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British Touring Car Championship
Rockingham - Race 2 Report - 6/9/15

By MJP Media | 6 September 2015

Gordon Shedden wins the second race from Rockingham with Mat Jackson taking 2nd place. Josh Cook secures his maiden BTCC podium with a 3rd place finish after a thrilling battle with Adam Morgan.

Gordon Shedden wins the second race from Rockingham

The second of today's three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races from Rockingham got under way with Gordon Shedden on pole in his Honda Yuasa Racing Civic Type R alongside the WIX Racing Mercedes Benz A-Class of Adam Morgan. Race one winner Mat Jackson started on row 2 in his Motorbase Performance Ford Focus alongside the MG 888 Racing MG 6GT of Jack Goff with Eurotech Racing's Jeff Smith on row 3 alongside Team BMR RCIB Insurance's Colin Turkington. Despite finishing 27th in the first race after sustaining accident damage, Jason Plato posted the 12th fastest lap time and started race two on the 6th row of the grid in his Volkswagen CC.

The front runners all got good starts with Mat Jackson passing Adam Morgan for 2nd place on the first lap. Further down the field Honda Yuasa Racing's Matt Neal and Power Maxed Racing's Josh Cook were exchanging places as they fought each other for track position. Andrew Jordan lost out in the opening laps dropping to 16th place from 11th on the grid by the end of lap 2. By lap 4 a battle was developing between Matt Neal and Jeff Smith for 8th place. Lap 6 saw Dave Newsham spin off at the Deene hairpin, sustaining damage to his Power Maxed Racing Chevrolet Cruze and putting him out of the race.

Gordon Shedden leads Mat Jackson to their 2nd podium of the day

At the half way stage, Gordon Shedden had extended a lead of over 3 seconds from Mat Jackson in 2nd place. Behind the leaders, Josh Cook passed reigning BTCC champion Colin Turkington to take 5th place. On lap 9, Hunter Abbott's Exocet AlcoSense Audi A4 was hit by Jason Plato's Team BMR RCIB Insurance Volkswagen CC, sending the Audi into a spin which in turn caused Rob Collard to spin his JCT600 Racing with GardX BMW 125i M Sport while trying to avoid the incident. Both the Audi and the BMW recovered however Abbott's car left large amounts of debris on the track.

With Colin Turkington appearing to struggle with the soft option tyres, Matt Neal was a man on a mission, moving up to 6th place by lap 10 and passing Jack Goff for 5th place on the next lap. Goff lost another place on lap 12 when he was passed by Rob Austin before falling into the clutches of Colin Turkington and Sam Tordoff. Meanwhile, Jason Plato had moved up to 10th place with his eye on getting a favourable finishing position for the reverse grid draw for the final race of the day.

Josh Cook takes his maiden BTCC podium with a well-earned 3rd place

In the closing laps an exciting battle ensued between Adam Morgan and Josh Cook for 3rd place as Jason Plato made up two more places to be running 8th at the end of lap 14. Plato gained another place at the expense of Jack Goff on the next lap as the Morgan v Cook battle continued ahead. Morgan defended his position valiantly however Cook managed to squeeze past at the Brook chicane on the last lap. At the finish it was a dominant victory for Gordon Shedden with Mat Jackson 2nd. Josh Cook came home in 3rd place to take his maiden BTCC podium with Adam Morgan 4th, Matt Neal 5th and Rob Austin 6th. Jason Plato, Colin Turkington, Jack Goff and Tom Ingram completed the top 10.

With Gordon Shedden now leading the Drivers' Championship by 20 points over Jason Plato, the reverse grid draw for the final race from Rockingham will see Tom Ingram in pole position for Speedworks Motorsport alongside Jack Goff for MG 888 Racing. Colin Turkington will start on the 2nd row alongside team-mate Jason Plato with Rob Austin and Matt Neal on row 3. Adam Morgan will start on row 4 with Josh Cook while today's race winners Mat Jackson and Gordon Shedden will start on row 5. The reverse grid race generally throws up a few surprises so it will be interesting to see whether Jason Plato can recover the ground lost in the first two races. One thing is certain - it's going to be an exciting final race from the Northamptonshire circuit.

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