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00:01Sponsored by Green Flag Motoring Assistance.
00:04Dedicated to getting to you faster.
00:07Hello and welcome to Croft in not so sunny North Yorkshire.
00:33Now it's been six weeks since the touring cars last turned a wheel,
00:36and everybody is raring to get going.
00:38Yeah, we're going into the second half of the season now,
00:40but it's almost back to square one for the two main championship rivals,
00:43Ivan Muller and James Thompson.
00:44Only four points separating those two.
00:46But this year we've had eight different winners,
00:48so it's been wide open.
00:49And you know, this time last year at Croft,
00:51Vauxhall failed to win either race.
00:53They know they're going to be in for another tough battle here this weekend.
00:56Now let's take a quick look back at what happened last time out at Mondello Park.
01:06The action at Mondello Park marked the halfway point in this year's championship,
01:22so what's better time to have Ben and Tim's midterm report?
01:37In 2004, VX Racing star duo have once again been the drivers to beat.
01:41Rennie champion Ivan Muller already has four wins under his belt,
01:44and James Thompson's three victories and regular podium visits
01:47are keeping him in touch with the Frenchman.
01:49Winning races is great, but I mean, I'm not really where I want to be at the moment.
01:54Being second in the championships, not sort of what I've got my eye on.
01:58So, but it's very close.
01:59I mean, Ivan and I have managed to pull away from everybody else.
02:02We have to progress even more to keep the pressure on the progress of the car.
02:08The problem now, this car starts to be old,
02:11so we wait the new car to have a next step.
02:15VX Racing, as expected, the strongest team in the paddock,
02:18with Ivan Muller and James Thompson very evenly matched.
02:21Not always the fastest car, but always the best performance overall by the team.
02:26Lucy Works' MG backing at the start of the year
02:28has not stopped WSR from competing at the highest level.
02:31Anthony Reid has notched up six podium finishes,
02:33and last time out at Mondello Park,
02:35Colin Turkington claimed the team's first win of the season.
02:38This MG is now the best car on the circuit.
02:41That's what I believe.
02:42So really, we've got to get 100% reliability
02:44and score strongly in all the remaining races this year.
02:47WSR, the privateer MG team,
02:50doing remarkable things with their car with a four-cylinder engine this year.
02:54Reid, always aggressive, always exciting,
02:57making no friends amongst his other drivers.
02:59And Turkington has just found his form at the right time of the year.
03:03Another independent team, Competeach Racing with Halfords,
03:06this year using Honda Civics,
03:08have propelled the experienced Matt Neal to two wins in the first half of the season,
03:11and Danny's got in on the act at Alton Park, claiming his first-ever victory.
03:15We've had a seven-week gap, and we've done some work on the aero kit,
03:20some damper work.
03:22So, you know, we've got to keep everyone on the toes
03:24and try and get some more race wins.
03:26Competeach Racing with Halfords, always an exciting team with lots of colour and flair.
03:31Matt Neal, very aggressive driver, scored victories already and will score many more,
03:36but will he have the consistency to mount any form of championship attack?
03:40Newcomers Seat took no time at all to make their impact.
03:44Former champion Jason Plato scored his first of two wins in round two at Thruxton,
03:49while star rookie Rob Huff has proved both aggressive and competitive with two podium finishes of his own.
03:58There's lots to improve, but nothing that we're kind of kicking ourselves that we haven't done enough already.
04:04I mean, we're on target, we're achieving more than we wanted to at this point in the year,
04:10so we're still smiling.
04:12They're bright, they're bold, they're yellow, it's Seat,
04:14and Jason Plato particularly has brought real pizzazz and competition to this year's Touring Car Championship.
04:20Two tactical victories already, Rob Huff backing him up with a very strong first year in Touring Cars.
04:25It's great to see Seat in the championship.
04:2819-year-old Tom Chilton driving for the works Honda team has had a mixed season.
04:33The highlight was undoubtedly his debut win at Silverstone,
04:36which made him the youngest ever driver to achieve that honour.
04:40Very confident, we've got a better race car now,
04:46because we've set it up more as a qualifying car rather than a race car.
04:51We've always tried to set it up to be good on its tyres,
04:53but I think they're such short races, I think it's all about qualifying in the first few laps,
04:58so that's what I'm going to try and do.
05:00Arena Honda, a very big team effort, but sadly only one car for young Tom Chilton,
05:05who's already scored a victory at Silverstone.
05:07The team, I think, could improve by running a second car and experienced teammates as well to help children.
05:13Of the rest, Sean Watson Smith has proved a feisty competitor in the Proton,
05:17and Carl Breeze in the team's sure-term Alfa Romeo has added welcome variety.
05:22Reigning Independence Champion Rob Collard has been out of luck this year,
05:26but not as much as promising newcomer Michael Bentwood,
05:30who just can't seem to get any breaks.
05:32Muller's four-point lead in the championship is less than the difference between a win and a third place.
05:39Anthony Reid lies just eight points ahead of McNeil,
05:42and Jason Plato's still a threat from fifth.
05:44Colin Turkington won last time out and has finished every race so far,
05:47scoring points in 12 out of 15 races.
05:50They say that points make prizes, so let's see who's going to score in race one,
05:55coming up straight after this break.
06:03Sponsored by Green Flag.
06:04North West Yorkshire hosts the sixth event of the 2004 Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship,
06:13and the former airfield circuit provides some exciting viewing from a variety of vantage points.
06:17The track itself is just over two miles long,
06:19and combines the slowest corner on a British circuit, the hairpin,
06:22with some fast sweepers like Barcroft.
06:25Croft is a regular fixture on the calendar now, and it packs a variety of corners into quite a long lap.
06:31This first one, danger on the first lap, Clervo.
06:34Don't hit that kerb too tight on the inside.
06:36Run wide.
06:37Just stop the car before Hawthorne.
06:39Don't let the car run wide.
06:40There are some nasty bumps which challenge the engineers,
06:43and then fast through the chicane.
06:45Absolutely flat out.
06:47This is Tomo, what a qualifying lap.
06:49You can tell he's just got that mixture of controlled aggression and pace.
06:53Down to tower, a couple of little bumps.
06:55Brake over the top, down through the gears,
06:58and then hold it tight on the apex and get a really good run out.
07:01This is crucial to get a good exit here.
07:03It's the fastest part of the course coming up.
07:05The Jim Clark Ss watches.
07:08He snatches sick gear just there in the middle,
07:10flat out through there, 140 miles an hour, just on the limiter,
07:15and flat through Barcroft into Sonny, trying to stop the car on the bend.
07:20Sonny won the first part.
07:22In there, then Sonny out, the more important of the corners,
07:24as it's slightly uphill here.
07:26Don't run too wide and over the kerb.
07:28Good exit there from James.
07:30Up to the final part, the complex.
07:32And now he's got everything right on the lap.
07:34He's up to the slowest part, down to first gear,
07:38snatches second, and then back to first for the slowest corner,
07:42and the best overtaking place on the lap.
07:44James hasn't locked up.
07:45He's got a good exit.
07:46Testing the traction of the front-wheel drive cars.
07:49That's a really good lap from James,
07:51but not good enough for the front row.
07:53Starting on the second row with your teammate Ivan,
07:55and just in front of you, you've got Anthony Reid,
07:58and, of course, Matt Neil.
07:59Do you think they'll kick off at the first corner?
08:01Well, they're bound to do, aren't they?
08:02I mean, look at the history so far this year.
08:04You know, if Anthony's not having a go at Matt,
08:07he's going to be having a go at me.
08:09And, you know, Ivan likes to get stuck in as well.
08:11So, yeah, he's going to be a pain in the backside, it's fair to say.
08:15Disappointed that we couldn't get on the front row yesterday.
08:18I thought both Ivan and I might have been able to get on the front row,
08:21but we were actually done for pace.
08:23You know, probably for the first time this year,
08:25because we're all running similar weight.
08:27I'm the heaviest of our sort of group, if you like.
08:31But I did think we'd get on the front row,
08:33and so a bit of a surprise yesterday.
08:35But maybe the conditions might be working in our favour rather than theirs,
08:40but it's difficult to say at the moment.
08:42Now, I know you take your racing very seriously,
08:44and this has been proven by the fact that next week
08:46you've decided to go racing on your wedding day.
08:49Perhaps you'd like to explain your reasoning behind that?
08:51Yeah, it's a bit of a shocker, really, isn't it?
08:53I have to say it was quite a few days in the household
08:55when I announced that I'd be racing at Spa.
08:57Well, I mean, we don't get married till 5 o'clock,
09:00so there was the opportunity to squeeze in a race in Belgium,
09:04which starts about 12 o'clock, so...
09:06So this is a case of establishing the ground rules early on, is it?
09:09Well, I'd like to say that I wear the trousers,
09:12but luckily she's not within earshot, so I'm all right.
09:15Cars are getting ready to go for the first race of the day,
09:18and the two race winners from Croft in 2003
09:20are on the front row for round 16
09:22of the 2004 Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship.
09:25But Reid and Matt Neil have not been the best of mates on circuit this year.
09:28Championship leader Ivan Muller starts third
09:30with a car 18 kilos lighter than Thompsons alongside.
09:33Rob Huff is fifth for Seat Sports,
09:35and Tom Chilton is sixth in the team Honda Civic.
09:37Dan Eves lines up seventh with Colin Turkington,
09:39the winner of race three in Mondello, carrying full ballast from eighth.
09:42Jason Plato starts ninth with the second Seat Toledo.
09:45James Kaye is tenth in his Synchros Motorsport Civic.
09:48Then it's Luke Hines who's had to qualify a heavily ballasted Astra,
09:51and Stefan Hodgetts in the first of the team's sure-term entries.
09:54Michael Ventward is 13th from Charlie Butler Henderson,
09:56making a welcome return.
09:58Sean Watson-Smith is 15th ahead of Carl Breeze
10:00and the solitary Alfa Romeo.
10:02Reigning Independence champion Rob Collard is 17th,
10:04Jason Hughes is 18th, and at the back we've got
10:06John George and Richard Marsh.
10:08So the car's all set to go then,
10:10and it's Anthony Reid starting from his first pole position of the year.
10:13Can he convert it into his first victory?
10:15Away he goes, a good start from him.
10:17Everyone gets away cleanly.
10:19Matt Neill trying to chase Anthony Reid down towards the first corner at Clairvaux.
10:23This is where it all funnels down.
10:25It gets pretty narrow.
10:26Matt Neill coming through in second.
10:27Thompson, though, going round the outside.
10:29That's a brave move.
10:30Ivan Muller's right behind.
10:31Thompson sideways, and everybody now trying to thread their way through.
10:34Off to the side goes Michael Bentwood.
10:36He was on the grass, and I think Tom Chilton was in trouble as well.
10:39He went through the gravel trap.
10:41Up front, a fantastic start from Anthony Reid,
10:44but I think that Ivan Muller has gained.
10:46Yes, he has.
10:47He's into second because of Matt Neill and James Thompson just coming together.
10:51Dan Eves is next, and he's followed by the two seants of Rob Huff and Jason Plato.
10:56Everybody's wary of that first corner, especially Muller,
10:59as he was dumped in the gravel there last year,
11:01and just when it looked like they'd all got through,
11:03this is on board with Matt Neill, and you can see alongside him Anthony Reid.
11:07Matt is quite cautious going into this first corner,
11:10desperate to make sure he doesn't go off.
11:12Gets it round the corner fine, but just in front of him to the left.
11:15There's James Thompson, and they touch.
11:17That leaves the door wide open for the opportunist Muller.
11:20Doesn't need a second invitation.
11:22He's straight through on the inside up to second.
11:24Now, this is the view from further back.
11:26Very caravan there was.
11:28A little bit of barging going on in the midfield as well here.
11:30Let's see if we can spot anything,
11:32because Michael Bentwood suddenly got turned around and shot out to the side.
11:35Harriman himself had to go the wrong side of the tyres.
11:38So, there was some chaos, but thankfully not too much damage,
11:41although it looks like Tom Chilton has picked up a puncture on the front left,
11:44and that spells the end of any decent results in this first race of the day for him.
11:48He's making his way back to the pits.
11:50Anthony Reid, though, leads this one from Ivan Muller in second place.
11:53Matt Neil in third, then James Thompson and Dan Eves.
11:56And at the moment, I have to say, Anthony Reid driving well,
11:59pulling away slightly from the Vauxhall.
12:01It was an excellent pole position by just a few hundredths from Matt Neil in qualifying.
12:05He seems to have the measure of Ivan Muller.
12:07He certainly does. The Vauxhall's slightly off the pace this weekend,
12:11some three-tenths off the pole time.
12:13And here comes Chilton in for his pit stop.
12:15Yeah, so the Arena Motorsport boys go to work here.
12:18It's just that front left, and they've got to change.
12:20So this should be fairly quick.
12:22But, of course, the pace of touring car racing means that one pit stop,
12:26and you're out of the running.
12:27Anthony Reid is in front of the running at the moment,
12:30hoping to get his first win of the season.
12:32Muller and Neil come through.
12:33Thompson dropping back a little bit.
12:34He's chased by Dan Eves.
12:36But look at this, Colin Turkington getting down the inside there of Jason Plato.
12:39Plato not perhaps fighting that as hard as he might.
12:42Well, already we're seeing Jason Plato playing that tactical game.
12:46Looks like he's going to do what we've seen him do before so successfully,
12:49and that's dropped back to about ninth or tenth place
12:52to start on pole or the front row for the second race.
12:55No such thoughts from Anthony Reid for WSR.
12:58His team, they're concentrating on taking a win.
13:00And also there's Colin Turkington, his teammate,
13:02now ahead of Jason Plato.
13:04I wonder whether the man who won in Ireland last time out in Mondello
13:07can move further up the order.
13:08The top three come through the hairpin.
13:10There's Thompson, and Eves has just been passed by Rob Huff.
13:13Good move that from Rob Huff just up the inside.
13:16Well, Dan Eves obviously wasn't looking at his mirrors there.
13:18He left the door wide open for Rob Huff,
13:20and there was not even a hint of any contact there,
13:23which makes a change.
13:24And as we see Charlie Butler Henderson trying to get past
13:27Sean Watson-Smith with the obligatory touring car contact,
13:30but Dan got caught napping there.
13:32Now, look at this battle for second place,
13:34because Matt Neill and Ivan Muller,
13:36they've had some good races so far this year for position,
13:39and Matt Neill just behind the Frenchman
13:41as the Frenchman just locks a brake into sunny in, as it's known.
13:44Sunny in and sunny out, these two tricky right-handers.
13:47The camera angle is deceptive there.
13:49The cars are braking whilst turning to the right,
13:51so you see those puffs of smoke for the inside wheels,
13:54and it's hard to get the car slowed down.
13:56Into the pits comes Charlie Butler Henderson.
13:58Well, there didn't seem to be any damage done in that dice
14:01with Sean Watson-Smith,
14:02but obviously something's gone wrong with the car.
14:04Meanwhile, Anthony Reid pulling away very slightly from Ivan Muller.
14:07It's really Muller having to keep an eye on his mirrors
14:10because Matt Neill is right behind.
14:12And don't forget, Matt Neill did have a win here at Croft last year,
14:15but look at Thompson.
14:16That's a bit of a surprise to me, Tim.
14:18Thompson can't keep up with this top three.
14:20Thompson is slightly heavier than the front three,
14:22but we saw him have problems with his race pace at Mondello,
14:25and this is the last place that he wanted to be going slowly.
14:28Charlie Butler Henderson discussing with the team
14:31it's a gearbox problem we hear that's put him out of this race.
14:34Rob Collard and James Kaye are having their own dice
14:37as they come through Clairvaux into Hawthorne,
14:39this long, sweeping right-hander
14:41that leads up to the very fast chicane
14:43where it's all too easy to hit the tyres,
14:45and a separate dice going on between Jason Hughes
14:48and Sean Watson-Smith here,
14:50as Sean Watson-Smith looking to try and get past the privateer MG
14:54that had a good seventh place last time out.
14:56Now, Anthony Reid, the car just bobbling around a little bit
14:59as he comes into Sonny Inn,
15:01but he has got no worries from behind him,
15:03and at last perhaps we're going to see Anthony Reid's
15:05first win of the season.
15:06Yes, this will back up his teammates' victory
15:08in the last race at Mondello.
15:10West Surrey Racing have done a lot of work with that car,
15:12and particularly John Judd on the engine.
15:14Further back this battle going down the wire
15:16as they approach Sonny.
15:18Yeah, James Kaye behind Rob Collard,
15:20and he's getting a bit closer,
15:21goes for it down the inside, hits Collard!
15:23Well, he takes Collard off, and Kaye,
15:25oh, he doesn't seem to be able to stop.
15:27Oh, bang, into the barrier on the outside there,
15:29and the Yorkshireman Kaye on low turf here
15:31didn't work for it.
15:33No, I think James got his just desserts there.
15:35He's not really got an overlap.
15:37We've run into the side of Rob,
15:38and I think he's broken the left front suspension,
15:40which is why the car won't stop.
15:44And he seems to be struggling now.
15:46I can't f***ing get his f***ing stereo off.
15:49Please, you click me.
15:50There.
15:51Poor bloke can't even get out of his car.
15:52Well, there you go.
15:53It's not proving to be a very good day for James Kaye,
15:55even if it's not far from home here at Croft Circuit.
15:58Matt Neill still in third place.
16:00He's dropped away just a little bit from Ivan Muller.
16:03Yes, Muller, the opportunist, picked up that second place,
16:06much to the annoyance probably of James Thompson,
16:08but James further back and forth doesn't have the place.
16:10Oh, Matt Neill's locked up and gone wide.
16:12Has he got a puncture or has he just locked up and gone wide?
16:16This is the last lap.
16:17Where's Thompson?
16:18Can Thompson snatch by and get that third podium?
16:20I don't think he can.
16:21No, Matt Neill's rejoined.
16:22There's such a big gap back to James Thompson
16:24that Matt Neill's been able to go off circuit,
16:26get back on again and still hold on to third place.
16:30Anthony Reid has shown the pace in qualifying,
16:32and he's shown the pace in this race as well.
16:35He's pulled away, he got the start,
16:37and he's taken advantage of it ever since.
16:39Getting through some of the back markers now,
16:41lapping slower cars,
16:42but that's not proving to be too much of a problem,
16:44and Ivan Muller should be far enough back.
16:46There he is, just going past Tom Chilton,
16:47who had to change the tyre right at the start of this race,
16:50so he's not been playing part of it, I'm afraid.
16:53Reid now coming up to the last hairpin, the tightest corner,
16:56and it's going to be his first win of the season.
16:58He's been very consistent.
17:00He's been on the podium just about at every event so far this year,
17:03but it's about time that we saw Anthony win one,
17:06and he does so here at Croft, where he won last year.
17:09Ivan Muller finishes in second place,
17:12and Matt Neil, despite that off on the final lap,
17:15finishes in third.
17:16Thompson in fourth place,
17:17and Rob Huff, a good, strong fifth position for him.
17:22Ivan Muller earns his eleventh top three finish of the season,
17:25and Matt Neil ensures three manufacturers are represented at the sharp end.
17:28Thompson lost four points to Muller,
17:30but he'll have a lighter car in the next race.
17:32Rob Huff will start in the middle of the top ten.
17:34Jason Plato dropped to ninth to make sure of a front row start,
17:37a position that proved very useful to Anthony Reid in race one.
17:41It's the sort of win I'd like to have every time.
17:44I'm absolutely delighted.
17:46What goes through your mind when you've not got other cars,
17:49you know, physically to race alongside?
17:51You have to maintain concentration,
17:53and in many ways, being out there on your own,
17:55it's more difficult to concentrate,
17:56so you've got to, you know, keep on the ball,
17:58because it's very easy to make a mistake.
18:00It was a bit of contact between Jimmy and Matt,
18:06but nothing major,
18:07so I used the opportunity to pass both of them,
18:10and then I just looked after my tyre to save my tyre until the end.
18:14Matt, what happened on the last lap there?
18:16I just locked my brakes up into tower.
18:20The strength of the car, the Honda, was the brakes,
18:23you know, where we were struggling was power,
18:25just getting out the corners, getting the traction down,
18:27and that's where both the MG and the Vauxhall
18:30could just sneak away from us,
18:31out the hairpin and out the run through the chicane.
18:34So Anthony Reid finally gets to climb onto the middle step
18:37of the podium, but he'll have his work cut out in race two,
18:39where he'll be starting from tenth on the grid.
18:41Stay with us to discover how he gets on.
18:44Sponsored by Green Flag Motoring Assistance.
18:55The Breakdown Specialists.
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