Gordon Shedden rebounded from the disappointment of race one to win a fraught final BTCC race of the day at Thruxton.
Just as happened to Andrew Jordan in race one however; long time race leader Jason Plato lost any chance of victory with a late puncture.
It was a chaotic start to the race before that, with Adam Morgan taking the lead from pole sitter Jack Goff. Goff’s race was short lived, as he was hit at the complex on the first two laps, before being forced on and onto the grass just moments later.
Morgan too was out of luck, suffering an off track excursion on the first lap at Church corner whilst in the lead. A pit stop was required to empty the Toyota’s radiator of grass.
This promoted Jeff Smith to the lead, but he came under pressure from Jason Plato before the MG man found a way past at the complex several laps later, whilst Sam Tordoff and Shedden held third and fourth places respectively. Shedden soon found a way past and was closing on the leaders, and would catch and pass Smith not long after.
Jason Plato seemed to be cruising away to an easy victory, but on lap fourteen slowed with a puncture, promoting Shedden into the lead. He’d be classified an eventual twenty-second.
There was more action to come before the end of the race however. At this stage Shedden led, but Smith continued to hold second ahead of Matt Neal and Jordan, who completed the Honda 1-2-3-4. But on the penultimate lap, Neal and Smith made contact as the double champion tried to move into second, which resulted in Smith suffering a spin and the loss of two positions to Tom Onslow-Cole and Aron Smith.
Neal would just hold off Jordan on the run to the line to finish second, behind Shedden. Onslow-Cole, Aron Smith, Jeff Smith, Mat Jackson, Tordoff, Dave Newsham and Colin Turkington completed the top ten positions. Meanwhile, Lea Wood claimed victory in the Jack Sears trophy in his Vauxhall Vectra.
