Shedden takes win in final race at Snetterton
Gordon Shedden nearly led a 1-2 finish for Honda, to rescue the weekend for the team, but Rob Collard snatched second from Neal on the final lap making it a 1-3.
In a weekend that was looking bleak for championship leader Matt Neal, Gordon Shedden took the win in the Honda Civic, to move back into third place in the championship.
Neal bogged down at the start, which gave pole-sitter James Nash the lead into the first corner, as Shedden settled into second place and Rob Collard third. Neal and Collard made contact at the end of lap one, with Collard being forced across the corner, keeping his position.
James Nash, at the start of lap two, made a mistake going too fast into Riches, and bounced into the grass in the Triple Eight Vectra and could not rejoin.
This gave Shedden the lead and from here he never looked back. Team mate Matt Neal managed to move ahead of Collard on this lap to put both Honda’s 1st and 2nd.
As the race progressed, the two Ford’s and Plato were moving through the field, led by Tom Onslow-Cole. When Onslow-Cole tried to pass Mat Jackson on lap three, the two made contact, taking Onslow-Cole off the circuit and dropping Jackson down the order.
Tom rejoined and pitted for repairs, rejoining the race later with a fresh set of tyres in order to claim the point for fastest lap.
This all escalated Tom Chilton to fourth ahead of Plato, with the Airwaves BMW of Steven Kane right behind. The top six remained in this order until the final lap, when Rob Collard tapped Matt Neal, knocking the Honda wide and moving up to second. Neal bounced across the grass and managed to get back on track to keep third place, his highest finish of the day.
Paul O’Neill had a strong charge from the back after retirement in race two to finish eighth.
Jason Plato now leads the championship with 151 points, with Matt Neal second on 131. Gordon Shedden retakes third from Tom Onslow-Cole with 127 points to Tom’s 113, as the championship heads to Silverstone in two weeks time.
