Brands BTCC: Mat Jackson wins, Jason Plato gains on Gordon Shedden

British Touring Car Championship leader Gordon Shedden's points advantage was slashed to 12 points as he failed to score in the second race at Brands Hatch, won by Mat Jackson

Brands BTCC: Mat Jackson wins, Jason Plato gains on Gordon Shedden

Jackson managed 75kg of success ballast and soft tyres to deny Tom Ingram a maiden BTCC victory, while Honda driver Shedden struggled to 19th with nearest title rival Jason Plato sixth.

Team BMR Volkswagen CC driver Plato picked off Andy Priaulx after a safety-car period - caused by Martin Depper losing control at Clark Curve and hitting Rob Austin, sending both into the gravel - before closing in on team-mate Aron Smith.

Plato had criticised his team in the aftermath of race one for not giving Smith, who finished ahead of the two-time champion in the opener, a call to drop into the pack - but this time Smith moved over on the run to Hawthorn after mid-distance.

That gave Plato sixth and, though he closed in on Dave Newsham's soft-shod Power Maxed Racing Chevrolet Cruze and Jack Goff's MG, he opted to hold that position to the flag for a shot at reverse-grid pole.

It paid off, with the top seven reversed for race three, putting Matt Neal on pole but Plato second.

The 10-point haul he bagged for sixth cut Shedden's points lead from 22 to 12, as the Scot was mired in the midfield from the off.

Shedden started 13th after Plato had backed him up in race one to deny him the chance of setting a quick laptime.

The Civic Type-R was bundled to 16th over a cautious opening lap, though the safety car gave him an opportunity to regain ground.

He passed Depper's Eurotech Honda team-mate Jeff Smith for 15th - and one championship point - on the second lap of green-flag racing, but made a mistake at Hawthorns and dropped to 18th.

Shedden then suffered with partially locked-on rear brakes, a legacy of contact early in the race, and was lucky to finish 19th after a front-left puncture for Colin Turkington on the very last lap wiped the 2014 champion out of the title picture.

Conversely, sixth for Turkington's BMR team-mate Plato means he now has a good opportunity to dramatically snatch a third BTCC crown in the final race of the season.

The championship battle detracted attention from a thrilling lead fight, as Jackson, Adam Morgan and Ingram circulated in tandem for much of the encounter.

Ingram nailed Morgan at Dingle Dell with four laps remaining but despite a tyre advantage in the closing stages could not overhaul Jackson for the lead.

Second still marked a career-best result for Ingram, who had notched his first rostrum at Rockingham earlier this season.

RESULTS - 18 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Mat Jackson Motorbase Ford 31m04.610s
2 Tom Ingram Speedworks Motorsport Toyota 0.350s
3 Adam Morgan Ciceley Racing Mercedes 1.460s
4 Dave Newsham Power Maxed Chevrolet 2.904s
5 Jack Goff MG MG 3.278s
6 Jason Plato Team BMR Volkswagen 3.588s
7 Matt Neal Honda Honda 10.954s
8 Aron Taylor-Smith Team BMR Volkswagen 12.344s
9 Andy Priaulx WSR BMW 12.849s
10 Rob Collard WSR BMW 13.100s
11 Andrew Jordan MG MG 13.198s
12 James Cole Motorbase Ford 13.675s
13 Sam Tordoff WSR BMW 14.003s
14 Jeff Smith Eurotech Honda 21.288s
15 Alain Menu Team BMR Volkswagen 21.415s
16 Josh Cook Power Maxed Chevrolet 21.683s
17 Mike Bushell AmD Ford 21.889s
18 Jake Hill AmD Audi 22.408s
19 Gordon Shedden Honda Honda 30.790s
20 Tony Gilham Team Hard Toyota 30.986s
21 Hunter Abbott Rob Austin Racing Audi 33.432s
22 Stewart Lines Houseman Racing Toyota 46.103s
23 Simon Belcher Handy Motorsport Toyota 46.384s
24 Aiden Moffat Aiden Moffat Racing Mercedes 1 Lap
- Colin Turkington Team BMR Volkswagen Retirement
- Alex Martin Team Parker Ford Retirement
- Daniel Welch Welch Motorsport Proton Retirement
- Derek Palmer Jr. Infiniti Infiniti Retirement
- Rob Austin Rob Austin Racing Audi Retirement
- Martin Depper Eurotech Honda Retirement

RACE THREE STARTING GRID:

Pos Driver Team Car
1 Matt Neal Honda Honda
2 Jason Plato Team BMR Volkswagen
3 Jack Goff MG MG
4 Dave Newsham Power Maxed Chevrolet
5 Adam Morgan Ciceley Racing Mercedes
6 Tom Ingram Speedworks Motorsport Toyota
7 Mat Jackson Motorbase Ford
8 Aron Taylor-Smith Team BMR Volkswagen
9 Andy Priaulx WSR BMW
10 Rob Collard WSR BMW
11 Andrew Jordan MG MG
12 James Cole Motorbase Ford
13 Sam Tordoff WSR BMW
14 Jeff Smith Eurotech Honda
15 Alain Menu Team BMR Volkswagen
16 Josh Cook Power Maxed Chevrolet
17 Mike Bushell AmD Ford
18 Jake Hill AmD Audi
19 Gordon Shedden Honda Honda
20 Tony Gilham Team Hard Toyota
21 Hunter Abbott Rob Austin Racing Audi
22 Stewart Lines Houseman Racing Toyota
23 Simon Belcher Handy Motorsport Toyota
24 Aiden Moffat Aiden Moffat Racing Mercedes
25 Colin Turkington Team BMR Volkswagen
26 Alex Martin Team Parker Ford
27 Daniel Welch Welch Motorsport Proton
28 Martin Depper Eurotech Honda
29 Rob Austin Rob Austin Racing Audi
30 Derek Palmer Jr. Infiniti Infiniti


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