Thruxton BTCC

Menu & Thompson Win at Thruxton

Alain Menu and James Thompson were the winners at Thruxton this
afternoon (Monday), in rounds 5 & 6 of the 1995 Auto Trader RAC
British Touring Car Championship. Swiss Renault driver Menu scored
his first race victory of the year, while Thompson, at 21, became the
youngest ever winner in the series. Round five was a lights-to-flag
demonstration of superiority by Menu, who scored the maiden win for the
Williams-prepared Renault Laguna. Menu assumed command on the opening
lap after a perfectly executed start from pole position. John Cleland,
Vauxhall team leader, persued Menu for the entire race, fighting past
the Ford Mondeo of Kiwi Paul Radisich on the opening lap and closing the
gap between himself and Menu inch by inch. Four laps from home, Cleland
was right on Menu's tail and pushing for all he was worth, but he could
find no answer to the Renault's speed on this, the fastest track on the
BTCC calendar. Menu and Cleland were separated by just 0.33 seconds at
the chequered flag.

Cleland's Vauxhall team mate, James Thompson, looked set to claim third
place until a puncture five laps from home ended his race. Thompson has
earlier disposed of the Fords of Radisich and Burt - and both these
men subsequently disappeared from the race also, Radisich with engine
problems, and Burt after an off-track excursion.

That left third place in the hands of Patrick Watts and his Peugeot 405,
with Tim Sugden taking fourth for Toyota. The hitherto dominant Volvo
challenge faded early. Rickard Rydell recovered to ninth, Harvey to
15th.

Round six was restarted after a first-lap crash caused by Australian
Charlie Cox blocked the circuit; his car was extensively damaged but
he was unhurt. Thompson led all the way from the pole in a copybook
performance, persued by Menu and Burt.

A late charge from Rydell saw the Swede take fourth place and harass    
Burt for third. Cleland made a bad start from fifth on the grid to      
slip to ninth on the opening lap, but recovered to fifth at the flag.   
Will Hoy nearly failed to make the start after repairs to his Renault   
Laguna overran; his second position on the grid proved little benefit,  
however, as he retired on the first lap.                                

With the championship now heading for Silverston at the weekend, the
new leader of the series - which has seen five different winners in six
races - is Alain Menu, who holds a narrow advantage over Cleland and
Harvey.

Of round 5, Cleland said "That was a fantastic race. I was all over
Menu, but he was being double careful. . . . In the second race I was
just a little too cautious with my start and got bogged down. That meant
I had to fight my way through the field".

Thompson: "I was disappointed after my puncure in the first of the two
races, but I've forgotten all about that now! I was mainly anxious
not to make a bad start, as I've already made too many this season.
Sometimes the tyre smoke has left the grid before I have!"

Round 5

1.	Alain Menu		Renault		26m39.08s	106.08mph
2.	John Cleland		Vauxhall	+0.33
3.	Patrick Watts		Peugeot		+26.17
4.	Tim Sugden		Toyota		+29.48
5.	David Brabham		BMW		+30.55
6.	Giampiero Simoni	Alfa Romeo	+30.90
7.	Julian Bailey		Toyota		+32.72
8.	David Leslie		Honda		+37.59
9.	Rickard Rydell		Volvo		+46.53
10.	Simon Harrison		Peugeot		+47.33

Round 6

1.	James Thompson		Vauxhall	22m38.48s	106.13mph
2.	Menu					+2.85s
3.	Kelvin Burt		Ford		+6.90s
4.	Rydell					+7.09s
5.	Cleland					+13.68s
6.	Paul Radisich		Ford		+14.90s
7.	Tim Harvey		Volvo		+16.85s
8.	Bailey					+17.17s
9.	Harrison				+19.64s
10.	Simoni					+21.14s

Championship Positions

1. Menu (76)
2. Cleland (68)
3. Harvey (67)
4. Rydell (58)
5. Thompson (50)
6. Radisich (42)

1. Vauxhall (102)
2. Volvo (95)
3. Renault (88)
4. Ford (64)
5. BMW (49)
6. Toyota (40)

Results and Report provided by Vauxhall Sport
-- 
Stephen M Baines

 "[The Autosport sticker] started to peel off in the middle of Eau Rouge
 and it distracted me. In fact it was the first thing to hit the barrier"
    Tiff Needell - Jaguar XJR-15 Challenge - Interview with Autosport

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