Gordon Shedden storms to home victory in second Knockhill race

Honda Racing Team’s Gordon Shedden scored a popular victory as he streaked away at the front of the field in the second race at Knockhill.

A well behaved start saw most drivers stick to their grid slots going in to Duffus Dip for the first time. It wasn’t long before Shedden was right on the rear bumper of the Ford Focus of Mat Jackson, making his move at Clark’s on lap five and streaking away at the head of the field.

Behind Shedden, the battle for second saw Mat Jackson have his rear view mirrors filled with the Audi of Rob Austin, who was desperately trying to force his way through, which in turn allowed the race one winner Rob Collard to join in the fun.

The three enjoyed a thrilling battle for second before the safety car was brought out for the stricken Toyota of Stewart Lines at the hairpin. There was a worrying moment for Jackson when some contact with Austin at the hairpin, just as the safety car was deployed, looked to have caused some damage and causing bodywork to rub on his right-rear tyre.

Once the safety car pulled back in, Shedden resumed his charge at the front while the Jackson-Austin duel returned to its full glory. In his desperation, Austin carried slightly too much speed into the chicane and went wide, allowing the West Surrey Racing BMW of Collard, the Triple Eight MG of Andrew Jordan and the BMW of Andy Priaulx to get past. Austin was unable to work his way back through the field, having to settle for sixth at the flag.

Collard then reeled in Jackson once again, passing the Ford on lap 25 of the race, which had been extended to 27 laps as a result of the safety car.

Championship leader Jason Plato, who started from eighth in his Team BMR Volkswagen CC after sacrificing his race one result to try and get a better grid spot in race two, finished seventh, with Honda’s Matt Neal, Aiden Moffat Racing’s Aiden Moffat and Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan rounding out the top ten.

There was a hit to the championship challenges of both Colin Turkington and Sam Tordoff, with the former retiring on lap ten in his Team BMR Volkswagen following contact with Andy Priaulx, while West Surrey Racing’s Tordoff got caught up in some early race contact, forcing him to pit and end the race in 22nd, five laps behind race-winner Shedden.

The top ten have been reversed for the final race of the day, with Adam Morgan starting from pole position ahead of Aiden Moffat.