Motor sport: Bump costly for Biela
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Your support makes all the difference.Frank Biela, the British Touring Car Championship leader, was yesterday excluded from the results of round 12 at Snetterton - in which he finished sixth - after he was found to be in breach of driving standards rules.
Biela's Audi had been involved in an incident in which David Leslie's Honda was sidelined with accident damage.
Earlier, the Vauxhall team celebrated their first championship victory of the season, James Thompson giving the new Vectra its maiden win in a barnstorming 11th round. The second race of the day was won by Jo Winkelhock for BMW.
Thompson's victory was a fortunate one, not least because the 22-year- old suffered a sideways "moment" at the first bend in his Vectra which saw him complete lap one in eighth place. Winkelhock's lead away from pole position was shortlived: next time around he spun down to fifth. That set the pattern for the rest of the race, with BMW's Roberto Ravaglia and Volvo's Rickard Rydell, Alain Menu, in a Renault, Winkelhock and John Cleland of Vauxhall scrapping bumper-to-bumper and swapping position.
The decisive moment came on lap 20 when leader Ravaglia made an error on the exit and the pursuing Menu and Rydell saw their chances. As they crossed the line and hurtled towards the right-hander at Riches to start lap 21, they quickly discovered that three into one wouldn't go - Ravaglia and Rydell were eliminated on the spot with collision damage while Menu continued in the lead for a further half-lap until electrical problems halted his Laguna.
Round 12 was less fraught but no less competitive, with Winkelhock on this occasion converting his pole position to a race-long lead and fourth victory of the season. Cleland made an excellent start from fourth on the grid to snatch second spot, and the Vectra driver followed the BMW all the way to the chequered flag.
Results, Digest, page 22
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