Aron Smith takes first win, Shedden takes first title

Aron Smith won his first British Touring Car race for Motorbase Performance at Brands Hatch, whilst Gordon Shedden drives through to second to secure the drivers’ title one race early.

The race saw a lot of drama at the start, as Tom Onslow-Cole leapt into the lead from third on the grid, passing Andrew Jordan and Matt Neal’s Hondas. Heading up into Druids, Triple Eight’s Jason Plato ran into the back of Gordon Shedden’s Honda, who in turn ran into Rob Collard’s West Surrey Racing BMW, spinning Collard around and into Will Bratt’s Audi, with both cars eliminated and the independent drivers’ title decided on the spot, with Collard the only threat to Jordan in that category.

The safety car was brought out as Collard’s BMW and Bratt’s Audi were recovered, with the race restarted on lap six, which saw another set of incidents take place Andy Neate’s MG, Nick Foster’s WSR BMW and Dan Welch’s Proton all came together at Paddock Hill bend, which saw Welch taken out of the race whilst Neate and Foster were able to continue.

Outside of Druids, Dave Newsham’s Vauxhall ran across the nose of Jason Plato’s MG, which spun Newsham out and into the tyre wall, which saw the safety car back out again, but not before Aron Smith had been able to hurl his Motorbase Ford around Tom Onslow-Cole’s BMW for the lead, also at Druids.

When the race restarted, Shedden was running in fourth behind Matt Neal, which wouldn’t have been enough for Shedden to seal the title. Neal then pulled over along the straight allowing Shedden through to third, which would give the Scotsman enough points to win the title, whilst Plato was stuck in sixth behind Andrew Jordan’s Honda.

Shedden was promoted to second when Tom Onslow-Cole went wide at Surtees and fell down the order, whilst Shedden began to close in on Aron Smith’s Ford Focus ST for the lead.

On lap 12, Andy Neate slid wide out of Graham Hill bend in his Triple Eight MG, and rejoined abruptly, hitting Adam Morgan’s Speedworks Toyota, and Team HARD’s Aaron Williamson ran into Tom Onslow-Cole’s BMW in avoidance. Onslow-Cole and Neate were able to continue but Williamson and Morgan were out of the race.

Aron Smith went on to take his first win in the BTCC in his first full season in the championship, with Gordon SHedden crossing the line 2.6 seconds behind which gives him a 23 point margin over team-mate Matt Neal with just 22 available, which gives Shedden his first British Touring Car drivers’ title.

Matt Neal completed the podium with third, with Andrew Jordan fourth and Jason Plato finishing in fifth place in the MG. Neal has now moved two points ahead of Jason Plato in the drivers’ standings and so the two will duel over second place in the final race of the day.

The top seven will be reversed, which will give Mat Jackson pole position for race three ahead of Frank Wrathall and Jason Plato, which starts at 16:45 BST.