Rockingham BTCC: Colin Turkington takes seventh win of 2014

The WSR BMW driver jumped poleman Sam Tordoff at the start and managed an early safety-car period with ease before pulling away to record a comfortable victory.

Tordoff kept MG team-mate Jason Plato at arm's length throughout as the MG6 pair completed the podium.

The advantage of rear-wheel drive cars has been the championship's biggest talking point this season and Turkington took full advantage of his 125i M Sport's startline prowess to outdrag Tordoff off the line and take a lead he would not surrender.

Tordoff dropped to just over a second behind the 2009 champion in the first few laps, but a safety car caused by Lea Wood's spinning Houseman Toyota Avensis clouting Warren Scott's BMR Volkswagen CC at Deene gave him a brief chance to attack again.

The 25-year-old showed his nose into Deene at the restart but was rebuffed, and he was ultimately forced to settle for second as Turkington broke 2013 champion Andrew Jordan's lap record on his way to a seventh win of 2014.

His Triple Eight team-mate Plato gave him no hassle for the runner-up spot, and the double champion was an equally-lonely third after a stagnant race at the front.

Behind, Alain Menu provided the race's main excitement as the BMR driver scythed through the field on the softer-compound Dunlop.

The Swiss started in eighth but was shuffled back to 10th in the first few laps, before mounting a stirring charge that ended just over two seconds shy of the podium.

First, he cleared the two Motorbase Ford Focuses of Fabrizio Giovanardi and Mat Jackson in one move at Tarzan, and then caught and passed the MG6 of Marc Hynes to take seventh.

As Menu proceeded to make short work of Gordon Shedden's Honda Civic Tourer, Jordan's Eurotech-run hatchback Civic and the impressive Mercedes A-Class of Adam Morgan, ex-British F3 champion Hynes suffered the complete reverse of his rival's soft-tyre charge.

The third MG plummeted from sixth at one stage down to 22nd at the race's end, with the second factory Honda of Matt Neal also ending the race pointless after a frustrating run to 17th.

Results - 18 laps

Pos Driver              Car                 Time/Gap
 1. Colin Turkington    WSR BMW             27m07.926s
 2. Sam Tordoff         MG                  +3.334s
 3. Jason Plato         MG                  +6.832s
 4. Alain Menu          BMR VW              +9.390s
 5. Adam Morgan         Ciceley Mercedes    +11.481s
 6. Andrew Jordan       Eurotech Honda      +13.724s
 7. Fabrizio Giovanardi Motorbase Ford      +13.925s
 8. Gordon Shedden      Honda               +18.916s
 9. Mat Jackson         Motorbase Ford      +19.011s
10. Jack Goff           BMR VW              +23.100s
11. Rob Collard         WSR BMW             +23.461s
12. Rob Austin          RAR Audi            +23.773s
13. Tom Ingram          Speedworks Toyota   +24.334s
14. Hunter Abbott       RAR Audi            +24.699s
15. Nick Foster         WSR BMW             +24.966s
16. Dave Newsham        AmD Ford            +26.162s
17. Matt Neal           Honda               +27.577s
18. Jack Clarke         Motorbase Ford      +29.727s
19. Martin Depper       Eurotech Honda      +32.748s
20. Aron Smith          BMR VW              +35.434s
21. Robb Holland        Rotek Audi          +45.660s
22. Marc Hynes          MG                  +46.012s
23. Aiden Moffat        Moffat Chevrolet    +46.761s
24. Dan Welch           Welch Proton        +47.277s
25. Chris Stockton      BTC Chevrolet       +48.585s
26. Glynn Geddie        UA Toyota           +55.237s
27. Ollie Jackson       Welch Proton        +1m05.717s
28. Simon Belcher                           -1 lap

Retirements

    Lea Wood            Houseman Toyota     5 laps
    Warren Scott        BMR VW              4 laps
    James Cole          UA Toyota           3 laps