Gordon Shedden took victory in the second British Touring Car Championship race at Thruxton, which was shortened by a big shunt between Rob Austin and Nick Foster at Church corner.
The Scot had an eventful opening lap however from third on the grid, losing out to the fast-starting WSR BMW of Rob Collard heading through the Complex after the Honda Yuasa Racing man out-braked himself and recovered in third spot behind pole-sitter Andrew Jordan and Collard, who took avoiding action.
Race one winner Jordan kept Collard’s opening lap charge at bay, before Shedden recovered ground by powering past the second-placed BMW coming out of Church.
The race then became a duel between the Pirtek Racing Civic of Jordan and the works Yuasa Civic Tourer of Shedden, both edging away from Collard who settled for a strong podium finish.
Shedden eventually took advantage of Jordan’s exuberance through Church on lap 11, powering around the outside to steal the lead at the final chicane.
The 16-lap encounter was then called a result three laps shorter than intended, when the battle for 14th position between Austin and Foster ended in contact at the quickest corner on the circuit, Church.
The end result saw the pair exit stage left at speed, Foster’s eBay Motors BMW 125i crashing through the tyre barriers and behind the trees as the red flags waved to confirm Shedden’s victory.
Fourth place was taken by Matt Neal in the second Civic Tourer, passing Mat Jackson‘s Ford Focus in the same spot exiting the Complex as he did so in race one, Jackson fifth ahead of Colin Turkington‘s BMW.
Jason Plato was next up in the first of the Triple Eight MGs, the top 10 rounded out by Adam Morgan, Jack Goff and Fabrizio Giovanardi.
Dave Newsham had a spin at the final chicane which dropped him down the pack, a location staging contact earlier in the race also between Warren Scott and Dan Welch.
The top 10 cars will be reversed for the third and final race of the day, meaning that Giovanardi – who ironically drew the reverse grid – will start from pole position ahead of Goff.
