BTCC: Shedden takes first victory of the season at final race of Snetterton weekend

Gordon Shedden drove a masterclass in defensive driving to take victory in the final race of the day at Snetterton

Shedden would start from pole ahead of the two Plato Mercedes’ of Daniel Rowbottom and Adam Morgan. Dan Cammish would start fourth ahead of Tom Chilton and Ricky Collard while Ash Sutton starts seventh on the grid ahead of Charles Rainford. Tom Ingram will start from last place after he had an engine failure late in race two put him out of contention.

Shedden would get a solid start holding off both Mercedes in the first couple of corners defending against Rowbottom as the top two were running on the medium tyres as opposed to Morgan behind on softs. A ten second time penalty for Collard for a false start would be confirmed not long into the opening as he was fighting Sutton.

Behind them, Ingram had gained seven places on the opening lap of the race getting up to fourteenth as he charged through the field. Meanwhile, Sutton would make his way into the top five with him making his way passed Chilton. Morgan and Rowbottom would make the switch as the soft tyre on Morgan’s Mercedes would be an opportunity for Plato Racing to claim victory.

By the end of lap two, Ingram had made even more ground moving up to tenth passing Collard by the end of lap two as he flies through the field. Sutton and Cammish catch back up to the top three after having to deal with the cars that are now behind them as they try to maximise their points.

Sutton and Ingram would make moves on lap four as Sutton makes his way passed Cammish at turn two after trying to make their way by Rowbottom who was putting up a difficult defence for the NAPA Ford’s. Ingram would also pass Chris Smiley at the same corner to move up to ninth place. Rainford would find a way passed Chilton on the Bentley Straight into Nelson to move up into the top six. He also held the fastest lap at this time showing the pace of the BMW.

Sutton would use the superior straight-line speed of the NAPA Ford to make his way into the podium places passing Rowbottom despite him being on the TOCA Turbo Boost at the start of the straight. Cammish would also try to find a way by but would get held up by Rowbottom costing him a position to Rainford who moves into the top five. At the same time, Ingram would set up a move on De Leon as he charges passed the BMW to move into eighth.

Cammish would soon find his way back passed Rainford as well as soon passing Rowbottom to move up to fourth. Rowbottom would continue to drop back struggling with the medium compound of tyres, being overtaken by the two Team Vertu run Hyundai’s as well as the WSR BMW of Rainford. Ingram would force a move at the end of the Bentley straight on lap six passing Rainford for sixth place.

Sutton would continue to make more progress passing the lead Plato Racing car for second place on the exit of the first turn and taking the inside into turn two. Sutton would put Shedden under immense pressure for the rest of the race, despite the Toyota’s number of laps of boost being significantly more. Sutton would manage to get to the inside of turn two, briefly taking the lead after using all his boost on the main straight to get himself into that position. However, Shedden saw this and uses the boost on the run to turn three to claim back the lead from the NAPA Ford in excellent race craft from both drivers as they go back and forth on lap nine.

Ingram would also make his way passed Chilton to move into fourth place before trying to pass Morgan down the main straight on lap ten before Morgan managed to get the place back using the inside line into turn two. He would eventually get the move done into Agostini but to no avail. He would try again into Nelson using the outside line to complete the move into the next corner taking the inside line. This put Sutton right in his sights with just two laps to go.

Ingram would get an opportunity on the final lap trying to pass Ingram on the run into turn two, but Sutton fends off the Hyundai as Ingram tried to make one final attack. Ingram would get the better run down the Bentley straight but a slight bit of wheel banging and close racing would be enough for Sutton to keep hold of second place.

Shedden would manage to defend the lead and take victory in an excellent defensive drive from the three-time champion. Sutton would finish second ahead of Ingram who would earn himself a time penalty after the race dropping him to eighth for exceeding track limits, promoting Daryl De Leon onto the podium. Chris Smiley would finish fourth ahead of Rainford and Morgan while Chilton would end up ahead of teammate Ingram after the penalty. Cammish and Rowbottom would complete the top ten for the final race of the weekend.

This would leave Sutton with a fifty point championship lead over Ingram in second place while Rainford sits nineteen points further back in third. Cammish and Collard sit fourth and fifth in the standings only six and eleven points respectively off of Rainford.

Ford and Alliance Racing lead the Manufacturer’s standings by nearly one hundred points to Hyundai and ExcelR8 Motorsport while Mercedes sit only eight points further back. Toyota sit in fourth but nearly another fifty points adrift of Mercedes.

The Teams Championship sees NAPA lead the way extending their margin to seventy-six points over WSR who move to second in the standings. Team Vertu sit eight points furth back while Power Maxed Racing sit in fourth place after a difficult weekend. Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport complete the top five only one point off of PMR.

The Independent drivers’ standings see three points cover the top four with Shedden and Mikey Doble on the same number of points after nine races. De Leon sits two points behind them while Rainford is only another point off his teammate. Aiden Moffat completes the top five in the standings only nine points off of Rainford and twelve points off of the championship lead in the Independents Standings.

The Independent Teams Championship sees Power Maxed Racing maintain their lead over Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport and WSR but the gap has narrowed with the three teams covered by just seven points. Restart Racing sit in fourth in the Independents Team Standings only nineteen points off of WSR.

The Jack Sears Trophy sees James Dorlin extend his championship lead to Dexter Patterson to ten points while Sam Osborne sits in third place just one point ahead of teammate Lewis Selby. Nic Hamilton rounds out the top five in the Jack Sears Trophy.