BTCC - Oulton Park Race 1: Simpson Takes First Career Win
BTCC - Oulton Park Race 1: Simpson Takes First Career Win
After taking his first ever pole in the BTCC, how else to kick off Sunday (10/6) but to take a dominant win.
Front row man Sam Tordoff and Motorbase teammate Tom Chilton battled away on lap 1, swapping positions, and along with BMW's Andrew Jordan, they kept Simpson honest throughout the entire race, however they could never fully launch an attack on the former National Hot Rod champion.
The battle for 3rd was fierce, with Jordan making contact with Chilton at the Island Hairpin on lap 12, with Chilton managing to hold position.
It wasn't a perfect race for Simpson however, as in the latter stages of the race, smoke appeared to be coming from his front left wheel, with fears of both a puncture and an oil leak.
However, that was not to stop him as Simpson took a "dream come true" victory.
Dan Lloyd, fresh from taking 6 out of 6 wins in the UK TCR championship, failed to score points on his return to the BTCC for BTC Norlin Racing, replacing James Nash.
The leading duo in the championship, Ciceley's Adam Morgan and PMR's Josh Cook failed to score a point, whilst 3rd place man Tom Ingram of Speedworks Motorsport could only manage 1 point in 15th.
Full results:
1 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing 15 laps 2 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +0.265s 3 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing +0.630s 4 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team GardX Racing with Motorbase +1.630s 5 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +2.828s 6 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +3.165s 7 James COLE (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher +5.127s 8 Jack GOFF (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech +6.587s 9 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +7.125s 10 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) DUO Motorsport with HMS Racing +7.485s 11 Brett SMITH (GBR) WIX Racing with Eurotech +16.644s 12 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +16.831s 13 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +17.035s 14 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +17.375s 15 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +17.423s 16 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +17.545s 17 Josh COOK (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +18.138s 18 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport +18.884s 19 Mike BUSHELL (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +19.618s 20 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +20.197s 21 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +20.554s 22 Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker Racing +20.633s 23 Jake HILL (GBR) Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing +22.934s 24 Tom BOARDMAN (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +27.475s 25 Dan LLOYD (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +27.937s 26 Bobby THOMPSON (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +28.173s 27 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing +28.342s 28 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed TAG Racing +28.777s 29 Michael CAINE (GBR) Team HARD with Trade Price Cars +32.235s 30 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +32.779s 31 Sam SMELT (GBR) AmD with Cobra Exhausts +33.643s 32 Josh PRICE (GBR) Autoglym Academy Racing DNF