Andrew Jordan has won an eventful second race at Donington Park this afternoon, taking his first win of the season. Having got a better start than poleman Matt Neal, Jordan led the whole race to record his first win that was not from a reverse grid. Nash kept him under heavy pressure throughout the race but could not find a way past and had to settle for second.
Neal, having lost out at the start and carrying maximum success ballast, followed the pair home in third.
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There were a couple of safety car periods and a number of incidents during the race. The first safety car period came after the first lap as a result of a heavy accident involving Liam Griffin and Jason Plato. Griffin, who appears to have been tagged by Gordon Shedden, slowed down the craner curves and was pitched heavily into the side of Plato. With his car seemingly out of control on the grass, Plato was launched into a number of rolls after his car hit the verge at the edge of the runoff area. Although physically unharmed, the incident represents a huge blow to Plato’s championship challenge as he will not be able to start the final race of the day.
Another safety car period was caused later in the race when the BMW of Nick Foster became beeched in the gravel at the old hairpin after a high speed off whilst battling with Jeff Smith.
Tom Chilton avoided most of the melée around him to take fourth, with Rob Collard just half a second behind. The WSR driver had got off to a lightning quick start from 6th on the grid and finished as the top non-turbo driver.
Gordon Shedden completed a mighty drive from the back of the grid after his race one exclusion. The Honda Racing Team driver passed numerous drivers in the opening laps and again showed his determination to get to the front.
The AmD Milltek Racing team scored their best-ever result in the BTCC thanks to Tom Onslow-Cole’s efforts to get the Volkswagen Golf up into seventh position by the end of the race. Although he will have benefited from some of the incidents around him, Onslow-Cole is currently proving he and the car have the pace to challenge for points after having finished in eleventh in race one.
Tony Gilham took home his first points of the weekend with an eighth placed finish, just ahead of Alex MacDowall and Mat Jackson, who completed the points-paying postions. Jackson had earlier been running in fourth and fighting with Chilton when he was tagged and sent into the gravel.
Paul O’Neill failed to finish the race after ending up in the gravel trap at the old hairpin. The Audi A4 of Rob Austin made its first ever BTCC race start, but failed to complete a lap. Tom Boardman, who once again proved the pace of his SEAT Leon by setting the fastest lap of the race, retired after 10 laps with electrical problems.