BTCC

BTCC Oulton Park Race 2: Gordon Shedden Avoids The Drama To Win

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Gordon Shedden races around Oulton Park (Photo Credit: btcc.net)

Gordon Shedden races around Oulton Park (Photo Credit: btcc.net)

Gordon Shedden kept his head to win the second Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races of the day and extend his championship lead.

Shedden took his fifth win of the season in style, navigating the early-race incidents before holding off Andrew Jordan, who had to concede to a Honda Yuasa Racing car for the second time today.

They were joined on the podium, incredibly, by Jason Plato, the former two-time champion charging through from the back of the grid and taking full advantage of the action ahead.

The race began with plenty of action as Rob Collard jumped from third to first for the second time in two races – beating Jordan off the line before outdragging Neal and passing him round the outside into Lodge.

Mat Jackson leapfrogged Jordan off the line as well and passed Neal on the run into the chicane, as Shedden passed Jordan at the end of the lap into into Lodge.

Few would have predicted Plato's progress. He was up to 16th by the end of the first lap, and made constant progress, up to 14th by lap two's end, then 12th, 11th, 10th.

Meanwhile, Shedden nipped past his teammate – struggling with his 45kg of success ballast – into Cascades, and Welch followed him through a couple of laps later.

Out in front, Collard and Jackson had bolted, two and a half seconds clear, while the drama continued behind them.

Will Bratt went off into the tyres on the exit of the chicane while running 8th, ending his chances of replicating his superb debut result from the first race.

Plato, at this point, was running 11th, battling with Neate and Wrathall, and passed the latter at the start of lap five just before Wrathall ran very wide at Cascades, turning his Toyota into a lawnmower and filling the radiator with grass in similar fashion to the first race.

Plato's teammate Andy Neate then went off at the chicane, amidst a puff of smoke, and brought his MG into the pits immediately afterwards.

Adam Morgan was next to go off at Cascades with a big spin dumping out of 10th place, before things kicked off at the front.

It started at Druids, with Jackson getting good run out of Druids and pressuring Collard into Lodge. They ran nose-to-tail over the line, through Old Hall and Cascades, before Jackson nudged him slightly into the hairpin, allowing him to get alongside.

Collard did not yield and as they both battled over the same piece of tarmac the Focus and the BMW locked together, spitting both of them across the track and allowing Shedden and Jordan through.

The contact had given both punctures, with Jackson going straight on and Collard spinning at the chicane.

All this propelled Welch into 3rd place and Plato up to 6th – which soon became 4th as he passed Neal and the impressive Lea Wood.

The leaders were eight seconds clear of Dan Welch at this point who was looking over his shoulder at the fast-charging Plato, who closed right up to the Proton's bumper by lap 13.

Welch defended into the chicane and the two ran nose-to-tail through Druids and side-by-side into Lodge, but Plato drew alongside on the exit of the corner and made the pass stick as they went over Deerleap and across the line.

The final two laps were a sea of relative calm compared to the action of the early laps, with Shedden managing the gap to Jordan and covering the lines well. He caught traffic at the hairpin on the penultimate lap but navigated it smoothly enough, to take the flag by 1.229s.

Jordan took his second second-placed finish of the day, ahead of the charging Plato, the ever-improving Welch, Neal, Nick Foster, Wood, Liam Griffin and Onslow-Cole, with Dave Newsham rounding out the top ten.

Tom Onslow-Cole will start race three from pole after the top nine places were reversed in the post-race draw, which begins at 17:16pm.

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