin BLAIR	GA-Janspeed Racing	Alfa Romeo 156	1	DNF	0.001
R	P	Tom BOARDMAN	Tom Boardman Racing	Peugeot 306 GTi	0	DNF	N/A
R	P	Annie TEMPLETON	Tech-Speed Motorsport	Peugeot 306 GTi	5	DNF	0.001
R		Yvan MULLER	Vauxhall Motorsport	Vauxhall Astra Coupé	20	DNF	55.484
R		Thomas ERDOS	ABG Motorsport	Lexus IS200	1	DNF	0.001
R	P	Colin BLAIR	GA-Janspeed Racing	Alfa Romeo 156	1	DNF	0.001
R	P	Tom BOARDMAN	Tom Boardman Racing	Peugeot 306 GTi	0	DNF	N/A
R	P	Annie TEMPLETON	Tech-Speed Motorsport	Peugeot 306 GTi	5	DNF	0.001
NS	P	Gareth HOWELL	GR Motorsport	Ford Focus	–	DNS
NS		Tim HARVEY	JS Motorsport	Alfa Romeo 147	–	DNS

Touring Car Driver’s Championship Standings After Round 13 & 14 – Leaders

Driver	Points
Plato	179
Muller	176
Thompson	163
Bennett	106

Touring Car Team Championship Standings After Round 13 & 14 – Leaders

Team	Points
Vauxhall Motorsport	146
Team Egg Sport	127
Peugeot Sport UK	42
ABG Motorsport	18

Production Car Driver’s Championship Standings After Round 13 & 14 – Leaders

Driver	Points
Kaye	134
Harrison	131
Moen	111
Jackson	85
Pyper	66

Production Car Team Championship Standings After Round 13 & 14 – Leaders

Team	Points
GR Motorsport	113
Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell	99
HTML	86
Tech-Speed Motorsport	38