Motor Racing by Malcolm Baylis

York's James Thompson was today counting the cost of a technical hitch which robbed him of first place in the main feature race of the British Touring Car championships at Brands Hatch, and valuable points in his continuing challenge for the drivers' title.

After having stormed into the lead he lost valuable time during a pit-stop when an airhose operating the hydraulic jacks of his Honda locked on, keeping him off the ground for an extra four seconds. When he rejoined the race he was down to fourth place.

Thompson had earlier grabbed second place from third on the grid, taking advantage of a driving incident which pushed second-placed Anthony Reid's Nissan back to fifth place.

Thompson then began to reel in the Volvo of race-leader Rickard Rydell. When the Volvo went into the pits for an obligatory wheel change, Thompson took the lead only to lose time at the pit-stop.

At the end of the race, with at least nine points to his credit, stewards penalised him for crossing the white line of a prohibited section of the circuit, and added 30 seconds to his finishing time. This penalty moved him down to ninth place, and with only three points.

An angry Thompson said: "I was stuck on the car stilts because of an airline fault after an excellent wheel change. You can't blame the team, it was something with the airline.

"Yes, I did cross that particular white line and I was flagged once, but the in-car camera will show that I didn't cross it again, so I should not have been penalised."

He said the team will appeal, although it is unlikely to do any good.

The race was awarded to Rydell after Reid, who took the chequered flag, was deemed to have taken unfair advantage and was penalised by two seconds, pushing him into second spot.

Earlier in the day Thompson was second in the 25-lap Sprint. Altogether he collected a total of 15 points, which keeps him in contact with the championship leaders, in fourth place.

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