Gordon Shedden retakes British Touring Car Championship lead with Croft race two win
Gordon Shedden took his sixth victory of the 2012 season to restore himself to the head of the British Touring Car Championship standings by two points after winning the second race of the day at Croft
The Honda racer overhauled his team-mate Matt Neal on the third lap of the race to move into a lead he would never lose throughout the remaining 12 laps.
"The podium in race one was great, but I had less weight for this race and I needed to take advantage," said Shedden. "It's nip and tuck between Neal and me, and I have to bank the results when I can."
Neal had come under pressure initially from the private Eurotech Honda of Andrew Jordan as his factory car suffered low oil pressure and a misfire. The champion managed to hang on to second place as Jordan's tyres faded and he dropped down the order.
The fight for what would become third place was spectacular with the WSR BMW of Rob Collard fending off Rob Austin's Audi A4 and Collard's team-mate Tom Onslow-Cole. Austin produced a well thought out move to slice ahead of Collard powering out of the hairpin with two laps to go. Jordan fended off Collard and Onslow-Cole on the dash to the flag.
Jason Plato, who had been forced to start from 20th place after an electrical problem in race one, fought through the pack to seventh place in his MG.
He was ahead of Frank Wrathall (Dynojet Toyota), Andy Neate (MG) and Nick Foster (WSR BMW). Foster has been drawn on pole for the final race of the day.
Results - 15 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Gordon Shedden Honda 21m55.113s 2. Matt Neal Honda + 4.448s 3. Rob Austin Austin Audi + 10.863s 4. Andrew Jordan Eurotech Honda + 14.864s 5. Rob Collard WSR BMW + 14.961s 6. Tom Onslow-Cole WSR BMW + 15.280s 7. Jason Plato MG + 22.814s 8. Frank Wrathall Dynojet Toyota + 32.312s 9. Andy Neate MG + 33.109s 10. Nick Foster WSR BMW + 39.335s 11. Tony Gilham Gilham Honda + 46.955s 12. Dave Newsham ES Vauxhall + 47.563s 13. Jeff Smith Eurotech Honda + 47.697s 14. Liam Griffin Motorbase Ford + 50.440s 15. Ollie Jackson AmD Volkswagen + 54.021s 16. Chris James ES Vauxhall + 1m13.171s 17. Daniel Welch Welch Proton + 1m31.933s 18. Will Bratt Austin Audi + 1 lap 19. Lea Wood Central Vauxhall + 1 lap 20. Adam Morgan Speedworks Toyota + 2 laps Retirements: Aron Smith Motorbase Ford 7 laps Paul O'Neill Speedworks Toyota 6 laps Mat Jackson Motorbase Ford 1 lap
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| Series | BTCC |
| Drivers | Gordon Shedden |
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