Eoin Murray survived a huge eleven car pile up at Brands Hatch in Kent in round eight of the MSA Dunlop British Touring Car Championship at the weekend. The arguscarhire.com Alfa Romeo was seriously damaged in the first corner crash in race one but fortunately Eoin was unscathed. The crash which occurred during a very wet opening race of the day was as a result of BMW driver Matt Jackson going off on the run out of Paddock hill bend in the opening lap.

Murray’s car was very badly damaged in the incident and the delay in getting his car returned to the garage meant the chance of getting the car repaired in time for race two was impossible, indeed, in the circumstances the team had to work flat out in order for him to line up in time for race three. "I am very disappointed with the length of time it took to have my car returned to our pit garage. This was against a background where the, written-off, cars of drivers with no possibility of racing again that day were returned to them before my car was returned. It was almost two hours after the crash before I got my car back." Despite the best efforts of team Quest Racing the lack of time meant Eoin had to go out in race three without the car being properly repaired and it proved to be impossible to drive. Eoin eventually had to retire the car after two racing laps.

Given the extensive damage to the car Eoin is forced not to compete at Knockhill in two weeks time but will concentrate on getting his car fully repaired for the final round at Thruxton in September. "I am hugely disappointed not to be competing in Knockhill however the damage to the car has severely dented our budget for this year and I have to look at making the best possible use of the remaining budget before the end of the season. Given the circumstances of the crash I consider myself fortunate that my car is repairable and we will be back out competing before the end of the season."
 

At the front Fabrizio Giovanardi won twice and Colin Turkington. Crucially, Italian Giovanardi’s two wins have helped him slash the gap to championship leader Jason Plato down to just four points as the race for Britain’s premier motor racing title next heads to the Knockhill circuit in Fife for its penultimate three rounds on Sunday 2 September. Vauxhall driver Giovanardi finished all three races in front of Plato, following up his victories in races one and two with a fourth place in race three. Plato finished both races one and two in second and was fifth in race three.

Plato, looking for a second BTCC title to add to the one he won in 2001, said: "It should have been a great weekend, but it’s not been all bad. A few things didn’t go our way today and Fabrizio got a few breaks, but we’re still leading this thing. Sure, he’s closed up, but I’d rather have a four-point advantage than be four points behind. Knockhill will be a real crunch meeting, though. We need to start beating him again but with the SEAT and the Vauxhall so evenly-matched on just about every type of circuit we seem to visit it’s going to be another very hard day in the office."

Giovanardi, who now has eight wins this season to Plato’s six, added: “The two wins today were perfect – for me, for my team and for the championship. Consider we were 25 points behind six races ago, we have had a great run of results and we must keep the pressure up on Jason. But he is a very clever driver – everywhere I finish, he is right behind, making sure I don’t take away too many points from him. I think we both have great respect for each other. It’s going to be very close and will probably go right to the final lap of the season.”