Gordon Shedden won the final Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Thruxton, leading home an all-Honda podium in a thrilling contest.

Shedden benefitted from a late race puncture for long time leader Jason Plato and went on to take the win from team-mate Matt Neal and Pirtek Racing's Andrew Jordon, who were incredibly separated by just 0.049s after 16 laps of racing.

The front row challenge of Jack Goff in the Vauxhall Insignia and Adam Morgan's Toyota Avensis didn't last long unfortunately as Goff got caught up in the hustle and bustle of the first few corners. He eventually went off and out of the race on lap two, whilst Morgan slid out of the lead on cold tyres at Church.

Jeff Smith took over the reins for the first half of the race, but the Pirtek Honda remained under intense pressure from Platos MG. His team-mate Sam Tordoff settled in behind as Tom Onslow-Cole struggled in the early laps with the heavier VW Passat in fourth.

Onslow-Cole was passed in quick succession by Shedden, Neal and Jordan, and the Honda trio immediately set about attacking those ahead. Plato eventually nipped by Smith and stretched out a significant lead before Shedden also followed through as Tordoffs MG faded dramatically.

Smith held on to a podium position until late on as he tried to defend an attack from Neal at the final chicane. The Civics touched on entry to the corner and Smith spun his Pirtek Racing car mid-chicane.

Then came Platos dramatic puncture, which forced him out of race contention and down the championship order to third. Shedden had also suffered with bad luck earlier in the day, but this time went on to take his second win of the 2013 season.

Neal was equally pleased with second position and even more so when he found out hed move to the summit of the drivers standings. What a day indeed, he said. I never expected to win two races. There were a swarm of Hondas in the end there and Andy (Jordan) had a look a few times. He got his nose down the inside once but he let me go, which Im really grateful for.

A podium for Jordan was the least he deserved after his undoubted pace was blighted by misfortune in race one. Onslow-Cole took fourth, completing a sensational day after scoring a double podium from the first two contests.

Airwaves Racing enjoyed its most impressive weekend of the season so far with fifth and seventh for Aron Smith and Mat Jackson respectively, whilst the recovering Jeff Smith finished between the two Ford Focuses. Tordoff had to settle for eighth at the chequered flag ahead of Dave Newshams Toyota and the eBay Motors BMW of Colin Turkington.

Daniel Welch produced a stellar drive in his Proton Gen-2 from the rear of the grid to eventually claim 11thlapping quicker than Newsham and Turkington ahead of him. Morgan recovered to finish 12th after pitting to remove grass from his radiator following his early off.

Lew Wood doubled up in the Jack Sears Trophy by claiming his second win of the day and his third of the seasonhe now moves level at the top of the standings with Ford Focus driver Liam Griffin, who retired from this race after early contact.

 2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car ChampionshipThruxton - Race 3

1 1 Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa Racing) +0.000 2 2 Matt Neal (Honda Yuasa Racing) +0.643 3 77 Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing) +0.692 4 6 Tom Onslow-Cole (PPCGB / Kraftwerk Racing) +6.6465 8 Aron Smith (Airwaves Racing) +8.202 6 55 Jeff Smith (Pirtek Racing) +9.167 7 7 Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing) +9.506 8 88 Sam Tordoff (MG KX Momentum Racing) +13.600 9 17 Dave Newsham (Speedworks Motorsport) +13.962 10 29 Colin Turkington (eBay Motors) +17.289 11 10 Daniel Welch (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +26.120 12 33 Adam Morgan (Ciceley Racing) +31.720 13 18 Nick Foster (eBay Motors) +31.992 14 20 James Cole (RCIB Insurance Racing) +35.878 15 5 Robert Collard (eBay Motors) +39.372 16 43 Lea Wood (Wheel Heaven / Houseman Racing) +43.868 17 14 Will Bratt (WIX Racing) +49.258 18 12 David Nye (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +49.613 19 15 James Kaye (AmDTuning.com) +50.121 20 90 Joe Girling (M247 Racing with Tech-Speed Motorsport) +1:02.280 21 39 Warren Scott (Team BMR Restart) +1:05.150 22 99 Jason Plato (MG KX Momentum Racing) +1 Lap

Not Classified- 48 Ollie Jackson (Speedworks Motorsport) +4 Laps 1:19.564- 13 Rob Austin Audi A4 +8 Laps 1:20.429- 66 Liam Griffin (Addison Lee Motorbase) +14 Laps 1:33.836- 31 Jack Goff (RCIB Insurance Racing) +15 Laps 1:26.735- 11 Frank Wrathall (Dynojet) +16 Laps