Colin Turkington is leading the field at the close of the fourth round of the 2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship after a close day of racing at Oulton Park.
Turkington was on pole position for the opening race, and ran away from the pack as the chequered flag was dropped, with his team-mate Rob Collard quickly slotting into second place. A series of fast and consistent lap times meant that as he crossed the line to win the first race of the day, Turkington was some 2.7 seconds clear of Collard in second.
With the two BMWs taking the top spots, it was left to Jason Plato to take third position, ahead of Gordon Shedden in fourth in his Honda Civic Tourer. Reigning champion Andrew Jordan struggled in this first heat, carrying 45kg of ballast. He finished in 15th place behind Alain Menu.
Turkington also managed to take the crown in race two, with Collard again crossing the line in second place ahead of Rob Austin's Audi. However, a ruling from officials determined that an overtake made by Austin before a safety car was bought on was legal, therefore promoting him to second place.
The safety car incident occurred between Dave Newsham's Ford Focus and Jack Goff's Vauxhall Insignia, sending Newsham into the barriers. After the debris had been cleared Turkington easily lead the field to victory, with Plato just missing out on the podium in fourth position, ahead of Shedden, Mat Jackson and Tom Ingram.
As the cars lined up for the reversed grid of race three, it was Aron Smith who sat on pole position in his Volkswagen Passat ahead of Ingram and Jackson. With the weather leaving the track wet, it was a slippery start and the first lap saw Jack Goff, Hunter Abbott and Matt Neal all leave the track and the safety car deployed.
On the restart, the lead drivers bunched together for several laps of very close racing, before Plato tapped Collard into a spin on the sixth lap. Collard recovered, but was only able to take 11th place.
Smith took the win, the second of his career, ahead of Shedden, Plato and Turkington. Rob Austin took fifth place, ahead of Sam Tordoff in sixth.
The results of this weekend's racing mean that Colin Turkington now leads the series with 181 points, ahead of Shedden with 174 points and Jordan with 156.
The next Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship event takes place on 28 and 29 June at Croft. That event will mark the halfway point in this year's championship series.
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