Shedden wins Snetterton race three

Date published : 08 Aug 2010 - 16:40:33

Gordon Shedden kept up his British Touring Car Championship title hopes by taking his third win of the season in the final race of the day at Snetterton.The Honda driver slotted into second at the start of the race, but inherited the lead when polesitter James Nash spun his Triple 8 Vauxhall off at Riches on lap two. After that Shedden was able to maintain a commanding gap over his pursuers and came home with an advantage of over two seconds.His Honda team-mate Matt Neal looked set for second, but was pushed off the circuit by Rob Collard at The Esses on the last lap. While Collard finished second, Neal recovered to third across the grass.Tom Chilton led a line of three cars to finish fourth in his Arena Ford. Jason Plato (Chevrolet) and Steven Kane (Motorbase BMW) were behind him. Plato's fifth place means that he now has a reduced 20-point lead in the championship over Neal with Shedden a further four points back.Mat Jackson was involved in the battle for fourth early on, but made contact with Tom Onslow-Cole at The Esses, forcing the Motorbase BMW onto the grass and spinning the Arena Ford around.While Jackson was able to overtake Andy Neate's WSR BMW for seventh before the flag, Onslow-Cole was forced to pit to have bodywork damage seen to. He then made a further stop for fresh tyres, which enabled him to score a bonus point for setting the fastest lap.The top 10 was completed by Paul O'Neill, who battled up from the back of the grid to eighth in his Tech-Speed Honda, David Pinkney's Pinkney Vauxhall and Neate.Andrew Jordan did not start the race after his Eurotech Vauxhall suffered overheating problems on the installation lap.