Despite not taking it on track, Gordon Shedden has been handed the race three victory after a somewhat controversial end to the day at Donington Park. A move on Shedden at the end of the race saw Jason Plato handed a two-second penalty, which moved the Scot up to second place. A further exclusion for Redstone Racing driver Mat Jackson for a boost issue promoted Shedden to first place.
Starting the race under the reverse grid draw, it was the Pirtek Racing drivers Jeff Smith and Andrew Jordan starting on the front row, ahead of Dave Newsham’s ES Racing Vectra and race one winner Mat Jackson.
A chaotic start saw Jeff Smith get off the line badly, with Mat Jackson making a charge and taking the lead. Drama going into the Craner Curves saw Rob Collard going up against team mate Tom Onslow-Cole, which left both of them with bodywork damage. Whilst all the action at Craner Curves was falling into place, Andy Neate in the second KX Momentum MG6 had had a big impact with the wall on the start finish straight – ending his race in dramatic style.
Lap two started with similar drama. Slight contact between Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan saw the Pirtek Honda Civic go into a slide, whilst the identical Civic of Neal ended up in the gravel – and out of the race. In the midst of all this, Chris James and Liam Griffin rekindled their on-track relationship, with yet more contact between the two, leaving significant damage to the front of Griffin’s Redstone Racing Ford Focus.
Naturally, the safety car was brought out on to the track, whilst the stricken Honda of Matt Neal was cleared from the track. By this time, Jason Plato – who’d started at the very back of the grid after a disappointing race two – had made his way through the field and got into ninth position.
Despite saving his slide after contact with Matt Neal, Andrew Jordan said to ITV4 commentators Toby Moody and Tim Harvey, “Something feels wrong with the back end of the car, so I’m not sure how it’s going to go.”
A good restart by Jackson saw him leading from Newsham and Rob Collard – who’d managed to salvage a result after the first lap incident. Tony Gilham was running in a strong fifth place. A late lunge from Frank Wrathall at the Old Hairpin saw him take eighth place from Jeff Smith, with Andrew Jordan shortly following suit.
Tom Onslow-Cole was having a good battle with Adam Morgan for twelfth, whilst upfront, Gordon Shedden was pressuring Dave Newsham for second place. The Scot eventually took the position from the ES Racing Vectra through the Craner Curves.
Tony Gilham in the ex-Honda Racing Honda Civic was running in a superb fifth position however was now coming under threat from Jason Plato. Despite defending well, Plato took the place on the Dunlop Straight.
eBay Motors’ Rob Collard was still running in second place, despite bodywork damage to the BMW, whilst Jason Plato was making another lunge, this time on Dave Newsham. Whilst taking the position from Newsham over the Esses, Plato drove over the red kerb that has caught out a lot of drivers through the support series over the weekend. Luckily, Newsham gave Plato enough room to drive cleanly through without causing any contact.
Wrathall was also having a strong race in the Dynojet Toyota Avensis, and passed Tony Gilham for sixth in the latter stages of the race, whilst behind them, Pirtek team mates Andy Jordan and Jeff Smith were fighting for their own track positions.
Some great driving from Shedden saw him gaining on Collard in second place, and eventually took the place going through the Craner Curves, with Jackson still leading up ahead. Someone else flying through the field was Triple 8 Racing’s Jason Plato – who was now up close and personal behind Rob Collard, taking the place from the eBay BMW at the Old Hairpin. Wrathall had unfortunately been demoted back down to eighth after getting out of shape at the chicane, losing track places in the process.
Going into lap seventeen of the final race, and it was becoming clear that his was going to be a three car race to the chequered flag. With Shedden hunting down Jackson for the lead and Plato looking fiery in third – with just one second covering the top three.
With Jackson’s lead being reduced to just 0.45 and struggling slightly on used rubber starting the final lap, Shedden was defending heavily from the MG6 of Jason Plato, who was trying every trick in the book to make a move.
As Jackson went to cross the line for what would have been his second victory of the day, a hit from behind from Jason Plato left Shedden with nowhere to go but over the chicane, losing his second place and having to settle with third. However, the Scot was furious with Plato’s manoeuvre and showed his displeasure on the slow-down lap and during the post-race interviews.
Matt Neal, who went into the third race leading the championship finished the race with no points to add to his tally. Other retirements of the race came from Andy Neate, Adam Morgan and Dave Newsham who pulled into the pits on the penultimate lap with an problem.
The change in positions now mean that Gordon Shedden takes full points, with Jason Plato in second – meaning he goes into Thruxton leading the overall championship. It also means the maiden third place finish for Tony Gilham in the Team HARD Honda Civic.
Update:
After all the action from the day had simmered down, later on in the day, the officials of Donington Park penalised a few other teams and drivers for incidents that happened during the day.
MX Momentum Racing, Thorney Motorsport and Rob Austin Racing were all given verbal warnings due to moving their vehicles back into the garages without permission before the session had come to an end. Jeff Smith, Dave Newsham and Andrew Jordan were too given verbal warnings by officials for their various on-track incidents. Chris James was given an official reprimand plus two penalty points on his race license for the incident during race one. Later on, James was handed a further three more penalty points and a £1000 fine for using abusive language/behaviour within the venue.
Starting the race under the reverse grid draw, it was the Pirtek Racing drivers Jeff Smith and Andrew Jordan starting on the front row, ahead of Dave Newsham’s ES Racing Vectra and race one winner Mat Jackson.
A chaotic start saw Jeff Smith get off the line badly, with Mat Jackson making a charge and taking the lead. Drama going into the Craner Curves saw Rob Collard going up against team mate Tom Onslow-Cole, which left both of them with bodywork damage. Whilst all the action at Craner Curves was falling into place, Andy Neate in the second KX Momentum MG6 had had a big impact with the wall on the start finish straight – ending his race in dramatic style.
Lap two started with similar drama. Slight contact between Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan saw the Pirtek Honda Civic go into a slide, whilst the identical Civic of Neal ended up in the gravel – and out of the race. In the midst of all this, Chris James and Liam Griffin rekindled their on-track relationship, with yet more contact between the two, leaving significant damage to the front of Griffin’s Redstone Racing Ford Focus.
Naturally, the safety car was brought out on to the track, whilst the stricken Honda of Matt Neal was cleared from the track. By this time, Jason Plato – who’d started at the very back of the grid after a disappointing race two – had made his way through the field and got into ninth position.
Despite saving his slide after contact with Matt Neal, Andrew Jordan said to ITV4 commentators Toby Moody and Tim Harvey, “Something feels wrong with the back end of the car, so I’m not sure how it’s going to go.”
A good restart by Jackson saw him leading from Newsham and Rob Collard – who’d managed to salvage a result after the first lap incident. Tony Gilham was running in a strong fifth place. A late lunge from Frank Wrathall at the Old Hairpin saw him take eighth place from Jeff Smith, with Andrew Jordan shortly following suit.
Tom Onslow-Cole was having a good battle with Adam Morgan for twelfth, whilst upfront, Gordon Shedden was pressuring Dave Newsham for second place. The Scot eventually took the position from the ES Racing Vectra through the Craner Curves.
Tony Gilham in the ex-Honda Racing Honda Civic was running in a superb fifth position however was now coming under threat from Jason Plato. Despite defending well, Plato took the place on the Dunlop Straight.
eBay Motors’ Rob Collard was still running in second place, despite bodywork damage to the BMW, whilst Jason Plato was making another lunge, this time on Dave Newsham. Whilst taking the position from Newsham over the Esses, Plato drove over the red kerb that has caught out a lot of drivers through the support series over the weekend. Luckily, Newsham gave Plato enough room to drive cleanly through without causing any contact.
Wrathall was also having a strong race in the Dynojet Toyota Avensis, and passed Tony Gilham for sixth in the latter stages of the race, whilst behind them, Pirtek team mates Andy Jordan and Jeff Smith were fighting for their own track positions.
Some great driving from Shedden saw him gaining on Collard in second place, and eventually took the place going through the Craner Curves, with Jackson still leading up ahead. Someone else flying through the field was Triple 8 Racing’s Jason Plato – who was now up close and personal behind Rob Collard, taking the place from the eBay BMW at the Old Hairpin. Wrathall had unfortunately been demoted back down to eighth after getting out of shape at the chicane, losing track places in the process.
Going into lap seventeen of the final race, and it was becoming clear that his was going to be a three car race to the chequered flag. With Shedden hunting down Jackson for the lead and Plato looking fiery in third – with just one second covering the top three.
With Jackson’s lead being reduced to just 0.45 and struggling slightly on used rubber starting the final lap, Shedden was defending heavily from the MG6 of Jason Plato, who was trying every trick in the book to make a move.
As Jackson went to cross the line for what would have been his second victory of the day, a hit from behind from Jason Plato left Shedden with nowhere to go but over the chicane, losing his second place and having to settle with third. However, the Scot was furious with Plato’s manoeuvre and showed his displeasure on the slow-down lap and during the post-race interviews.
Matt Neal, who went into the third race leading the championship finished the race with no points to add to his tally. Other retirements of the race came from Andy Neate, Adam Morgan and Dave Newsham who pulled into the pits on the penultimate lap with an problem.
The change in positions now mean that Gordon Shedden takes full points, with Jason Plato in second – meaning he goes into Thruxton leading the overall championship. It also means the maiden third place finish for Tony Gilham in the Team HARD Honda Civic.
Update:
After all the action from the day had simmered down, later on in the day, the officials of Donington Park penalised a few other teams and drivers for incidents that happened during the day.
MX Momentum Racing, Thorney Motorsport and Rob Austin Racing were all given verbal warnings due to moving their vehicles back into the garages without permission before the session had come to an end. Jeff Smith, Dave Newsham and Andrew Jordan were too given verbal warnings by officials for their various on-track incidents. Chris James was given an official reprimand plus two penalty points on his race license for the incident during race one. Later on, James was handed a further three more penalty points and a £1000 fine for using abusive language/behaviour within the venue.
Final Results:
1) Gordon Shedden
2) Jason Plato
3) Tony Gilham
4) Rob Collard
5) Jeff Smith
6) Andrew Jordan
7) Frank Wrathall
8) Dan Welch
9) Tom Onslow-Cole
10) Lea Wood
11) Aron Smith
12) Nick Foster
13) Chris James
14) Liam Griffin
15) Tony Hughes
Fastest Lap: Jason Plato – Lap 9 – 1:11:013
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