Andrew Jordan wins as Neal & Plato collide

Andrew Jordan has taken his first win of the season at Snetterton for the Eurotech Racing Honda team after Championship challengers Jason Plato and Matt Neal came together on the penultimate lap.

The second race of the day seemed to be in the bag for Jason Plato, having led from the start in his Triple Eight MG, but the MG was shadowed in the distance by the two Hondas of Andrew Jordan and Matt Neal in the early stages, both of which managed to pass a slow starting Frank Wrathall off of the line.

Dan Welch bogged down from fifth place in the Proton, and then made contact with Adam Morgan’s repaired Toyota at Riches which saw Morgan out of the race and Welch return to the pits with a puncture.

On lap five, Matt Neal passed Andrew Jordan at Agostini and set about closing down on Jason Plato, who was carrying 45kg of ballast compared to Matt Neal’s car which was carrying just 9kg.

Neal’s Honda team-mate Gordon Shedden was making progress from seventh on the grid, passing Tom Onslow-Cole’s West Surrey Racing BMW and Frank Wrathall’s Toyota to join the three car Honda train which pursued Plato’s MG through the last half of the race.

On the penultimate lap on lap 11, all the action occurred with Matt Neal, still applying pressure to Jason Plato was under threat from Jordan’s Honda. Gordon Shedden tried to pass Jordan’s Honda at Montreal around the outside, but to no avail, which gave Neal the breathing space he needed to attack Plato.

That attack came at Coram, with Neal tapping the rear of Plato’s MG which propelled the car into a slide, allowing Neal past and into the lead. Plato retaliated, making contact with Neal going into Murrays which saw both cars off onto the grass and Jordan and Shedden up into first and second, and Plato down to third and Neal fifth behind Frank Wrathall.

Jordan held on to take his first win of the year with Shedden just half a second behind. Plato finished third just under two seconds behind, whilst Neal managed to get back ahead of Frank Wrathall to finish in fourth.

Mat Jackson took sixth in the Motorbase Performance Ford with Tom Onslow-Cole behind who was caught in a last lap tussle with Wrathall’s Toyota. Dave Newsham finished eighth after starting last with Lea Wood ninth and Aron Smith tenth, with the top nine being reversed for race three which will put Lea Wood on pole ahead of Dave Newsham, an all Vauxhall Vectra front row.

Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal are now jointly leading the Championship going to the final race with Jason Plato just 17 points behind the Honda pair.