Gordon Shedden leads Honda one-two in first Thruxton race

Gordon Shedden led home Matt Neal for a Honda Racing Team one-two in the opening race at Thruxton, with Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan benefitting from a puncture for polesitter Aron Smith to take third.

Both Shedden and Neal made excellent starts to pass Team BMR’s Smith at the start, after the Irishman struggled with too much wheelspin in his Volkswagen CC.

And they quickly established a lead which wouldn’t be taken from them, with Smith in close company behind Neal throughout until he suffered a deflation at Goodwood on lap 12.

Morgan finished less than three seconds behind Shedden in third, with Smith’s team-mate Jason Plato taking fourth and also setting fastest lap to bag pole for race two.

West Surrey Racing’s Andy Priaulx emerged unscathed from several battles to take fifth, with Triple Eight Racing’s Andrew Jordan making up five places in sixth.  Colin Turkington, Jack Goff, a combative Josh Cook and Tom Ingram completed the top 10 after some brilliant side-by-side racing in the final laps.

The order was largely set in the opening laps, when the top four broke away and Plato passed Priaulx at the chicane on lap four. The Guernseyman started falling back down the top 10, and was passed by Goff at the same point on lap five. However, he managed to hold his nerve to make his way forward in the final stages.

Tony Gilham Racing’s Kieran Gallagher had a huge slide and spin at Church on lap eight, before a huge battle started to emerge from sixth down to around 14th place.

Two laps after Smith’s puncture, Priaulx managed to pass Goff and Turkington in one move, with Jordan also picking off several cars in the final laps as Turkington, Goff and Cook ran in extremely close company.

Smith pitted for a new tyre and still managed to finish one lap down in 21st, keeping his race two grid slot, while just behind him, Welch Motorsport’s Andy Wilmot finally made it to the end of a race in 22nd.

Power Maxed Racing’s Dave Newsham was the only retirement, bringing his Chevrolet Cruze into the pits on lap one with right rear suspension damage.