Gordon Shedden opened his account for the new season with victory in an incident-filled second British Touring Car Championship race at Brands Hatch.
Shedden, who fended off a late charge from a surging Rob Collard, takes an early lead in the championship as a result. Ingram backed up his earlier victory with another podium after clinging to third in his ballast-laden Toyota Avensis.
Pole-sitter Ingram was met with drama as early as the green flag laps, with Speedworks noting an engine problem that nearly forced the leading Independent entry out of the contest, though confusion through radio communication ensured Ingram would take the start as scheduled.
The ensuing race lasted less than a lap. Andrew Jordan made a blistering start to rise from sixth to third, but Jason Plato spun his Subaru Levorg GT whilst attempting to cover off Matt Simpson’s Honda Civic Type R on the inside line. Plato then hit the pit wall and was taken to the medical centre for further checks.
Red flags were issued, but contact on the run up Hailwoods Hill between Rob Austin and Collard sent the latter careering into Jack Goff’s Eurotech Honda on the outside line, sending him out at Druids. With the race neutralized, everybody retook their original grid positions – assuming they had survived the ordeal.
Shedden relieved Ingram of the lead into Clearways on the second lap once racing had resumed and set about building an advantage whilst Collard – via sensational moves at Paddock and Druids against team-mate Jordan and Ingram respectively – assumed second place with a handful of laps to run. One final safety car to recover Ant Whorton-Eales at Clearways was called, but Shedden mastered the restart to secure victory.
The theme of engagement behind was ‘boisterous’. A tap from Adam Morgan sent Austin into the rear of Jordan’s BMW in dispute of fourth, which eventually went the way of the Mercedes A-Class. Ashley Sutton and Aiden Moffat also took to the gravel trap at Clark Curve together whilst fighting in the midfield.
It certainly proved to be a race of attrition – almost reminiscent of your typical race three contest, which gets underway at 17:12 this afternoon.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN |  |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 23 | 20:46.471 | 48.893 | 2 |
| 2 | 5 | M | Rob COLLARD | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 23 | 0.87 | 48.723 | 7 |
| 3 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 23 | 2.657 | 49.085 | 1 | |
| 4 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
Handy Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 23 | 4.328 | 49.059 | 5 | |
| 5 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 23 | 4.565 | 49.037 | 3 | |
| 6 | 3 | Mat JACKSON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 23 | 5.125 | 49.027 | 8 | |
| 7 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 23 | 5.14 | 48.963 | 6 |
| 8 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 23 | 8.013 | 48.939 | 13 | |
| 9 | 2 | M | Tom CHILTON | |
Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 23 | 8.197 | 48.960 | 10 |
| 10 | 4 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 23 | 9.441 | 48.657 | 32 |
| 11 | 12 | Mike EPPS | |
Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | 23 | 9.492 | 48.965 | 9 | |
| 12 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 23 | 9.672 | 48.928 | 31 |
| 13 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 23 | 10.28 | 49.093 | 4 | |
| 14 | 18 | M | Senna PROCTOR | |
Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 23 | 10.488 | 49.045 | 17 |
| 15 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 23 | 11.265 | 49.352 | 22 | |
| 16 | 40 | M | Árón TAYLOR-SMITH |  |
MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 23 | 12.741 | 49.323 | 14 |
| 17 | 55 | Jeff SMITH | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 23 | 13.002 | 48.979 | 29 | |
| 18 | 17 | Dave NEWSHAM | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 23 | 14.025 | 49.239 | 30 | |
| 19 | 7 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 23 | 14.916 | 49.275 | 20 | |
| 20 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
TAG Racing | Volkswagen CC | 23 | 17.857 | 49.184 | 28 | |
| 21 | 303 | M | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 23 | 18.084 | 49.355 | 11 |
| 22 | 20 | M | James COLE | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 23 | 18.45 | 49.318 | 27 |
| 23 | 61 | Will BURNS | |
Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | 23 | 20.479 | 49.323 | 26 | |
| 24 | 23 | M | Daniel LLOYD | |
MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 22 | 1 Lap | 49.154 | 23 |
| 25 | 28 | M | Josh PRICE | |
BMR Racing Academy | Subaru Levorg GT | 20 | 3 Laps | 49.585 | 24 |
| R | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 18 | 5 Laps | 48.952 | 18 | |
| R | 116 | M | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 18 | 5 Laps | 48.740 | 16 |
| R | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 17 | 6 Laps | 49.283 | 21 | |
| R | 300 | Luke DAVENPORT | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 9 | 14 Laps | 49.200 | 19 | |
| R | 10 | Ant WHORTON-EALES | |
AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 9 | 14 Laps | 49.503 | 25 | |
| R | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 0 | DNF | N/A | 15 | |
| R | 99 | M | Jason PLATO | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 0 | DNF | N/A | 12 |