Gordon Shedden has provisionally won a disrupted final race at Donington Park plagued by torrentially wet conditions, with Colin Turkington second and Adam Morgan took third.
Shedden got the better of pole-sitter Dave Newsham around the outside of Redgate after the restart, before extending an advantage he would comfortably retain to the chequered flag.
It was Shedden’s Honda team-mate Matt Neal who initially bested the BTC Norlin Chevrolet Cruze on the first attempt to start the race, before the three-time champion spun away his advantage after losing the rear of the Type R at McLeans, subsequently beaching the car in the gravel.
With a host of other cars off slightly further back at the Old Hairpin, including contact after Rob Collard was tipped into a spin by Tom Chilton and Jack Goff had nowhere to go, race officials took the decision to suspend the race under red flags.
Neal attempted to rejoin the field, assembled in it’s original order, after being hauled from the gravel by a recovery vehicle. BTCC regulations state a driver must return to the grid without mechanical asisstance, and as a result Neal was instructed to leave the grid and retire from the race.
The restart will have frustrated Maximum Motorsport after Josh Cook capitalised on the initial carnage to put his Ford Focus ST second in another strong showing of pace and opportunism from the former MG racer.
A safety car was scrambled less than a lap after the restart, with Mat Jackson and Matt Simpson making contact on the left-hand side of Hollywood, and Jeff Smith tangling with Aiden Moffat on the right.
Once Shedden pulled clear, third-placed Turkington sat frustrated behind Newsham, and even once released from the wheel tracks of the Cruze he was unable to make any serious inrodes into the defending champion’s lead.
Daniel Lloyd became the next retirement as he went straight on in an attempt to best Tom Ingram, heading straight down the Craners Curves into the gravel at the Old Hairpin, beaching his MG6 GT in the process.
The dispute over third place proved the most captivating towards the conclusion, with Sutton initially passing Newsham only to be pegged back at Redgate. Adam Morgan made it three abreast for the final step on the rostrum heading into the final chicane on the last lap, boisterously steering the Mercedes into third spot.
Shedden’s win, however, remains provisional as the Scot was subsequently excluded for having failed the ride-height check – although the team are appealing on the basis that it was caused by accident damage.
The net result of all three races at Donington Park sees Gordon Shedden take a slender three-point advantage to Thruxton next month.
UPDATE – Shedden formally excluded from race three result.
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 | 17 | 23:52.096 | 1:20.392 | 3 |
| 2 | 4 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 17 | 4.585 | 1:20.734 | 4 |
| 3 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | |
Ciceley Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 17 | 14.061 | 1:20.884 | 11 | |
| 4 | 116 | M | Ashley SUTTON | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 17 | 14.222 | 1:21.155 | 6 |
| 5 | 17 | Dave NEWSHAM | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 17 | 15.077 | 1:21.471 | 1 | |
| 6 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | |
Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 17 | 15.354 | 1:21.336 | 8 | |
| 7 | 31 | Jack GOFF | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 17 | 15.561 | 1:20.857 | 9 | |
| 8 | 66 | Josh COOK | |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 17 | 19.494 | 1:21.175 | 5 | |
| 9 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | |
Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 17 | 20.085 | 1:20.947 | 14 | |
| 10 | 40 | M | Árón TAYLOR-SMITH |  |
MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 17 | 20.42 | 1:20.912 | 18 |
| 11 | 18 | M | Senna PROCTOR | |
Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 17 | 23.257 | 1:21.343 | 19 |
| 12 | 24 | Jake HILL | |
TAG Racing | Volkswagen CC | 17 | 25.542 | 1:21.323 | 26 | |
| 13 | 5 | M | Rob COLLARD | |
Team BMW | BMW 125i M Sport | 17 | 26.088 | 1:21.565 | 7 |
| 14 | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | |
Handy Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 17 | 29.931 | 1:21.121 | 31 | |
| 15 | 2 | M | Tom CHILTON | |
Power Maxed Racing | Vauxhall Astra | 17 | 32.486 | 1:21.711 | 10 |
| 16 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | |
AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 17 | 33.251 | 1:21.895 | 29 | |
| 17 | 99 | M | Jason PLATO | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 17 | 34.919 | 1:21.250 | 20 |
| 18 | 22 | Chris SMILEY | |
BTC Norlin Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 17 | 41.313 | 1:21.532 | 17 | |
| 19 | 77 | M | Andrew JORDAN | |
BMW Pirtek Racing | BMW 125i M Sport | 17 | 43.971 | 1:20.842 | 15 |
| 20 | 7 | Stephen JELLEY | |
Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 17 | 45.655 | 1:21.564 | 22 | |
| 21 | 303 | M | Matt SIMPSON | |
Simpson Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 17 | 46.985 | 1:21.959 | 30 |
| 22 | 12 | Mike EPPS | |
Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | 17 | 49.193 | 1:22.045 | 23 | |
| 23 | 20 | M | James COLE | |
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 17 | 51.159 | 1:22.189 | 24 |
| 24 | 28 | M | Josh PRICE | |
BMR Racing Academy | Subaru Levorg GT | 17 | 51.642 | 1:21.850 | 28 |
| 25 | 30 | Martin DEPPER | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 17 | 55.89 | 1:22.077 | 25 | |
| 26 | 300 | Luke DAVENPORT | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 17 | 56.709 | 1:22.370 | 16 | |
| 27 | 10 | Ant WHORTON-EALES | |
AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts | Audi S3 | 16 | 1 Lap | 1:23.388 | 12 | |
| R | 23 | M | Daniel LLOYD | |
MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 10 | 7 Laps | 1:20.511 | 21 |
| R | 55 | Jeff SMITH | |
Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 9 | 8 Laps | 1:22.287 | 13 | |
| R | 61 | Will BURNS | |
Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | 4 | 13 Laps | N/A | 27 | |
| R | 3 | Mat JACKSON | |
Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo | Ford Focus | 0 | DNF | N/A | 32 | |
| R | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | |
Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 0 | DNF | N/A | 2 |