Gordon Shedden secured his second win of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season at
Donington Park as he mastered tricky conditions to secure honours in the 16th round of the year.
The Team Halfords man came home comfortably clear of the Team Aircool SEAT of Adam Jones while
Matt Neal completed the podium, despite being forced to pit with a puncture early in the race.
Jason Plato finished ahead of title rival Fabrizio Giovanardi to secure the points lead going into the second race of the day shortly after lunch.
When the race kicked off, it was
Mat Jackson who made the best start from fourth on the grid to blast away from the line and take the lead on the run into Redgate for the first time, but it wasn't a lead he would hold for long, as pole man Shedden and fellow front row starter Darren Turner both got ahead of the
BMW before the end of the lap as the field struggled in the wet conditions. Neal held fourth ahead of
Colin Turkington and Jones, while Tom Chilton and Mike Jordan were both in the wars – Chilton having gone off coming down the Craner Curves and taking a trip across the gravel at the Old Hairpin and Jordan going through the kitty litter himself at McLeans after being hung out to dry on the outside. To complete a miserable opening lap, Chilton also went off between McLeans and Coppice.
As the field shuffled on the second lap, Jones moved into fifth ahead of Turkington while Giovanardi had moved into the top ten for the first time in his Vectra, engine issues having left him well down the order after qualifying. However, by the end of the lap three, the field would be heading behind the Safety Car, when Chilton tipped Fiona Leggate into a spin coming through Schwantz Curve and then got sideways himself before being collected by the SEAT of Tom Ferrier which was left stranded on the circuit on the inside of McLeans.
