Rob Austin took a hugely popular first Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship victory in race two at Rockingham ahead of reigning champion Gordon Shedden.

eBay Motors' Colin Turkington boosted his championship chances by taking the final place on the podium after a late pass by the Airwaves Racing Ford Focus of Mat Jackson.

Starting from third on the grid, the WIX Racing Audi A4 of Austin had blasted by Jackson and pole-sitter Andrew Jordan off the line and before Shedden could also make his way by the two ahead of him, Austin had cruised into an unassailable lead.

The Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis of Dave Newsham had made a brief foray into the podium positions after yet another fast start, but the field gradually came back to him and he faded later in the race.

Ultimate pace seemed to be the problem for race one winner Jordan too, as his ballast laden Honda Civic sunk towards the lower end of the top ten, which initially seemed to play into the hands of title rival Matt Neal.

Neal endured a tough opening contest earlier today but he’d made his way into the top six by mid-distance of race two behind the BMW of Collard. Incredibly, however, both cars went off the circuit on lap eight at the first chicane with Neal’s Honda forced into retirement while Collard scrambled back to the pits with a puncture.

Looking after his own championship hopes, Shedden settled for second behind Austin whilst Turkington improved his chances with another fantastic move by Jackson at Gracelands late on. Jackson held on for fourth in front of the two MGs of Tordoff and Plato who'd both made steady progress up the order throughout the race.

Newsham took seventh ahead of championship leader Jordan, who will be pleased that he stretched his lead in the standings and that he’ll be on pole for the final race later today. Tom Onslow-Cole and Jeff Smith rounded out the top ten for Airwaves Racing and Pirtek Racing respectively.

The Wheel Heaven/Houseman Racing Vauxhall of Lea Wood again won the Jack Sears Trophy ahead of David Nye’s Ford Focus, after Liam Griffin retired his identical machine late in the race.

Jordan now leads the championship by 19 points from Shedden – his highest position of the season so far. Neal, Turkington and Plato remain in close contention with the all-important race three still to come.

Away from the championship drama, however, it was clear who the fans' were cheering for when the podium celebrations got underway and it was none other than maiden race winner Rob Austin. “What a feeling!" beamed Rob. "It has been three years of blood, sweat and tears – for the team, for my family, for everyone.

"We’re up against teams with four times our budget and to beat guys like that is just incredible. I backed off a bit towards the end but Sherman was brilliantly prepared and the guys did a great job – I’m so proud of the whole team. The BTCC crowd are amazing too and I love them all! They’ve got me out of trouble already this season when we had our big shunt on the first weekend. We wouldn’t be here without them so I can’t thank the fans enough.”

2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Rockingham – Race two

1 Rob Austin (WIX Racing) 16 Laps2 Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa Racing) +3.351 3 Colin Turkington (eBay Motors) +8.983 4 Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing) +10.569 5 Sam Tordoff (MG KX Momentum Racing) +10.696 6 Jason Plato (MG KX Momentum Racing) +14.784 7 Dave Newsham (Speedworks Motorsport) +17.290 8 Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing) +20.076 9 Tom Onslow-Cole (Airwaves Racing) +21.273 10 Jeff Smith (Pirtek Racing) +26.154 11 Adam Morgan (Ciceley Racing) +27.349 12 Nick Foster (eBay Motors) +38.318 13 Frank Wrathall (Dynojet) +38.979 14 Jack Goff (RCIB Insurance Racing) +44.232 15 Aron Smith (Airwaves Racing) +45.976 16 Ollie Jackson (Speedworks Motorsport) 16 +46.055 17 Howard Fuller (RCIB Insurance Racing) 16 +47.588 18 Warren Scott (Team BMR Restart) 16 +50.515 19 Lea Wood (Wheel Heaven/Houseman Racing) 16 +51.194 20 Andy Wilmot (PPCGB/Kraftwerk Racing) 16 +1:10.074 21 David Nye (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +1:21.706

Not Classified- Liam Griffin (Addison Lee Motorbase) +2 Laps - Robert Collard (eBay Motors) +7 Laps - Matt Neal (Honda Yuasa Racing) +7 Laps