Tom wins season finale at Silverstone! 17th October 2011
Tom Chilton took a stunning victory in the final race of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship today, at the Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire. The Team Aon driver recovered from a disappointing start to the day to fight his way back through the field and end the day with his second victory of the season in the new Global Ford Focus Touring Car.
Bad luck seemed to strike Tom again in race one after a promising fourth position resulted in no points for the Reigate born racer in the first race of the weekend. Tom made a stunning start from his sixth placed grid slot to pass Alex MacDowall off the line, and was fifth by the first corner.
Tom was clearly on the pace and looked to be being held up by fourth place man James Nash, which allowed the three front runners to pull ahead. Tom kept Nash under constant pressure and was sizing up for an overtaking manoeuvre when he was shown the black and white warning flag for exceeding track limits at Copse.
So as not to been handed a penalty, Tom was careful to keep all four wheels on track, but despite only been shown the black and white flag for one lap, was almost immediately then handed a drive through penalty. With several drivers around him either receiving several warnings or a black flag signal which was later revoked, Tom’s drive through penalty looked harsh in comparison.
Despite his confusion at the penalty, Tom immediately took the drive-through and set about making progress from 16th place. With only limited overtaking chances on the short Silverstone National track, Tom managed to climb back up to 12th at the chequered flag.
Taking his finishing position from race one as his starting position for race two, Tom lined up 12th for the second race of the day, which took place under sunny skies at the Silverstone circuit. Tom once again made a good start, and despite some contact from Nick Foster and his team mate Andy Neate which resulted in a severely dented door, Tom had managed to climb to seventh by lap five.
Tom maintained seventh place despite a safety car restart following a crash for Foster, but soon had Jason Plato in his mirrors. Tom defended well but Plato finally managed a way past following a wheel to wheel drag race down the start/finish straight. Tom went on to take the chequered flag in eighth place.
Ninth place was randomly selected as the reverse pole for the third race of the day and final race of the season. That put Chevrolet’s MacDowall on pole, with Tom in second place, just ahead of the other Chevrolet car of Plato.
At the start, Tom made the most of his front row grid slot, to defend from Plato and jump MacDowall in the run down to the first corner to take the lead. Plato was clearly on a charge to take the final victory of the season as consolation for not winning the title, and was keeping Tom under intense pressure.
Tom continued to push hard though and kept the Chevrolet man behind him. The gap fluctuated between three tenths to half a second, with Tom never able to lose concentration. By lap 19 the gap to Plato was just over half a second, as tyre wear began to become an issue for all the drivers.
A mistake by Plato on the penultimate lap gave Tom some breathing space and at the chequered flag Tom took victory over Plato by 1.4 seconds.
Speaking about his win, Tom said, ““Obviously I’m delighted to win the last race of the season. I think it shows how much progress we’ve made this year and I’d like to say thanks to the team for continuing to work so hard on a new car. To achieve five podiums and two race wins in its first season shows the real potential of the new Focus.
“Jason [Plato] was pretty close at points but I just concentrated on driving my own race and not making any mistakes. Its hugely rewarding to lead the last race of the season from the first corner to the chequered flag and I think it shows us what is possible for the future.”
