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British Touring Car Championship
Thruxton - Race 1 Report - 10/5/15

By MJP Media | 10 May 2015

Honda Yuasa Racing secures a 1-2 result in the first race of the day at Thruxton as Gordon Shedden takes the race win ahead of team-mate Matt Neal in 2nd. Adam Morgan completes the podium in 3rd.

Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal take a 1-2 victory for Honda Yuasa Racing

Yesterday it was Team BMR who topped the time sheets in both the free practice sessions and the qualifying session with Aron Smith securing his maiden BTCC pole position for the first race today. Alongside Smith on the front row of the grid is Gordon Shedden with Matt Neal and Adam Morgan on row 2 and Andy Priaulx and Jason Plato on row 3. Following his big crash in yesterday's qualifying session, Mike Bushell was diagnosed with severe ligament damage and is therefore unable to take part in today's racing. AmDTuning.com team boss Shaun Hollamby said "While it's a disappointing way for our weekend to finish, I'd like to put on record my thanks to the marshals and medical teams who were on hand for their fantastic response to the incident."

As the lights went out to start the race, pole-sitter Aron Smith failed to get away quickly and the fast-starting Honda Yuasa Racing Civic Type Rs of Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal roared past Smith's Volkswagen CC and into 1st and 2nd place. On lap 2 Jason Plato was challenging Andy Priaulx whilst having to defend his position from Rob Collard in the JCT600 Racing with GardX BMW 125i M Sport. Meanwhile Dave Newsham's race was over when his Power Maxed Chevrolet Cruze sustained suspension damage. With Shedden out in front and extending his lead, a battle was developing behind him for 2nd place between Matt Neal, Aron Smith and Adam Morgan.

Gordon Shedden on his way to winning the first race of the day

On lap 4 Jason Plato passed Andy Priaulx's Team IHG Rewards Club BMW 125i M Sport to take 5th place as a new battle was developing for 10th place between Andrew Jordan in the MG 888 Racing MG 6GT, Josh Cook in the Power Maxed Racing Chevrolet Cruze, Sam Tordoff in the JCT600 Racing with GardX BMW 125i M Sport and Martin Depper in the Eurotech Racing Honda Civic.

With Gordon Shedden leading Matt Neal by 2 seconds, Colin Turkington was steadily making up places and by lap 8 was running 7th. Rob Collard appeared to be struggling as he started to slip down the field. Disaster struck Aron Smith on lap 12 when his Team BMR Volkswagen CC sustained a puncture, effectively putting him out of contention. On lap 13 Colin Turkington gained another place, putting him up to 6th.

Adam Morgan finished a well-deserved 3rd for WIX Racing

On the penultimate lap Andy Priaulx put a fantastic move on Jack Goff and Colin Turkington, passing both cars in one move to take 5th place. At the chequered flag it was a convincing victory for Gordon Shedden with team-mate Matt Neal 2nd, a result which moves Shedden up to 2nd in the Drivers' Championship, 4 points behind Neal. Adam Morgan finished the race an excellent 3rd for WIX Racing with Jason Plato 4th, Andy Priaulx 5th and Andrew Jordan 6th. Colin Turkington, Jack Goff, Josh Cook and Tom Ingram completed the top 10.

With the grid for the next race being determined by the fastest lap times from race one, Jason Plato will start race two from pole position alongside Rob Collard with Adam Morgan and Gordon Shedden on row 2. Andy Priaulx and Aron Smith will start on row 3 with Jeff Smith and Josh Cook on row 4.

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