The second race of the day on the new Snetterton 300 layout saw Gordon Shedden take his third win of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season and move to the top of championship in the process.

It was Jason Plato that started the race from pole position but he didn’t hold it for long as he was disposessed by Gordon Shedden who came from third on the grid to lead across the line after the first lap.

It was a manic first lap as lots of bumping and shoving at the Montreal hairpin saw Plato drop three places down to 4th, James Nash into 2nd and Frank Wrathall up to 3rd.

Matt Neal made good progress too and was up to tenth by the end of the first lap and into the points but a puncture late on in the race would mean that he would slip down the order and finish, once again, outside of the points and subsequently loses the championship lead.

Once Shedden got into the lead he didn’t look back and began to start and break out a lead ahead of James Nash in the challenging Triple Eight Vauxhall Vectra. That’s how the top two would finish as they crossed the line over 8 seconds ahead of Jason Plato who finished on the final step of the podium.

“Once we got to the front it was ok. I had visions of MacDowall and Jason [Plato] holding station but then I got hit by someone from behind like a train and that gave me a little bit of a gap for me to take the lead,” said Shedden speaking to BTCC Crazy after the race. “Those behind spent the next few laps battling with each other which allowed me to get away. The car feels good but its a lot easier when your leading from the front. You can manage your tyres a lot better that you would if you’re coming through the pack. It’s going to be a lot more interesting in race three I think. “

Shedden now leads the championship by five points ahead of Mat Jackson and six points ahead of team-mate, Matt Neal. When asked about the championship Shedden said, “It doesn’t matter until the end of the final race which is a million miles away yet.”

Frank Wrathall held the final step on the podium for much of the race but an overheating problem with three laps to go meant that his race would end prematurely as he was forced to pull off the circuit.

Alex MacDowall once again converted his second place start into a points finish as he brought his Chevrolet Cruze home in fourth ahead of the battle behind between Paul O’Neill, Mat Jackson and Dave Newsham. Tom Onslow-Cole, Andrew Jordan and Rob Collard rounded out the top ten.

Race three will start 17:05 and it will be Dave Newsham that will start on pole position following the top seven drivers of race three being reversed.

Race Two Results – Grid for Race Three – Championship Standings

James Mappin is the editor-in-chief covering the British Touring Car Championship. You can contact him at james@btcccrazy.co.uk, on twitter @BTCCCrazy or on his personal twitter account @jamesmappin.