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[BTCC] Chilton Opens Btcc Season With Pole Position And Second Place |
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Sunday, 09 April 2006 |
CHILTON OPENS BTCC SEASON WITH POLE POSITION AND SECOND PLACE
Today’s opening round of the 2006 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch lived up to pre-season forecasts, with VX Racing’s new signing, 21-year-old Tom Chilton, challenging established stars James Thompson and Jason Plato.
Chilton (Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch) opened the season by sending a warning shot across the bows of his rivals, claiming pole position for today’s first race at the Kent circuit. He then had the crowd on its feet for most of the 27 laps as he held on to a slender lead ahead of two-times champion Thompson (SEAT Leon). On some laps, Thompson closed right onto the tail of Chilton’s leading Vauxhall, whilst on other laps the SEAT driver lost ground as he was forced to drive defensively against the challenge of third-placed Colin Turkington (MG ZS).
With just five laps to go, Chilton ran slightly wide into the sweeping Clearways corner and Thompson seized his chance, diving alongside the Reigate driver and into the lead. Chilton held on to second place to the chequered flag, crossing the line 1.3s behind Thompson and 0.7s ahead of 2005 champion Matt Neal (Honda Integra), setting the race’s fastest lap (49.190s, average lap speed 89.74mph) in the process.
In the next two races, Chilton came home seventh and fifth, which puts him third in the championship standings. Chilton’s VX Racing team-mates, multiple touring car champion Fabrizio Giovanardi and 2005 VXR driver Gavin Smith, had a mixed afternoon. Giovanardi crashed out of his first ever BTCC race, hitting the barriers as he spun off Cooper Straight, then finished in eighth and seventh places; Smith scored sixth, fourth and eighth places. Thompson won the day’s first two races and his team-mate Plato won the third.
Tom Chilton:
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