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24th June 2002

Fifth for Reid in Mondello Sprint

Fifth for Reid in Mondello Sprint.Both MG Sport and Racing MG ZS EX260s started the Sprint Race from row six of the grid, after their problems in qualifying, and battled in the midfield for the majority of the 20-lap race. The race, won by Matt Neal, was interrupted twice during the latter stages with the safety car being deployed, and Anthony Reid fought his way through to fifth, while Warren Hughes finished tenth.

The tight circuit of Mondello Park was a new challenge for MG but Anthony Reid, having qualified 11th, drove a steady race and made places to gain valuable points for the Championship. Anthony said: "It was back to the touring cars of old and good fun. It was hard work for the last five or six laps when the safety car came out. With the extra weight (54kg) the tyres started to suffer. I'm pleased as finishing fifth is better than I'd hoped for."

Warren's race was full of incidents in which the MG was in contact on a number of occasions. Warren explained: "I had a very good first lap but later on I took a few knocks to the side of the car. I was disappointed with qualifying so it was always going to be difficult fighting in midfield."

BTCC Round Nine, Sprint Race, Mondello Park, 20 laps:

1 Matt Neal GB Egg Sport Vauxhall Astra Coupe 41min50.927secs
2 James Thompson GB Vauxhall Motorsport Astra Coupe +0.523secs
3 David Leslie GB PSP Proton Impian +4.520secs
4 Paul O'Neill GB Egg Sport Vauxhall Astra Coupe +6.756secs
5 Anthony Reid GB MG Sport and Racing MG ZS +8.952secs
6 Andy Priaulx GB Honda Motorsport Civic Type-R +9.156secs
7 Tim Harvey GB VLM Peugeot 406 Coupe +9.750secs
8 Phil Bennett GB PSP Proton Impian +11.917secs
9 Tom Chilton GB Barwell Motorsport Vauxhall Astra Coupe +12.453secs
10 Warren Hughes GB MG Sport and Racing MG ZS +14.803secs


Reid goes fourth for MG.
Mondello Park's 30-lap Feature Race saw MG Sport and Racing's Anthony Reid running in the lead for much of the race - the cars starting on wet tryes as rain lashed the track. Following his pit stop Anthony found himself fighting to make up the places to reach third, before a last lap an incident with Matt Neal resulted in Anthony slipping to fourth place. Warren Hughes brought the second MG ZS EX260 home seventh.

Anthony explained: "It was one of the most exciting races so far this season. On the last lap I was forced wide by Matt (Neal), which allowed him to get past. I finished fourth but disappointed not to get third. "

It was another battle for Warren after a disappointing qualifying session the previous day. On the race Warren said: "It was full of action. Qualifying scuppered my weekend so it was always going to be difficult to make progress. I only got seventh but I genuinely believe we could have done a lot better. It was a real lost opportunity this weekend so I'll be looking to Croft to make up some points."

Rob Oldaker, managing director, MG Sport & Racing, gave his view of the weekend: "Interesting qualifying with the Team Atomic Kitten cars doing better than the works cars but the weather played its part. Gareth and Colin achieved excellent results but it was a great shame that Colin was unable to race. Nevertheless, we got better results than we could have expected from the works cars today. We've picked up a few more points and not too much ballast for the next round."

Dick Bennetts, managing director, WSR commented: "The MG Hot Wheels Racing team had a frustrating qualifying which wasn't helped by the weather. Both Team Atomic Kitten drivers worked hard to secure excellent results but it was unfortunate that Colin (Turkington) was unable to race. Overall, it was not a great weekend although we have managed to gather valuable date from this, our first visit to Mondello."

Team Atomic Kitten drivers, Gareth Howell and Colin Turkington, put in a tremendous performance in qualifying. However, Colin Turkington, on his home turf, was denied the chance to continue his impressive performance when being struck down with suspected food poisoning, preventing him taking part in any of today's action.

Gareth Howell had a mixed weekend when his was unable to capitalise fully on his impressive qualifying positions. He said: "After such a successful qualifying with Colin and I securing strong grid positions, we failed to challenge in both races. I was hoping to bank valuable points and looked favourable for a podium position in the sprint race when we failed to finish due to a fuel pressure failure. We paid the price in the feature race as we selected the wrong tyre (slicks) at the start."

BTCC Round Ten, Sprint Race, Mondello Park, 30 laps:

1 Yvan Muller F Vauxhall Motorsport Astra Coupe 1H02min39.376secs
2 James Thompson GB Vauxhall Motorsport Astra Coupe +0.966secs
3 Matt Neal GB Egg Sport Vauxhall Astra Coupe +5.750secs
4 Anthony Reid GB MG Sport and Racing MG ZS +6.078secs
5 Paul O'Neill GB Egg Sport Vauxhall Astra Coupe +6.397secs
6 Alan Morrison GB Honda Motorsport Civic Type-R +7.493secs
7 Warren Hughes GB MG Sport and Racing MG ZS +7.749secs
8 Aaron Slight NZ Barwell Motorsport Vauxhall Astra Coupe +8.366secs
9 Phil Bennett GB PSP Proton Impian +8.863secs
10 Gareth Howell GB Team Atomic Kitten MG ZS +10.304secs

Click here for pictures by Kelvin Fagan

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