Race report
BTCC Brands Hatch II
Brands Hatch BTCC: Shedden battles to title as Plato wins
Gordon Shedden clinched his second British Touring Car Championship title in a thrilling season finale at Brands Hatch, fighting from 19th on the grid to deny rival Jason Plato.
Valentin Khorounzhiy
Edited: Oct 11, 2015, 5:11 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Shedden, running no ballast due to his Race 2 troubles, passed car after car in an action-packed second half of the race to ensure the title with a fourth-place finish, despite Plato's dominant win.
Logic dictated that Shedden's poleman teammate Matt Neal would back Plato up at the start, but those plans would not come to fruition - as Neal ran wide into Paddock Hill Bend and allowed the BMR man through.
An immediate safety car followed as Race 2 standout Tom Ingram was tapped into a spin on approach to Druids and was then collected by fellow spinner Jake Hill.
The race restarted shortly thereafter, only for a Stewart Lines off to cause another stoppage immediately.
And, on the second restart, Neal slowed and was passed by both Jack Goff and Mat Jackson before Paddock Hill Bend, dropping down to fourth - as an off by Dave Newsham stopped the race in its tracks yet again.
Lap nine, marking the halfway point, was the first lap of the race spent entirely under green flag conditions - and saw Shedden move up to 10th.
The next time by, he was already eighth, demoting Andrew Jordan and Andy Priaulx - and a superb pass over Plato's teammate Aron Smith on the main straight moved him up to seventh and just one point adrift of Plato, who had then been on course for the bonus point on the fastest lap.
At the end of lap 12, Shedden lined up Collard and was up to sixth place, just one spot short of the fifth-place finish he needed to secure the championship.
Out front, Neal muscled Jackson and then Goff to briefly reclaim second place, only for Jackson to then sneak past the duo.
With four laps to go, Shedden broke into the top five at the expense of Mercedes driver Adam Morgan and, on the penultimate lap, Neal slowed, allowing both Goff and Shedden through.
The MG driver then withstood massive pressure from Shedden but held firm, completing the podium behind Plato and Jackson.
Fourth place ahead of Neal ensured Shedden took the crown by four points, as Sam Tordoff took the fastest lap away from Plato.
Morgan was sixth, ahead of Collard, Jordan, Smith and Priaulx.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Two more titles and a ‘near miss’ for the Team WRT in Zandvoort’s finale
Next article Hamilton takes the win to secure the 2015 Constructors' World Championship for Mercedes
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Valentin Khorounzhiy
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
WTCR
WTCR
Hungaroring
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
General
General
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
More from
Gordon Shedden
Shedden sticks with Team Dynamics BTCC squad for 2022
BTCC
BTCC
Shedden sticks with Team Dynamics BTCC squad for 2022
Donington Park BTCC: Shedden scores first pole of 2021 by 0.033s
BTCC
BTCC
Donington
Donington Park BTCC: Shedden scores first pole of 2021 by 0.033s
Shedden excluded from qualifying, team blames ‘finger trouble’
BTCC
BTCC
Snetterton
Shedden excluded from qualifying, team blames ‘finger trouble’
More from
Team BMR
BMR confirms end of Subaru BTCC deal
BTCC
BTCC
BMR confirms end of Subaru BTCC deal
Hailie Deegan wins K&N West race in wild finish
NASCAR
NASCAR
Hailie Deegan wins K&N West race in wild finish
Latest news
Raul Fernandez still compromised after Indonesia finger injury: “I’m not at 100%”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
4 min
Raul Fernandez still compromised after Indonesia finger injury: “I’m not at 100%”
MotoGP can’t simply copy F1’s Drive to Survive success – Chase Carey
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
40 min
MotoGP can’t simply copy F1’s Drive to Survive success – Chase Carey
Marc Marquez's mind games with Jorge Martin: "If you're fast, you don't need team orders"
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Marc Marquez's mind games with Jorge Martin: "If you're fast, you don't need team orders"
Red Bull called Christian Horner to thank him for F1 engine project after maiden win
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
Red Bull called Christian Horner to thank him for F1 engine project after maiden win
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe