Honda 1-2 at Donington Park as Shedden wins race two
Gordon Shedden has won the second race at Donington Park ahead of his Honda Yuasa Racing team mate Matt Neal, becoming the fifth different winner this season from as many races.
Rob Austin and Ollie Jackson joined John Thorne on the list of non-participants for the second race, with Austin’s Audi destroying a second engine and engine mapping issues for Jackson.
Race one winner Mat Jackson got a good start and led the field into the first corner of race two. Gordon Shedden followed him in second, with Jason Plato pressuring Matt Neal for third. Plato was able to overtake Neal for the position though Neal quickly took the position back.
Rob Collard sought to overtake Plato for fourth but contact between the two cars saw with Plato and hit the barriers. Plato was able to recover to the pits, but not before the safety car had been called out. When the race restarted on lap four Mat Jackson’s leading margin had been diminished. Gordon Shedden took advantage of this to overtake Jackson for the lead at Goddards. Dan Welch had a spin at the same corner on that lap, retiring with a brake problem.
The battle for fourth place heated up on lap seven as Andrew Jordan battled to take the place from Tom Onslow-Cole. Contact between sixth placed Dave Newsham and Jordan at Macleans saw Jordan slip off track to recover to sixth and allowed Newsham to get past Onslow-Cole for fourth.
In front of them Gordon Shedden’s Honda Yuasa Racing team mate, Matt Neal, was able to overtake Matt Jackson for second at Coppice on the following lap. Contact between Motorbase Performance’s Liam Griffin and Team ES Racing’s Chris James saw both off track, with Griffin getting out of the car to have angry words with James. Rob Collard was able to fight his way from the back of the field and into the top ten after the opening lap.
At the end of 17 laps, with the race extended by one lap due to the safety car, Gordon Shedden took the chequered flag. Matt Neal crossed the line second to complete a Honda 1-2. Mat Jackson finished in third ahead of Dave Newsham. Andrew Jordan rounded out the top five ahead of his Eurotech Racing team mate Jeff Smith.
With six drawn for the reverse grid Smith will line up on pole for the third race ahead of his team mate.
