Brands Hatch BTCC: Gordon Shedden champion despite Jason Plato win

Plato managed a trio of safety-car periods with ease and raced to a dominant triumph, as Shedden had to fight his way through from 19th on the grid.

His task was made more difficult when his Honda team-mate Matt Neal ran wide at Paddock on the opening lap, handing Plato the lead.

That meant Shedden needed to reach the top six to win the title, and a first-lap clash that eliminated Tom Ingram at Druids was the first step towards that target.

By the end of the opening lap, with the field behind the safety car, Shedden was 16th - but he had no immediate opportunity to progress as Stewart Lines went off at Clark Curve at the restart, necessitating another safety car.

He picked up 15th before racing resumed again when Plato's stand-in Team BMR team-mate Alain Menu pitted with a right-rear puncture, picked up after a hit from Shedden in the first-lap concertina at Druids.

Two laps later Plato led the field away on another restart, only for a car to wind up beached in the Clark Curve gravel again - this time Dave Newsham's Chevrolet.

This time Shedden had made his move much more swiftly, rising to 12th in the first half of the lap - the final move, on James Cole's Motorbase Ford Focus, coming seconds before they reached the safety-car boards on the back straight.

When the safety car next returned to the pits it stayed there, and Shedden charged.

With no additional weight in his Civic Type-R courtesy of his dismal race two, the Scot picked off car after car as he arrowed in on his top-six target.

He passed Jeff Smith and Sam Tordoff on the same lap, before Andrew Jordan moved aside in his MG on the run down to Hawthorn on lap 10.

Moments later, Shedden got past Andy Priaulx for eighth when the WSR BMW driver lost out to Aron Smith - but Plato then set the fastest lap to pick up an additional point, meaning Shedden needed fifth for the title.

He passed Smith, lambasted by Plato earlier on for allegedly not helping his quest for the championship, with relative ease for seventh on lap 11 - though it took him another two laps to nail Rob Collard, outdragging the BMW out of Clearways.

There was then two seconds between Shedden and his next target, Adam Morgan's Ciceley Racing Mercedes, but Neal was ready to play the team game.

He attacked Goff at Paddock, allowing Mat Jackson's Ford to draw alongside the pair of them and force them to run three-wide into Druids.

Morgan got involved and all four were delayed, bringing Shedden into the fight - and into fifth when he passed Morgan at Paddock on lap 15 and started to attack Goff's MG.

Goff defended robustly thereafter, and it took Neal to back off and let both past before the title looked secure for Shedden - and late on Tordoff took fastest lap away from Plato for good measure.

It meant a sixth victory for Plato, 3.7 seconds ahead of Jackson, was not enough, handing Shedden a second crown to add to his 2012 success.

RESULTS - 18 LAPS:

FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: