Gordon Shedden has won the second of today’s three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car races at Snetterton to take over the championship lead.

Scottish ace Shedden’s Honda Racing Civic scraped past Jason Plato’s Chevrolet Cruze at the second corner, the tight Montreal hairpin, before pulling away for his fourth win of the season.

With team-mate Matt Neal, who had been leading the series, suffering another finish outside the points it means Shedden has moved to the top of the points standings. He becomes the fourth different driver to lead the series so far this season…

Fife racer Shedden said: “It got pretty crowded into the hairpin on lap one – I got shoved from behind which pushed me into Jason and he went wide just enough for me to sneak through. It feels great to be leading this thing after five years in it! But it’s very early days still – we’ve still 13 races to go including another one today and things can swing round very quickly.”

Finishing second was James Nash in his 888 Racing with Collins Contractors Vauxhall Vectra. Plato, who lost time in his scuffle with Shedden, took third ahead of Silverline Chevrolet team-mate Alex MacDowall.

However, these two had to work hard to eventually find a way past the hugely impressive Frank Wrathall’s Dynojet Toyota Avensis that held third for much of the race (they did so together through the long Coram corner). Wrathall, who’d starred in race with a fourth-place finish, later stopped at the side of the track with mounting radiator damage after it had nosed into the back of Shedden’s Honda on lap one.

Fifth was the feisty Paul O’Neill in his GoMobileUK.com with tech-speed Chevrolet. Sixth and closing in rapidly at the end after a couple of time-consuming incidents was Mat Jackson in his Airwaves Ford Focus.

Meanwhile Neal was way back in 17th after a pit stop to have a punctured tyre replaced on his Honda. The result has had a significant effect on the championship standings: Shedden now leads and is five points clear of Jackson who is one ahead of Neal. Plato’s third, allied to his win in today’s opening race, means he is just a further 12 behind and himself only six ahead of Nash in fifth.

However, it could all change again in race three later this afternoon: Jackson will start from second on the 'reversed grid', Plato from fifth, Shedden from seventh and Neal 17th.

Completing the top ten were, after another strong showing, Dave Newsham (Special Tuning Racing SEAT Leon), Tom Onslow-Cole (Aon Ford Focus), Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Vectra) and, having battled through from 23rd on the grid, Robert Collard (WSR BMW).

Rob Austin set what would stand as the race’s fastest in his ever-improving NGTC-spec Audi A4 before it stopped with mechanical problems. Joining him in retirement with an engine glitch was debutant Martin Byford in his AmD Milltek Racing.com VW Golf. But fellow newcomer Daniel Welch did this time get his new Welch Motorsport Proton Gen-2 to the finish, crossing the line in 18th.

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