BTCC 2000 - Snetterton - Race 2

Touring Car Classics by Tony Thompson

10/12/2024

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Transcript

00:00Ladies and gentlemen, it's party time now at Snedderton.

00:05As you can see, plenty of celebration going on in the track centre as the cars make their

00:10way down the pit lane and work their way around here to form up on the grid for tonight's

00:14main race.

00:15And the feature race is just that, a full-blown feature, including pit stops, done of course

00:20under lights, all due to start at the stroke of midnight.

00:23But I tell you what, for some of these drivers, the witching hour really came early, particularly

00:27Yvain Muller, he trashed his car in race one, he's actually had to commandeer Vincent

00:32Rademacher's car to start in P5 on the grid, so no Vincent Rademacher at all.

00:37Also the Honda boys, they've been working flat out trying to fix James Thompson's car

00:41and also in Ford, they haven't been partying either, because Alan Menuhin's car was badly

00:45damaged, the good news is they've literally just done the job.

00:49Now I reckon Jason Plato is a man to watch, remember he was blisteringly fast in race

00:53one, great starter in all the starts, even the restarts, so I really, really think he's

00:58going to be alright as long as he can get around this richest corner properly.

01:01Now remember, these guys had no luck doing that when it was daylight, now it's going

01:06to be pitch dark, and on top of that, it's starting to spit with rain.

01:09Yes, it's a little bit of a case of ET or close and conscious of a wet kind I think

01:14right now.

01:15Well all the cars coming around to form up on the grid, a huge crowd here and a very

01:19stoic one, they have not been budged by the rain, the appalling weather at all, we are

01:24going to start this race, it's been much delayed, ready to go and it's being started under the

01:27Union Jack flag because the starting lights are broken, and that's Riccard Rydell, that's

01:32wheelspin, he's going nowhere, that's Alan Menuhin just streaking past him on the left

01:36hand side, that's Jason Plato following through as well, now there's Anthony Reid as well

01:41coming right alongside Riccard Rydell, I don't know how this shuffle will unfold, but you're

01:46bumping and boring into the first corner in the rain, that's the view from Tom's car,

01:50that's James Thompson on the left of us, and it's Yvonne Muller in a Vauxhall on the right,

01:56side by side, oh, a cup look, everybody seems to have recovered, all cars running wide,

02:02all off the track, they've got through Sear Corner, this is the drag down the back straight,

02:06and I can't see a thing, don't know about you.

02:08Well there's pretty poor vision, look at that, isn't that unbelievable, the combination of

02:13rain, light.

02:15It's all very odd, he really takes your breath away, Christensen now, in behind James Thompson,

02:19this is the tight right hander of the chicane, a bird's eye view to see, Matt Neal just slides

02:24past us, whilst ahead we saw Muller just slipping down the inside of Thompson, down into the

02:28bomb hole for the first time, there goes Muller, then Thompson, then Matt Neal, around Corham

02:33Corner, still managing to lift an inside wheel, even though it's wet, that's the sort of grip

02:39they're getting, astounding stuff.

02:40Yeah it is, but it really is still very tippy too, the first race in the rain this evening,

02:44a lot of rubber and oil on the track, and just very careful for the first lap.

02:49Very difficult to find your way, Muller seemed to get out of that Russell complex there very

02:53well, and pull up a little bit of a gap on Thompson going up the straight, there they

02:58are, bathed in light, then disappear off into the night, Menuh, Plato, and then Reid.

03:05Rydell in fourth place, Muller in fifth, and Thompson, we've been watching that battle,

03:09absolute darkness around the back of the circuit here, they wash off a lot of speed, drop a

03:14couple of gears, then they go onto the hugely long, very very high speed Revit straight,

03:18well they'll get onto it sooner or later, once again Muller this time running very wide

03:22on the exit, to join the Revit straight.

03:24And all the spray we saw there with the first lap, now the second lap down the straight,

03:28the spray's just going up, there's no wind to blow the spray away, it just falls from

03:33where it was actually blowing up in the first place.

03:37Now we are looking back from Ricard Rydell's car.

03:43And the view back's not much clearer is it, but I can tell you that that is Ivan Muller

03:47who was actually driving Vincent Radamacher's Vauxhall.

03:51Muller commandeered the car after his was so badly damaged in race one.

03:55The view from behind, he's just eating the spray, and a big slide there from him as well

03:58through Corham corner, very long fast corner, not the sort of place you'd be wanting to

04:02drive in the dark, in the rain.

04:05Bouncing, clubbing over the kerbs must be extremely difficult to see.

04:09That's James Thompson having a really big kerb hop there, as they drag back up the pit straight.

04:14All of this worked so well for Alain Meunier who's out in front, made a cracking start,

04:18Rydell must be kicking himself.

04:26While Meunier increased his lead on the rest of the field, out of the dark the Class B boys

04:30were at play.

04:31Mark Lemmer being turned around at Russell corner.

04:38With the rain eventually stopping and the track drying, the only question on the minds

04:42of the crew was, could Jason Plato catch and overtake Alain Meunier on the last lap for

04:47the race victory?

04:53Plato isn't close enough to Meunier as they come into Russell and Plato's going to exceed

04:56to second place.

04:58Great drive from Meunier though, and a brilliant drive from Plato as well and he's going to

05:01take the pipe right to the wire.

05:03Russell corner for the last time, Plato right on the boot lid of Alain Meunier, thinking

05:07to himself and proving the point, if this race had been a couple of laps longer, I might

05:12have just got there.

05:18Well done, well done, fantastic race.

05:21It was very tricky because we were waiting on the grid for the proper start and he started

05:25a bit.

05:26And then I asked my engineer, Jerry, if I could come in and start from the pit lane,

05:31but everybody did that, so start delay and everything.

05:33And then I had a good start, got right there at the start, and then the car was great to

05:38start with, so I was pulling away, and then after the pit stop I had a big lead, but I

05:43think the tyres were not quite as good as the first set I had.

05:47So Jason was catching, but I had everything under control, I only did just enough so I

05:52could win the race.

05:55You know, sometimes you get good tyres, well not good tyres, they're all good tyres, but

06:00sometimes you just get a set that works well.

06:02And Alain had that set at the beginning and I'll be dead honest, I couldn't live with

06:06him, he was off like a scalded cat.

06:08So I just thought, OK, I'll sit here and I'll run my own race at my pace and maybe it will

06:12come back to me.

06:13And for sure, you know, as the race went on, he started to struggle with tyres and then

06:17our car came very good, which it normally does to be fair, even in the dry.

06:21So, yeah, I reckon, you know, another couple of laps he'll probably disagree, but another

06:24couple of laps I think I might have had him.

06:26But, you know, a win in the second is a great weekend.

06:30A good weekend indeed.

06:31Nicely done.

06:32Mate did not hurt his championship hopes either, moving Jason Plato right behind his teammate

06:36Ivan Muller in the point standings.

06:38That man Menu still leading though.

06:40Rydell and then Reid, a top three lockout for Ford.

06:43Ivan Muller, as I said, in fourth, and Jason Plato breathing down his neck.

BTCC 2000 - Snetterton - Race 2

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