Shedden wins wet first race

The Team Dynamics driver battled through heavy rain and two safety car periods to claim the chequered flag almost seven seconds ahead of Adam Jones.

Independent driver Jones, in a SEAT Toledo, held his nerve to claim his first British Touring Car Championship podium in what has been a limited campaign in the series this year.

"We've only done two meetings this season," said Jones, "so to come here and do what we've done - getting on to the second step of the podium - is great."

Shedden's teammate Matt Neal claimed the final podium slot, despite having pitted during the first safety car period with a puncture.

Mike Jordan, who suffered a trip through the gravel early on, put in a storming drive to finish fourth ahead of SEAT's Jason Plato.

Vauxhall's Fabrizio Giovanardi, struggling with windscreen wiper failure, came home in eighth place, meaning that Plato has now regained the lead of the drivers' championship.

Mat Jackson, who had started from fourth on the grid, took and lost the lead on the first lap and finished in ninth place.

Team Dynamics have looked dominant all weekend, and Shedden won here twice last year, so all eyes will be on the Honda Civic driver as he starts race two from pole just before lunchtime.

                    
Classified:

Pos  Driver            Car          Time
 1.  Gordon Shedden    Honda        30:19.346       
 2.  Adam Jones        SEAT         +   6.881 
 3.  Matt Neal         Honda        +   7.221 
 4.  Mike Jordan       Honda        +   7.662 
 5.  Jason Plato       SEAT         +   9.868 
 6.  Matt Allison      SEAT         +  15.240 
 7.  Colin Turkington  BMW          +  17.445 
 8.  F.Giovanardi      Vauxhall     +  22.221 
 9.  Mat Jackson       BMW          +  24.275 
10.  Tom Onslow-Cole   BMW          +  26.628 
11.  Eoin Murray       Alfa Romeo   +  27.359 
12.  Darren Turner     SEAT         +  28.001 
13.  Richard Marsh     Alfa Romeo   +  45.955 
14.  Erkut Kizilirmak  Vauxhall     +  46.875 
15.  Tom Chilton       Vauxhall     +  51.976 
16.  David Pinkney     Alfa Romeo   +1:20.827 

Not classified:

     Driver            Car          Laps               
     Chris Stockton    Lexus        16
     John George       Honda        15
     Martyn Bell       BMW          14
     Fiona Leggate     MG           10
     Simon Blanckley   Honda        9 
     Tom Ferrier       SEAT         2 
     Jason Hughes      MG           0