Team Halfords drivers Gordon 'Flash' Shedden and Tom 'Sonic' Chilton showed their class at Thruxton in the latest rounds of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship but lady luck shone against the Honda team in the fourth race weekend of the season.

After qualifying strongly in third place, Flash was the man to beat in two of the three races before being robbed of victory by a puncture at the quickest circuit on the calendar, while Sonic was set for a fine podium finish in the final race of the weekend before contact from one of his rivals while dicing for position brought his challenge to an early end.

Gordon ends the weekend seventh in the championship standings with Tom in tenth, while Team Halfords retains third in the teams' championship.

Race one:

A lightning start to race one saw Flash jump into the lead from the second row and he quickly started to break away from the chasing pack along with second placed Tom Onslow-Cole. With the rapid Honda Civic underneath him, Gordon was able to keep the Vauxhall man comfortably at bay until cruel luck meant a puncture at Church on lap eight that saw him lose the lead whilst having to pit for a tyre change. A series of storming laps allowed him to carve his way back through the field from dead last to finish in a credible 13th place.

Starting from fifth place on the grid, Sonic was embroiled in a series of heated battles in the pack as he diced for position with the rapid SEAT diesel of Darren Turner and the BMW of Mat Jackson. He eventually took the flag in a strong seventh place to add more points to his championship total.

Race two:

From 13th on the grid, race two was all about trying to break into the points for Flash while also seeking to secure the best grid slot possible for the final race. Like Tom in race one, the Scot found himself involved in heated battles in the middle of the pack and took the flag in eighth place, which then put him on the front row for race three when the reverse grid was drawn.

Tom suffered a spin on the opening lap which dropped him to the rear of the field but after pitting behind the Safety Car, he was able to rejoin at the back before recovering and fighting back through the field to finish just outside the points scoring positions in twelfth place.

Race three:

As in race one, a fine start from Flash saw him once again storm into the lead of the race and he was the man to beat for the opening seven laps ahead of Jason Plato, easing himself away from the SEAT man to open a comfortable lead. However, there was one last cruel twist for the Scotsman's day as he suffered yet another puncture on lap eight, bringing his challenge to an end as he finished in 17th place after making a pitstop to change tyres.

The final race ended in a disappointing retirement for Sonic who had looked set to pick up some solid points in the sister Honda. He was on the move from the start, fighting his way up from 12th to a strong sixth place, but was caught up in the middle of a number of cars when Andy Jordan overshot the final chicane and backed up the cars behind. Contact from one of his rivals damaged the Halfords Honda and forced Tom to pull off at the Complex.

Driver quotes:

Gordon Shedden:

"I don't know what to say really. Twice I was leading and twice I had a tyre failure which is a bit baffling really. We didn't have a lot of camber on the car and I wouldn't have changed anything on it if you told me to go out there and do a race run again. It's a bit strange as I was cruising in race one and three and just controlling things from the front but in race two, when I was having to push harder and attack people, I didn't have a problem. We know we have a fantastic car in the little Civic and while this weekend didn't deliver as it should have done, there is no reason why we can't go and have a great weekend at Croft next time out."

Tom Chilton:

"I was really quick in the races. I carved through the field in race three and the car was good but just as I caught people, Fabrizio made a move on Andy Jordan and they came off. I thought Fabrizio had a puncture and I was behind Adam Jones. Out of the chicane I saw Andy on the left and I thought Fabrizio was going to the pits but then as I floored it, Andy came back in and I got sandwiched which gave me a puncture. I'd have probably had third in that race which would have been good round here from twelfth on the grid. The guys did a fantastic job this weekend - they even did an engine change on my car in just over half an hour before the racing this morning - and it was just bad luck that results didn't come our way."