11 Nov 09 11:12
Video: BTCC 2009 season review
After seven years of trying BMW driver Colin Turkington finally secured the British Touring Car Championship - but he did in a kind of Jenson Button-style.
The 27-year-old Northern Irishman was almost 40 points clear by June but only snuck across the line with a five-point advantage at the end of the 30-race competition after a breathtaking final meeting at Brands Hatch.
His car, run by WSR, had some major suspension developments throughout the season and that enabled Turkington to take five wins but Jason Plato (Chevrolet Lacetti) and Fabrizio Giovanardi (Vauxhall Vectra) both remained in contention for the crown up until the last race in October.
It was a superb show of controlled aggression from Turkington around the 2.6-mile Kent circuit for the final meeting and it was enough to put him ahead of Giovanardi and get his hands on the trophy.
Turkington and Plato
Plato's was an incredible story too - like Button he was without work at the end 2008 when the Seat team withdrew from the BTCC. He seemed destined for a year on the sidelines until he pulled together a last-minute deal with the RML squad to field a Chevrolet and he nearly scooped a second title to add to his 2001 success.
Three wins at the final round of the season were a high point for Plato but Turkington just too far out of reach. Plato's future is again uncertain without any factory teams in the championship next season but sources suggest that Chevrolet is looking to bump up the programme to a full factory effort.
Vauxhall had also announced that it would quit the BTCC at the end of 2009 and that meant double title-winner Fabrizio Giovanardi was racing for his career. He took five wins but a mystery engine power problem with his Vectra blunted his late-season form and he was powerless to prevent Plato stealing second place in the points at the last race. Giovanardi seems set to find a berth in the World Touring Car Championship next season.
Other stars of the season included Mat Jackson, who joined Plato in an RML-run Chevrolet. He took a record-breaking run of eight podiums on his way to fifth in the points despite missing the opening rounds of the year while the deal was put together.
Matt Neal's Vauxhall led the points until half way through the year but mechanical problems with his Vauxhall Vectra and contact at Snetterton blunted his charge.
Former double champion James Thompson was a three-time winner in a bit-part season with the Team Dynamics Honda outfit but the Yorkshireman left before the end of the year to concentrate on driving a Lada in the World Touring Car Championship and racing in Australia.
Turkington's Team RAC team-mate Stephen Jelley won twice in a breakthrough season for the former single-seater man while the Airwaves BMW river Rob Collard, a former Independents champion, also tasted glory twice.
BTCC final standings
1. Colin Turkington (Team RAC BMW 320si): 275
2. Jason Plato (Racing Silverline Chevrolet Lacetti): 270
3. Fabrizio Giovanardi (VX Racing Vauxhall Vectra): 266
4. Matt Neal (VX Racing Vauxhall Vectra): 170
5. Mat Jackson (Racing Silverline Chevrolet Lacetti): 165
6. Rob Collard (Airwaves BMW 320si): 145
7. Stephen Jelley (Team RAC BMW 320si): 137
8. Jonny Adam (Airwaves BMW 320si): 116
9. James Thompson (Team Dynamics Honda Civic): 114
10. Andrew Jordan (VX Racing Vauxhall Vectra): 114
4Car motorsport
Compare car insurance with Tesco Compare
