BTCC 2000 - Brands Hatch - Race 2
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00:00And look at the weather now, I mean the weather is going to throw all sorts at us, so it's
00:04going to be very exciting this afternoon.
00:07The joys of the English summer, as you can see it is absolutely bucketing with rain here
00:11at Brands Hatch, so everyone's plan A, out the window.
00:14Full wet weather start for everybody, it's going to be extremely difficult indeed.
00:18Now if old Tom Christensen in the Honda starts as well in this race as he did in race one,
00:22well we won't see him for dust, or should I say spray, because Christensen you remember
00:26got a blinder start in race one from the second row of the grid, this time he's in
00:30pole position.
00:31It might give him a chance to make up a little bit for losing the lead of that race.
00:34Now somebody else who'll be looking to make amends as I look where I'm going is Ricard
00:38Rydell in the Ford.
00:39Rydell lost that lead as well, he's in row two and he's got a very good wet weather setup
00:44he reckons, so he's someone to watch.
00:46Now both Christensen and Rydell got tangled up with the Class B runners.
00:49They're going to play a very big role this time around because on my calculations the
00:54leading Class A boys might pass them up to half a dozen times in this race.
00:57Oh, and race one superhero Matt Neill, watch for him, he's way back on row four of the
01:02grid, so he's going to need all that special pit work he was telling us about to make any
01:06impact on these lead cars.
01:09Well I like the parasol Charlie, but again the conundrum, we had two Fords in the sprint
01:13race in the front row, it's now two Hondas, Christensen and Thompson.
01:17Ricard Rydell and Ivan Miller on row two are going to make a very interesting mix.
01:21First time into paddock bend, as are Jason Plato and Alan Menuh on row three, Menuh
01:25just two points behind his teammate Anthony Reid, who's almost directly behind him, with
01:29race one winner Matt Neill on row four.
01:32Rademacher and Tarquini row five, and then we see the first of Class B with James Kay
01:36in his Honda and Roy Cunin in the Peugeot.
01:38Gavin Piper and the Alfa Romeo should have been alongside Morrison in row seven, but
01:42Tom Ferrier has his Alfa alongside Collage, Nissan in row eight.
01:46Lamer and Norton make up row nine, and that's our field.
01:50Times are up, but they'll have to be careful, it's slippery and they are away, but Christensen
01:53on the left, a rotten start for him.
01:56James Thompson straight past, terrific grip, up and over the top, Thompson leads.
02:01Now Ivan Miller's deciding to take the outside line down paddock hill bend, that'll be interesting
02:05on board with Plato, his teammate Miller is around here somewhere.
02:09Tarquini meantime takes the very wide line and uses the gravel, that won't work.
02:13Christensen trying a wide line around the outside of his own teammate Thompson, there's
02:17the Plato eye view, where's Christensen, side by side, down into bottom bend, oh, not for
02:22long, ta-da, Tom, Christensen and Plato contact, Christensen just slides forever on the grass.
02:29Thompson still hangs on to that lead, Plato still hangs on to second, there's Ricard Rydel
02:33in the board, he's doing all right in third, side by side, bumping and boring between Menuh
02:37and Ivan Miller, Miller trying to repay the compliment now, giving a bit of a tap on the
02:42back, I guess it's Menuh's car, can't see a thing out of his windscreen if we're on
02:46lap one.
02:47Well it's terrible, I mean literally the visibility is deteriorating all the time, and that's
02:50before you have a problem with your windscreen.
02:52There, James Thompson now on the second lap, Plato and Rydel, getting back to that start
02:57though, an appalling one for Tom Christensen, he will be furious, Jason Plato now, side
03:01by side with James Thompson, he's got a great run down through paddock, he's down the inside
03:06into Druids and he's through, Plato, Vauxhall in the lead.
03:09And it's a very driven Plato this afternoon in these wet conditions, but he does have
03:12to be careful, those little ram raids he has on people from time to time, notably Tom
03:17Christensen, aren't going to do him much use.
03:19And there's Tarquini, he's gone off in the gravel again, I bet he wanted to be a greater
03:23driver as a kid, just wanted to play in the gravel, like that, well I guess there's a
03:30lot of grip in there but it does slow you down a bit.
03:32It's a pretty big Tonka toy Tarquini's driving, but here is that moment on the first lap when
03:37Plato just put the bumper of his car to the bumper of Christensen's Honda, and in these
03:41conditions, the lightest tap, and that's the result.
03:44The old Honda sliding along there like a lawn bowl, couldn't pull it up for ages, Christensen
03:48has rejoined, he's got all that work to do.
03:51Now we're on board with Menuh in fourth place, ahead of us is Rydell, to the left of us is
03:56James Thompson, we are coming up into a hairpin bend called Druids, this will be interesting.
04:00Menuh is through and so is Reid, James Thompson is going nowhere fast.
04:04It just looks like the Forge are in a different field altogether, they've got grip all over
04:08the racetrack, Thompson's tippy doing his way round, and Rydell really struggling to
04:12find any grip at all.
04:13And look how wet it is, still glistening standing water all over the bottom end of the track
04:17there, as they work their way up through the S's now, that's Ivan Muller, bringing James
04:21Thompson under pressure as well, because Ivan Muller doesn't know that, he's sliding down
04:25the inside of James Thompson, and is he through?
04:29There's the view from James' car, you can just see Ivan Muller's bonnet, Muller moves
04:33over to the outside of the circuit, giving James a bit of a squeezer, now Anthony Reid
04:37in that yellow and blue Ford, is trying to tag along as well, but coming up to Paddock Hill
04:41bend across the strike, there's the James Thompson view, turning into Paddock, where's
04:45Reid?
04:46There's Reid!
04:47Oh!
04:48And there's Rydell!
04:49Ricard Rydell has taken the Tarquini line down through bottom bend, it's action stations
04:54here, Rydell has fallen off, James Thompson has just lost two places, all in the last
04:58five seconds.
04:59All this is confirming is that Ford have got great grip in the rain, Vauxhall are not bad,
05:04Honda are really struggling, but the one thing Honda's still got is that mighty horsepower
05:08that can drag them alongside and ahead of a competitor on the straight, but in these
05:12conditions, it's grip that's going to be the winning factor.
05:15Well Ricard Rydell better consult his Ford grip in the rain handbook, because he just
05:19had a great big slide, a big moment, as did the Vauxhall.
05:22Now on board now with Rydell, taking the high line up through Paddock Hill bend, and straight
05:29off.
05:30Well, so much for saying the Fords are great in the rain, certainly Alan Men uses great
05:33in the rain, but maybe that was just a little bit too quick for the conditions for Ricard
05:37Rydell.
05:38Well there is a theory that the outside line around part of this track is the one to take
05:42when it's raining, but that certainly doesn't work.
05:44Now Tom Christensen, there's the back view of him threading his way back through the
05:48Class B field, as I said he did get running again, just past the Class B Honda and the
05:53Class B 306 Peugeot, driven by Tony Boykin, and he's having a pretty good taboo in the
05:57lead.
05:58Doing a strong job, what's interesting is, what we're seeing in the Superturos, Honda
06:02are struggling for grip, and the Peugeot can pretty much use all the racetrack, but
06:06James Kay, he's having to be a lot more selective, very careful where he puts his Honda, but
06:10he's not going to give up.
06:12Well one way to get grip I guess is to lean on the car on the outside, if you see if that
06:15helps, but it didn't or did it, this is the drag down the pit straight, there's nothing
06:20in the power between the Peugeot and the Honda, James Kay having a big lunge down the inside
06:24though, Paddock Hill bend, brave stuff, very slippery conditions, and he's through, but
06:28is he through?
06:29Watch for the cut, Roykin in red, Kay very well up the inside, now it's under brakes,
06:33into drifts.
06:34Nicely done by Roykin and fights back, Kay says I'll have another piece of that, tags
06:38in behind him again, and they are exactly where they were a lap ago, highly entertaining
06:44stuff, and nicely read by Roykin.
06:46Good job.
06:47Oh, nicely read, I spoke too soon, he's put a couple of wheels on the paint or something
06:51and he's straight off.
06:52Just shows you that paint strip about six inches wide, enough to drag the car off track,
06:57Roykin and all that good work, all for nothing.
06:59What a great luck charm I've been for him, and this man now moves into the lead, James
07:03Kay, and in the Alpha Ferrier moves up into second position, Roykin with all the work
07:08to do again, now there's Jason Plato in the Class A Vauxhall, he is of course the race
07:13leader outright, haven't seen much of him because he disappeared off into the distance
07:18and he's making hay while the sun shines, threading his way through the Class B runners,
07:22weather looks as though it's just lifting a little bit, and Jason Plato has now got
07:26some real work to do because Alain Meunier has tagged right onto the back of him, there's
07:30the Meunier view.
07:36Really having to tiptoe out there through that slippery stuff.
07:39You've just got to be very careful when you're lapping so many of the Class B cars all at
07:43one time, to not overrun and put yourself into the wrong part of the racetrack, Meunier's
07:47hunting down Plato, look at the car moving all over the place, look how good the Ford
07:51is.
08:21Rademacher make up the second three, but this is where the action is, a fight for first
08:25place, down through Paddock Hill Bend, down into the dip, Meunier is absolutely on his
08:30hammer.
08:31But look at Alain Meunier behind, no wipers working, has he got a problem?
08:35It's not affecting his performance, but here is the first of the pit stoppers, the windows
08:39are very wide on lap 8 to lap 35, Thompson the first in, changes the front, the whole
08:44car, 6.36 seconds, good job from Honda.
08:48Interesting that he's decided to go in first, but he was having such a rotten time I guess,
08:52maybe a pit stop might do the trick, because he's really, really struggling for grip out
08:56there.
08:57Now here is this battle in the lead, we're back on board with Meunier, that little red
09:01dot ahead of us, is none other than Jason Plato, and he's being hunted down by Meunier,
09:06and Plato's run a little bit wide there through Paddock, oh dear me, Meunier deciding to just
09:11give him a bit of a headbutt on the way through, take that, well take that back again says
09:15Plato, you want to hit me, I'll hit you back, old teammates, but no love lost here.
09:19And Jason developing the art of the gentle touch, but here is Anthony Reid to the pit,
09:24pushing forward and let's see what they can do, 6 seconds for Honda, oh it's going on,
09:287, first stop for Anthony Reid, he is still the championship leader by 2 points, that's
09:33not going to help his cause.
09:34No, especially because this guy Alain Meunier has just moved into the lead, you can see
09:38the battle scar on the front left wing there.
09:40We don't, we have to come in as soon as we can, because I can't see anything, because
09:46on a du brouillard, on du brouillard il faut faire entrer les convois.
09:50The view from inside of Van Moolen's car, he looks as though he's stuck at the top of
09:53the ski lift up in the mountain, doesn't he, he can't ski down the fog set in.
09:57It's terrible, I mean driving in those conditions, you've got to use your peripheral vision,
10:00look out of the side windows, but half the time I bet you he thinks he's on the M20
10:04going down to Dover.
10:05He's no idea what's going on, just keep his eyes shut, that's my tip, Jason Plato now
10:09in second position.
10:10Morrison, he's decided to buy the Peugeot without the heated screen option as well.
10:16But the problem for Morrison and all the class B runners, they don't make pit stops, they're
10:20mandatory for super-tourers, but not for class B.
10:23He's got to go through all the 50 laps and can't see a thing.
10:26Well I hope his rear window is not as fogged as his front, otherwise he'll find himself
10:30in all sorts of trouble.
10:32Van Moolen, he is the guy that is fogged in, it looks OK at this gap, but that's what he
10:36is trying to see through.
10:38He won't be able to pit, will he?
10:39He won't be able to find his way in.
10:40Well he actually is, I'm not sure he's in the pit lane or not, I think Muller thinks
10:43he's in the pit lane.
10:44I mean, those are terrible conditions and I don't understand why Muller's car is suffering,
10:48yet Plato's got perfect vision.
10:50Let's see what Von Kohl can do, the car goes up, front wheel's on, we're looking at a
10:54something, oh, five, six, seven, of course we're going to have to now clean the windscreen.
10:58Furry Van Muller's not going to know what's happened, he can see where he's going to go
11:01for the rest of the race.
11:03Oh, I don't like it here much, I'm leaving, says Muller, back down the pit lane.
11:07Whatever caused that problem last time is likely to recur, I guess, because they've
11:10just wiped it off.
11:11He'll be lucky if he gets to the end of the pit lane before it fogs up.
11:14Well, the only thing I can suggest is that Van Muller might be one of those deep breathers.
11:19Rejoining the race, there's the Muller view, enjoy it while he's got it.
11:23That's the view back from Anthony Reid's Ford, so Reid is still ahead of him after that pit
11:27stop.
11:28Reid had a shoddy one, but Muller had a worse one because they had to do the de-mist trick.
11:32There's Reidy going up through Druids into the hairpin.
11:36Gabriele Tarquini and Ricard Rydell, neither of those have made their pit stops yet.
11:40Rydell just slips down the inside of Tarquini, makes it look easy.
11:43Yeah, I mean, that's Ricard doing a good job, but I think Tarquini, Christensen and Thompson
11:48have all got a big, big problem, and that car looks to me has been set up for dry conditions.
11:52Nobody may be told that it was going to be wet for this one.
11:55Well, Matt Neil is not having a good time of it either, in ninth position.
12:00One of the Class B Nissans in there, that's Norton.
12:04I don't think a 5,000 mile service is part of this feature race normally, is it?
12:08Well, he'll drop spots doing it, that's for sure.
12:10It might be clean and tidy, but he's got big problems.
12:12Muller, meantime, has made his pit stop, as we know, and as you can see, it's all getting
12:16moody and opaque already.
12:18You can't quite see through his windscreen, but that was a car he just passed.
12:21It was a Class B Honda driven by James Kay, and there's another Honda ahead of us.
12:25He can just make it out through the fog.
12:27I do find a little trick here for some of the drivers.
12:29If they actually see less, they might be able to do a bit more on the racetrack.
12:32Muller's flying through people.
12:34I bet you he doesn't know how many cars are actually around him at one time.
12:37Maybe we could try commentating with our eyes shut.
12:39I reckon that was probably Rydell, but I'm not sure.
12:41Now, Matt Neil, independent, up and over, into Paddock Hill Bend.
12:45Alain Menuet, yet to pit, in the lead position.
12:48And look at that, he's about to put a lap on independent Matt Neil.
12:51And Neil won the first race.
12:54OK, I'm coming in.
12:55OK, nice and steady this time, nice and steady.
12:58Well, there's the news.
12:59Menuet's coming in.
13:00This is going to be a critical stop.
13:02And it's also very critical to bring your driver in at a point when he could get held up behind traffic.
13:07A lot of cars ahead of Menuet, so take the opportunity to come in now, fresh tyres, go back out,
13:12hopefully in a nice clear gap on the racetrack, and continue in the lead.
13:15Yeah, and this running behind Matt Neil on this last lap is costing Alain Menuet just fractions of a second,
13:21as Matt's obviously having trouble with performance.
13:23And that's allowing Jason Plato to close up.
13:25And now time for Alain Menuet to peel off.
13:28His vision's not that great either, but it's not as bad as Muller's.
13:31No, it's not, but he hasn't used his wiper as he wants during this event.
13:34Be careful on the concrete, it's slippery.
13:36Careful as you brake on the concrete, it's slippery.
13:40I'm going to play Skittles with the team crew.
13:42That's what the Ford team are going to do here for race leader Alain Menuet.
13:46Oh, stunning, 4.64 seconds.
13:48That is absolutely rude.
13:50Just what the doctor ordered.
13:54You can see the speed reading out on the top of his dash there.
13:58Right on the limit.
13:59It was a great stop, and look, out in front, Gabriele Tarquini, who's yet to pit.
14:05There's the view from Gabriele's car, he's had a hell of an afternoon.
14:08Yeah, but at least he's got a clear windscreen, he can see what is going on,
14:11just not ahead of him, but all around him.
14:13But what a great job by the Ford team to get Menuet in service and back out again.
14:17That's what wins motor racers, and in these conditions,
14:20you need all those elements working for you.
14:22Yeah, Alain Menuet will be waiting for those new wet tyres
14:26to get enough heat in them to get maximum grip.
14:28The others were lovely and hot, just sliding their classes.
14:31Working it in the Class B Peugeot, up and through the S's and back on to clear ways.
14:36Now there's our Class B leader, James Kay.
14:39Right behind him is the Class A and outright leader,
14:42at the moment at least, on the track, Jason Plato.
14:45Matt Neal ahead of him, there's Jason Plato, he's in the lead
14:48because he hasn't pitted yet, and behind him is Ricard Rydell,
14:51but these guys have really got Matt Neal getting very, very sideways there.
14:55Yeah, he just ran wide, he let Plato go through, he let Rydell go through,
14:59and the process got onto the grass.
15:01Now, Menuet was leading before he pitted, Rydell is now in second,
15:04but it's critically important for these guys now, isn't it,
15:06to get some quick laps, because they've got a big stop to beat.
15:09Yeah, they have, and I mean, a 4.64 second stop for Alain Menuet,
15:13pretty stunning indeed.
15:14Ricard Rydell comes into the pits, so this will be a pit stop
15:18that really is going to see him either win or come second
15:20in this afternoon's events.
15:22Well, there's Menuet coming round the back of the circuit now,
15:24his teammate Rydell is in the pits there.
15:27Car comes to a stop, jacks down, wheels off, wheels on, locked up, done.
15:324.16, what you thought was good for Menuet,
15:35that can't get any better for Rydell.
15:37Now let's see how it works, because there's Rydell in the pit lane,
15:40Menuet's out here somewhere.
15:43Where is he? There he is, and he's through.
15:46Rydell's pit stop might have been better, but Menuet has held the lead.
15:50Well, two great pit stops from the Ford team have consolidated their position,
15:54and now they've got to see what Vauxhall can do for race leader Jason Plato.
15:58That's a tough order of 4.16, 4.64 seconds.
16:02Matt, can you get...
16:03Well, might give him some sort of a chance, but it'll be a horrible car to drive.
16:08Ed, do you just want Buff West on the front, OK?
16:11We're going to have to use the second pit.
16:13We're going to have to use the second pit.
16:16Roger.
16:17And I need the air jack lever forward.
16:19Come on, boys, get in the pit.
16:21In the pit lane, please.
16:22We're turning up front. Come on, boys.
16:25Well, synchronised Hondas.
16:26Yes, indeed. Christensen and Tarquini couldn't have come in any later.
16:30This is lap 35.
16:31That was the maximum time you could stay out on track.
16:34Now Christensen, 7.56, not brilliant.
16:36Tarquini, 12 seconds.
16:37He changed all four, but here's the real pressure.
16:41Pit stop, Jason Plato hitting the race.
16:435.2 seconds, just about 0.7 slower than Menuh.
16:46A second slower than Rydell.
16:48Can he get out ahead and be in the lead?
16:50We're looking for Menuh, we're looking for Rydell.
16:52We're on board with Plato coming down the pit lane.
16:55Menuh and Rydell will be around here somewhere.
16:57There goes one Ford, and where's the other one?
17:00There it is.
17:01So Menuh and Rydell ahead.
17:03Jason Plato resumes in third.
17:05I think the speed of the Fords when they were running clear
17:07was sufficient to give them enough of a gap,
17:09so as when Plato comes out, they are still ahead.
17:12Mind you, the pit stop didn't hurt either.
17:14Now this is getting busy.
17:16Mr. Brademacher just rejoining behind his teammate,
17:19LeBron Moller.
17:20Matt Neal, meantime, coming into the pits for the
17:23you-want-to-try-some-slicks trick.
17:25Let's hope that he can get down the pit lane without too much trouble.
17:28Remember, slicks in the front, wets in the back
17:31is not the ideal setup for any conditions,
17:33let alone what we've got here.
17:35Especially with those front tires nicely chilled.
17:37Spins them to try to get some traction on the way down the pits.
17:40This will be fun.
17:45The sky, you can see through the windscreen there of Matt Neal's car,
17:48though the sky is lifting.
17:49We've not had rain for a while.
17:50The conditions are playing his way.
17:52And if this race was 60 laps but not the 50,
17:55it would be a great call from Team Dynamics and Matt Neal,
17:58but sadly, Matt, it is 50.
18:00Hello, mate. How you doing?
18:01Welcome to Touring Cars.
18:02That's Farrier in the second of the alphas, just sliding past.
18:06Watch our camera, throwing rocks all over us as he tries to rejoin.
18:10Obviously, or maybe getting a little bit fazed by the two Fords following him.
18:14Now, there's another Ford, Anthony Reid.
18:16Now, he'll be whizzing it was a 60-lap race, not a 50 as well,
18:19because he went into this race as the championship leader,
18:22and sure ain't now as we watch him slide down the inside of Matt Neal.
18:27Getting lots of grip there, Matt Neal, doing the slick experiment for us.
18:30And obviously, it's difficult to get grip out of the slow corners.
18:35There's the view from Matt now.
18:36He'll be focusing pretty hard as well on where he brakes
18:39until he gets some good heat into those front tyres.
18:42He's probably going to take more laps than he's got.
18:45Anthony Reid ahead of us as we ride with James Thompson.
18:48Anthony Reid went into today's meeting leading the championship.
18:51He actually still went into this race with a slender lead,
18:54but that'll be gone now the way Alan Menuh is going.
18:57Yes, and also he's under pressure from his other teammate, Ricard Rydell,
19:00but if everything remains status quo, my calculations work out that
19:04Ricard Rydell will be third, Anthony Reid second,
19:07and Alan Menuh back in the lead of this year's championship.
19:10Shows how close the series is, especially at the front,
19:12and also demonstrates how dominant Ford have been all year long.
19:16Any one of their three drivers leading at any different point across the day, almost.
19:20On board with James Thompson now. Matt Neal is ahead of us
19:23in the independent Nissan. He won race one.
19:26And it looks as though his slick trick might be getting better.
19:29Yes, and I think it's probably about even Stevens between the Honda and the Nissan.
19:32Of course, he can't afford to be too exuberant going into Paddock Hill Bend.
19:35The Honda has got the benefit of those wet fronts.
19:38James Thompson exuberant enough to just slip straight past Matt Neal.
19:42James running in fifth position. Matt Neal now a lap down.
19:48The man right behind them making up that trio is Ivan Moller. He's in sixth.
19:53Also trying to put a lap on Matt Neal.
19:55Now, Ivan Moller, of course, is the only man taking the chase up to the forge in the championship.
19:59He's running in fourth, but the gap's a little bit distant at the moment,
20:02as we watch Anthony Reid slide back up through the chicane.
20:06James Thompson making a little bit of headway on him.
20:08It's looking a little bit happier, that Honda, as the rain disappears.
20:11Yeah, the track's beginning to show the hint of a drying line,
20:14but really nothing significant.
20:16But what is significant is Honda really lost so much
20:19when the track was at its wettest at the beginning of this race.
20:22Gabriele Tarquini having a drive-through penalty,
20:25as though he needed any more penalties for such an awkward afternoon.
20:28And there is James Kaye in the Honda taking the Gabriele Tarquini
20:32Paddock Hill Honda line down and through the gravel.
20:35But still, it looks hanging on to his lead, so confident was it.
20:39I got taken off by Plato, then. Or Reid, or one of them, or not.
20:44How long to the end? How long to the end?
20:47Four laps to go, James. Four laps to go.
20:51Angry at Brand's hatch complaints, someone's had me off.
20:54Yes, James Kaye certainly having a bit of an interesting afternoon,
20:57but showing the dominance that Honda have seen
20:59throughout the season in Class B,
21:01and a great drive from James Kaye this afternoon.
21:06Matt Mill looks pretty busy at the wheel there.
21:08It doesn't look as though he's getting all the grip he wants,
21:11even in a straight line.
21:12It's always alarming when you've got to steer straight.
21:16Down through the paddock, and a big slide on there.
21:20A huge slide, he's on!
21:23Yeah, he just let it get too wide.
21:24Those cabs aren't slicks in these conditions.
21:27Ah, front suspension broke.
21:30Keep going if you can, Matt. Keep going if you can.
21:33But don't take any risks.
21:35That's covered it then, hasn't it?
21:37Not much more you can say, Matt.
21:39It's done the damage to the car,
21:40but really the damage was done in qualifying studies.
21:42So far down the grid.
21:43And this man's done the damage to the rest of the field,
21:46Alan Menuh.
21:47It's been a lap ago,
21:48and a comfortable gap you just saw back to Ricard Radel
21:51in second position.
21:52Too far back to challenge.
21:54But it's been a thoroughly professional
21:56and polished drive from Alan Menuh this afternoon,
21:58and he knows how to win races.
22:00Yeah, and bear in mind,
22:01I made such an issue of this at the start of the race,
22:03he was nowhere near his two teammates
22:05in either of the qualifying sessions.
22:07He's come from quite a way back.
22:10But maybe it's in these wet conditions
22:11that the benefit of not having to carry a weight penalty
22:14really has helped Alan Menuh this afternoon.
22:16Well, Ricard Radel isn't carrying a weight penalty,
22:19and he needs all the help he can get
22:21because Jason Plato is starting to put on a charge.
22:23We're on board with Jason, ahead of us is Ricard.
22:26We're coming back down across the start-finish line,
22:28and that will mark the start of the last lap.
22:31Plato's got all to do.
22:32It'll be difficult because the Ford's handled well all afternoon,
22:35but Plato's a great racer.
22:37He needs to get closer,
22:38and we have seen this afternoon if he is close to anybody,
22:41he just manages to kiss the rear bumper,
22:43and it's benefited him so far.
22:45Yeah, I was going to say,
22:46he really needs to get within striking distance,
22:48but maybe that's not very funny.
22:50Jason Plato now trying to close up.
22:53He's moving on an attacking line,
22:55but it isn't close enough through bottom bend.
22:58Radel puts on the power.
22:59Plato is with him, though.
23:00We're coming up into the esses.
23:02This is the last chance.
23:04And there is traffic ahead of us.
23:06We're on a dry line.
23:07Plato's on a charge, trying to carry momentum.
23:10Radel there on the inside of Mark Lemmer in the Honda.
23:12Plato on the boot lid.
23:13Can he run a wide line?
23:14No, there's nothing he can do.
23:16He read a situation,
23:17but he had no space to execute it.
23:23That's the menu walk-right.
23:25Keep it all hot.
23:26Grab what you can on the way round.
23:27Grab what you can on the way round.
23:29Getting instructions from his team there
23:30to make sure he picks up some excess rubber or something.
23:33That ought to do it.
23:35Not picking up excess rubber to make his car high enough
23:38because it runs off the track.
23:39It's a pile full of rocks on the tyres.
23:41Great drive from Alain Menu.
23:42Great drive from Ricard Radel.
23:44And a terrific drive as well from Jason Plato.
23:46Remember, he muscled his way up into the lead
23:48and lost it in the end,
23:49but he was very, very strong race long.
23:51Anthony Reid, fourth position.
23:53James Thompson overcame frustration with that Honda
23:55to finish in fifth position in drying conditions.
23:58Ivan Muller was never far from James,
24:00but not close enough to do anything about it.
24:02First, at Rademacher, Tom Christensen, hero to zero.
24:05Then Matt Neal and Gabriele Tarquini.
24:07I think it was one of my best races ever.
24:11Drove really well and pit stop was great.
24:13I mean, the guys did a fantastic job once more.
24:15And what can I say? I'm very, very happy.
24:17Now, it is not done, your championship hopes,
24:19any harm at all, has it?
24:21No, because I've got to say after yesterday,
24:23after qualifying, I wasn't happy
24:25because for the first time since the very first race,
24:28I'm running with no weight.
24:30And I was expecting to be on the front row for both races.
24:33And for some reasons, I wasn't.
24:35So that one is great, from 6th on the grid, winning the race.
24:39I think I proved the point, which is good.
24:41Sure, did prove a point, not only winning the race,
24:43but putting himself back in the lead of the Drivers' Championship.
24:46Menu just ahead of his teammate, Anthony Reid,
24:48with Ricard Radel just behind.
24:50Look, he could throw a blanket over all three of them.
24:53For Vauxhall, Muller and Plato, well,
24:55they've just dropped too many plates.
24:57The championship just about out of reach.
24:59Ford in an extremely strong position.
25:01And for this race, Alan Menu, particularly strong.
25:04And in the Class B battle, that man, Alan Morrison,
25:07looking pretty strong as well.
25:09Hanging on to his lead, James Kaye in the Honda in 2nd position,
25:12very close behind him.
25:14Mark Lema, Kaye's teammate in the other Honda,
25:16record now in 3rd position.
25:18Collard and James round out the 5.
25:20But for the Ford guys, good day's work, job done.
25:23Well, I mean, the three Ford drivers have done
25:25what they've been paid to do.
25:27So, you could say the gloves are off now,
25:29and I'm really looking forward to that challenge.
25:32Actually, we're going to switch off our radio sets,
25:35ignore the team manager and just sort it out amongst ourselves.
25:39Sounds great.
25:40Oh, to have the Ford body shop contract.
25:42But congratulations to Ford,
25:44the Year 2000 Manufacturers' Champions.
25:47Vauxhall in 2nd position, being challenged...