Shedden doubles up with second Croft win

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Sun 20th June 2010 Gordon Shedden has taken a second consecutive victory in round 14 of the 2010 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Croft.

Shedden started from pole position and led away from the line, but was challenged at Clervaux by Rob Collard in his WSR BMW. Collard's efforts proved fruitless, though, and he ended up losing second place to Jason Plato.

Collard's luck deteriorated further on lap two, when he was the victim of a clash between Matt Neal and Paul O'Neill behind him. Neal challenged O'Neill on the inside, with the Civic bumping the Integra, which in turn tapped Collard’s BMW, spinning it around. For the second time in as many meetings, Collard found himself facing the wrong way while the rest of the pack streamed past.

Shedden continued to lead from Plato, but the Chevrolet was soon sandwiched between a pair of Civics, as Matt Neal closed on the two at the front. Plato challenged for the lead, but was forced to turn his attention to Neal, who was becoming increasingly aggressive behind. Neal eventually caught Plato by surprise at Sunny on lap eight, passing the Chevrolet on the inside.

New Triple Eight teammates Daniel Lloyd and James Nash were getting to know each other on the track, with the two Vectras making contact at the hairpin on lap seven.

Meanwhile, it was a frustrating race for Airwaves BMW as first Mat Jackson (suspension) and then Steven Kane (radiator) were forced to retire.

With Shedden and Neal at the front, it was a fairly calm affair as the race entered its closing stages. Shedden allowed Neal past on the penultimate lap, but he retook the lead once his teammate had secured an extra point for leading across the line.

The other battle that continued right the way to the flag was between Tom Onslow-Cole and Paul O'Neill for fourth. The Team Aon driver held off the Sunshine.co.uk backed Honda lap after lap, only for O'Neill to dive to the inside at the hairpin on the final lap and take the spot.

At the end of the race, Shedden took his second win of the day, ahead of Neal, Plato, O'Neill and Onslow-Cole. Tom Boardman finished sixth, ahead of Andrew Jordan in seventh. After his early dramas, Rob Collard recovered to take an impressive eighth place at the end of the race – just 0.190 behind Jordan. The final points positions went to Alex MacDowall and Andy Neate.