BTCC 2001: Rounds 19 & 20 – Oulton Park

Oulton Park in Cheshire was the venue for rounds 19 & 20 of the 2001 British Touring Car Championship. Yvan Muller came into the weekend leading the driver’s championship, just three points ahead of teammate Jason Plato.

This weekend would see a forced driver change in Team Egg Sport, with Phil Bennett being replaced by Andy Priaulx thanks to a ban picked up last time out at Croft.

There was to be another new face in the Production class too, with well-known TV presenter and racer, Tiff Needell, getting behind the wheel of a Honda Accord.

Round 19: Sprint Race

Incredibly, it was Priaulx in his first race weekend that took pole position in the Egg Sport Astra, two tenths quicker than Yvan Muller. Plato was in third. Thompson had to start from the back thanks to an engine change after qualifying.

In the Production class it was Roger Moen on pole, followed by Harrison and Kaye. But before the race, Kaye also had to change his engine so would start from the back. Third on the grid was filled by Gavin Pyper. Needell started in fifth.

As the lights went out, it was Muller with the better start off the line and Priaulx was beaten in the drag race down to the first corner. Steve Soper had also made it a whisker ahead of Plato and was up into third.

Muller was building up a good lead on Priaulx, who was under pressure from Soper. Soper in turn was coming under pressure from Plato, who was desperate to get back into contention.

Thompson quickly made it up to fifth, having started from the back.

In the Production race, it was the two Peugeot 306s of Moen and Harrison at the front. Harrison tagged Moen coming down from Cascades, sending him sideways. But Moen managed to catch it and stayed out in the lead.

Needell, Jackson, and Howell were all battling for fourth, and the two Fords ended up making contact. The front bumper of Jackson’s Focus was strewn across the track, but he managed to keep going.

Needell remained in fourth, and Jackson was holding fifth until Howell re-passed him after an excursion across the grass.

Back in the Touring class, it was now Soper holding up Plato as Muller and Priaulx were a way into the distance. Plato made a move stick and Soper came back at him over the crest of Cascades, but Plato managed to hold the position.

Thompson was now looking to get past Soper for fourth, but Peugeot seemed to have upped their game this weekend and the 406 was pulling out a lot more straight-line speed.

Eventually he did make a move stick to take the position.

The Alfa 147s were also looking punchier for the first time this season, as Tim Harvey had a great battle with the Peugeot of Dan Eaves.

Unfortunately for Peugeot though, Soper’s race came to a premature end as he had to retire from fifth position with a mechanical issue.

As the Tourers went into the final lap, Muller was still in the lead but Priaulx wasn’t far off him. But it wasn’t to be for Priaulx, as Muller took the chequered flag to win and extend his championship lead. Plato came in third, Thompson fourth.

In the Production class, Moen survived the earlier scare to take the victory, with teammate Harrison in second. Gavin Pyper finished third in the Alfa 156.

Sprint Race Results

Position	Class	Driver	Team	Car	Laps	Time	Best
1		Yvan MULLER	Vauxhall Motorsport	Vauxhall Astra Coupé	15	23:17.898	1:28.704
2		Andy PRIAULX	Egg Sport	Vauxhall Astra Coupé	15	0.543	1:28.563
3		Jason PLATO	Vauxhall Motorsport	Vauxhall Astra Coupé	15	2.534	1:28.498
4		James THOMPSON	Egg Sport	Vauxhall Astra Coupé	15	12.875	1:29.010
5	P	Roger MOEN	HTML	Peugeot 306 GTi	15	18.004	1:32.484
6	P	Simon HARRISON	HTML	Peugeot 306 GTi	15	19.638	1:32.651
7	P	Gavin PYPER	GA-Janspeed Racing	Alfa Romeo 156	15	22.734	1:33.591
8		Tim HARVEY	JS Motorsport	Alfa Romeo 147	15	23.495	1:29.728
9		Dan EAVES	Peugeot Sport UK	Peugeot 406 Coupé	15	25.959	1:29.468
10	P	Mat JACKSON	GR Motorsport	Ford Focus	15	29.847	1:33.531
11		Thomas ERDOS	Total Motorsport	Lexus IS200	15	30.168	1:30.136
12	P	Gareth HOWELL	GR Motorsport	Ford Focus	15	30.775	1:33.790
13	P	James KAYE	Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell	Honda Accord	15	31.253	1:33.617
14	P	Tiff NEEDELL	Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell	Honda Accord	15	34.248	1:33.646
15		Mark BLAIR	JS Motorsport	Alfa Romeo 147	15	35.661	1:30.332
16	P	Tom BOARDMAN	Tom Boardman Racing	Peugeot 306 GTi	15	41.516	1:34.300
17	P	Rick KRAEMER	GR Motorsport	Ford Focus	15	42.66	1:34.193
18	P	Dave ALLAN	Synchro Motorsport	Honda Accord	15	44.304	1:34.410
19	P	Colin BLAIR	GA-Janspeed Racing	Alfa Romeo 156	15	44.806	1:34.397
20	P	Richard MEINS	GR Motorsport	Ford Focus	15	54.534	1:35.071
R		Steve SOPER	Peugeot Sport UK	Peugeot 406 Coupé	12	DNF	1:29.411
R	P	Jim EDWARDS Jnr	TCR/Interactive Network Solutions	Honda Accord	12	DNF	1:33.799
R	P	Paul O’NEILL	Tech-Speed Motorsport	Peugeot 306 GTi	10	DNF	1:33.946
R	P	John B-AND-Q	Team B&Q/Talksport Radio	Honda Integra Type-R	2	DNF	1:42.883
R	P	Nick BEAUMONT	Team B&Q/Talksport Radio	Honda Integra Type-R	0	DNF	N/A
NS	P	Rob COLLARD	Collard Racing	Renault Clio	–	DNS	N/A

Round 20: Feature Race

Another astonishing qualifying session for Andy Priaulx put him in pole position once again, this time with Jason Plato for company on the front row. Yvan Muller was in third, with Steve Soper, who was celebrating his 100th Touring Car race, in fourth.

In Production it was Moen, Harrison, and Kaye making up the first three positions.

As the safety car pulled in to allow the rolling start, Priaulx was hoping for a better getaway than last time around. And he wasn’t disappointed, as he made it into the first corner with track position and retained the lead. Everyone was through cleanly.

Muller in third was all over the back of Plato, but as Priaulx got a bad exit, both red Astras were sizing him up down the straight.

As they sandwiched him, Plato made it past but Priaulx held his ground against Muller, sending him flying off into the grass. After doing a 360 at high speed, he barrelled back across the track and must have been a few inches away from a big crash with Thompson, but thankfully everyone made it through unscathed.

Muller was into the gravel and beached. The end of his race and a huge opportunity for Plato to make up some ground on his championship rival. Muller wasn’t best pleased with Priaulx with his radio message to the team.

Meanwhile in the Production race, Harrison had made it past Moen, but Moen wasn’t going to be behind for long. He locked up but managed to get up the inside of his teammate, giving him a tap on the way through. But the Norwegian was back into the lead. Pyper was up to third.

The top four in the Touring Car race were within a couple of seconds of each other, and Steve Soper was holding his own in third. Thompson couldn’t get past, so decided to make an early pit stop. A 9.3 second stop didn’t help his cause though.

Soper was in the next lap, and the Peugeot team managed a rapid 6.2 second stop. He would rejoin ahead of Thompson.

With Priaulx chasing down Plato at the front, there was suddenly a burst of smoke from the back of the Egg Sport Astra. He was into the pits and that was the end of his race, his pit box now covered in oil.

Plato was into the pits the following lap, but another slow Vauxhall pit stop meant it was going to be close with Soper and Thompson when he rejoined.

And it was Soper with the advantage as Plato slotted in between him and Thompson. So once the remaining Tourers pitted, he would be in the lead in his 100th race.

With cold tyres on Plato’s Astra, he was immediately under pressure from Thompson. The resulting battle meant Soper could pull away at the front. It was vital for Plato’s championship hopes that he didn’t let Thompson through.

But Plato managed to warm his tyres up and retained the position. And there would be more good news for Plato, as it looked like Soper’s Peugeot wasn’t long for this world and was dropping oil.

Soper was carrying on though, and the two Vauxhall teams were complaining to race control that Soper’s Peugeot was dangerous… they would say that though. Soper was maintaining his pace, despite the issue.

Eventually though, the inevitable happened, and Soper had to pull over and retire, releasing Plato back into the lead. Disappointing for Soper after a great performance.

With two Muller, Priaulx, and Soper all out, Dan Eaves was into third position in the other Peugeot, despite not having the pace that his teammate had.

Into the final lap and it was Plato with a decent lead. He took the chequered flag, with Thompson in second and Eaves making up the podium places.

In Production, Moen took the victory with Harrison in second, and Pyper in third.

At the end of the weekend it was Plato with a ten point lead over Muller. And with the Peugeots looking more lively, the rest of the season looked promising.

Next up: rounds 21 & 22 and Silverstone.

Feature Race Results

Position	Class	Driver	Team	Car	Laps	Time	Best
1		Jason PLATO	Vauxhall Motorsport	Vauxhall Astra Coupé	33	52:52.624	1:28.220
2		James THOMPSON	Egg Sport	Vauxhall Astra Coupé	33	2.312	1:28.407
3		Dan EAVES	Peugeot Sport UK	Peugeot 406 Coupé	33	25.322	1:29.118
4		Mark BLAIR	JS Motorsport	Alfa Romeo 147	33	50.818	1:30.071
5		Tim HARVEY	JS Motorsport	Alfa Romeo 147	33	52.168	1:29.927
6		Thomas ERDOS	Total Motorsport	Lexus IS200	33	52.946	1:29.884
7	P	Roger MOEN	HTML	Peugeot 306 GTi	32	+ 1 LAP	1:32.339
8	P	Simon HARRISON	HTML	Peugeot 306 GTi	32	+ 1 LAP	1:32.174
9	P	Gavin PYPER	GA-Janspeed Racing	Alfa Romeo 156	32	+ 1 LAP	1:32.540
10	P	James KAYE	Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell	Honda Accord	32	+ 1 LAP	1:33.481
11	P	Gareth HOWELL	GR Motorsport	Ford Focus	32	+ 1 LAP	1:33.791
12	P	Rick KRAEMER	GR Motorsport	Ford Focus	32	+ 1 LAP	1:34.126
13	P	Mat JACKSON	GR Motorsport	Ford Focus	32	+ 1 LAP	1:32.825
14	P	Dave ALLAN	Synchro Motorsport	Honda Accord	32	+ 1 LAP	1:34.667
15	P	Richard MEINS	GR Motorsport	Ford Focus	32	+ 1 LAP	1:35.320
16	P	Annie TEMPLETON	Tech-Speed Motorsport	Peugeot 306 GTi	31	+ 2 LAPS	1:35.605
17	P	John B-AND-Q	Team B&Q/Talksport Radio	Honda Integra Type-R	30	+ 3 LAPS	1:40.757
18	P	Tom BOARDMAN	Tom Boardman Racing	Peugeot 306 GTi	29	4 LAPS	1:34.783
R		Steve SOPER	Peugeot Sport UK	Peugeot 406 Coupé	23	DNF	1:28.491
R		Andy PRIAULX	Egg Sport	Vauxhall Astra Coupé	15	DNF	1:28.267
R	P	Colin BLAIR	GA-Janspeed Racing	Alfa Romeo 156	14	DNF	1:34.206
R	P	Jim EDWARDS Jnr	TCR/Interactive Network Solutions	Honda Accord	10	DNF	1:34.261
R		Yvan MULLER	Vauxhall Motorsport	Vauxhall Astra Coupé	1	DNF	1:32.040
NS	P	Paul O’NEILL	Tech-Speed Motorsport	Peugeot 306 GTi	–	DNS	N/A
NS	P	Nick BEAUMONT	Team B&Q/Talksport Radio	Honda Integra Type-R	–	DNS	N/A
NS	P	Tiff NEEDELL	Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell	Honda Accord	–	DNS	N/A
NS	P	Rob COLLARD	Collard Racing	Renault Clio	–	DNS	N/A

Touring Car Driver’s Championship Standings After Round 19 & 20 – Leaders

Driver	Points
Plato	260
Muller	250
Thompson	231
Bennett	116

Touring Car Team Championship Standings After Round 19 & 20 – Leaders

Team	Points
Vauxhall Motorsport UK	210
Team Egg Sport	169
Peugeot Sport UK	66
Total Motorsport	37

Production Car Driver’s Championship Standings After Round 19 & 20 – Leaders

Driver	Points
Harrison	177
Kaye	168
Moen	167
Jackson	129
Howell	113

Production Car Team Championship Standings After Round 19 & 20 – Leaders

Team	Points
GR Motorsport	171
Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell	133
HTML	129
Total Control Racing	46