In the midst of the racing season, the top contenders continued to push themselves to the limit as they vied for positions on the podium. Meanwhile, in another corner of the racing world, Plato found himself at the center of attention, having secured his 85th career win. The victory was all the more impressive given that it came after a dramatic and action-packed battle with teammate Neil at the sharp end. However, it was not just Plato who had a moment to remember, as another driver made history by bleeding away from the pack.

The incident in question occurred during the 2023 BTCC season opener at Donington Park, where Jordan had managed to sneak into the top 15 despite being involved in an earlier accident. The recovery drive would ultimately prove unsuccessful for the Ford Focus, but it was a testament to the driver's skills and determination. As the two factory Honda teams took home third and fourth place respectively, fans were left wondering if they could have done anything differently.

The next chapter of the season saw the championship leaders face off in a thrilling encounter at Knockhill. Aaron Smith's Pole Position proved to be a valuable asset, as he held onto the lead despite increasing pressure from his rivals. However, it was a story of survival and perseverance on the part of Smith, who managed to stay ahead of the pack after contact with Peels' Honda.

Meanwhile, in the midst of the battle for second place, Gio Bernardi found himself under intense scrutiny as he struggled to maintain his position. The Italian's woes were compounded by the fact that his teammate Plato was hot on his heels, and it seemed only a matter of time before the two drivers clashed. However, despite being under pressure from both directions, Smith remained unfazed, continuing to drive with precision and control.

As the race entered its final stages, tensions began to rise as the top contenders jockeyed for position. Jackson was right on Smith's bumper, while Gio Bernardi found himself struggling to keep up. Despite his best efforts, however, it seemed that Gio would ultimately fall short of claiming a podium finish.

The result was still far from certain until the very last lap, when Smith pulled away to claim victory with ease. A mere six seconds separated him from the rest of the top 10, as the crowd erupted in cheers at the conclusion of what was undoubtedly an epic encounter. With his second win of the season under his belt, Smith has proven himself to be a force to be reckoned with in the BTCC.

The next chapter of the championship is set to take place in Scotland, where the teams will face off on the challenging Knockhill circuit. The 50th anniversary of Jim Clark's victory in the Scottish Touring Car Championship marks a significant milestone for the event, while the 40th anniversary of Knockhill itself promises to be an unforgettable experience for fans attending the weekend.

For drivers like Gordon Shedden, who will be competing in his native Scotland, the prospect of racing in front of a passionate and knowledgeable crowd is always a highlight of their season. Despite struggling with brake issues on Saturday, Shedden managed to qualify 11th and secure 13th place in the race, proving that he has made significant progress since the start of the year.

As the teams prepare for another action-packed weekend of racing, fans can expect plenty of twists and turns as they vie for positions on the podium. With the BTCC now set to head north, Gordon Shedden is looking forward to getting behind the wheel once again and pushing himself to the limit. "It's medicine that has provided some interesting racing, albeit possibly not the results that you would have wanted," he said. "Difficult weekend's probably the best way to put it, but we have made the best of that."

Shedden went on to praise his team for their efforts in qualifying, noting that while they struggled to get the car around the circuit, they managed to secure some good places despite this. However, he was quick to acknowledge that there are still areas where the team needs to improve if they hope to challenge for wins.

As the championship hurtles towards its climax, it is clear that every point counts and every position matters. With the fans set to turn out in force at Knockhill, which promises to be a thrilling event, Shedden and his team will need all their skills and determination to make a statement on the Scottish circuit.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enfor a five week summer break the battle for the coveted 2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship crown resumed at a packed and sunny Snetterton in Norfolk it was Colin turkleton table as the UK's premier a series entered its second half but it was double champion Jason Plato who planted his mg or pole position for the first of the three action-packed showdowns Tetons BMW lined up second with Sam thought of making it to MGS in the top three behind them came former champ Matt Neal and alum nu Neil's teammate Gordon Shedden was back in a lowly 11th while defending champion Andrew Jordan had it all to do starting from the pit lane after missing out on qualifying following a crash in Saturday's first free practice session as the lights went out Plato made the perfect start with taking ttan tucking in behind the mg behind the bit was the VW of menu that had slipped into third have taught off went all over the grass kicking off some predictable first corner mayhem as the dust flew there was further opening lap drama as jaggoff and Mark Hines came together sending the former Formula three champion spinning off the track as Plato and Turkey had made their getaway Neel battled his way first past the Toyota of Tom Ingram and then menu interfer Aaron Smith was also on the move squeezing inside Ingram and in the process opening the door for a de Morgan's Mercedes and a grateful Shannon Morgan then squeeze his way past both VW's to grab fourth leaving menu with a long line of cars behind him up front the untroubled Plato and turkleton continued to set the pace passing burlap focus of Dave Newseum as they flashed across the finishing line behind the Morgan closed on Neal data venturi had a second for a season best fourth place with menu holding on to fifth from teammate Smith and Shedden who had bravely battled his way through to seventh Andrew draw meanwhile fought his way through the pack to claim 16th spot but still had a lot of work to do if he was to score points later in the afternoon in race two it was the slightly lighter BMW that made the faster start we've turned into ramming the first corner lead from Plato he'll swatted into third but behind the menu clashed with morgan resulting in the swiss star being fired dramatically across the pack and into the barriers taking advantage of menus demise Jordy was jumping into the top ten but the champions charge was short-lived as he came off worse in a dramatic freeway scrap 4/9 organ meanwhile had his mirrors full of sheds on the Torah and it wasn't long until the Scott had scythes down the inside into fourth which was then to be comfort when teammate Neil moved aside at the sharp end though Plato wasn't letting turned to an escape the MG closing right onto the tail of the leader before making the move through it and lead just after half distance BMW driver dueled it out but eventually settled for a safe second as Plato took his 85th career win more importantly to make further inroads into the Ulsterman chapter to bleed the two factory Honda's came home third and fourth with a recovering Jordan stealing 15th and the final tragic point white on the finishing line the champion would miss a final race of the day on medical advice after showing signs of exhaustion firmance the previous day's high speed accident with the top eight reversed for the day's final showdown aaron Smith's PW was on pole ahead of the two air waves Ford Focuses of a pretty og Evan Rd and match Aksum previous play such as plato hand turkey turn what further back in the pack Smith made a good start to the to Ford's tucking it behind Morgan's Mercedes was in the mix too before losing ground after contact from peels Honda there was yet more drama in the midfield as Martin Decker got sideways and collected Nick Foster's BMW after several attempts Jackson finally managed to squeeze past his teammate into second spot at the same time turkleton and Neal made contact this time the Honda coming off worse back at the front Smith was doing a great job to hang on to the lead soaking up increasing pressure in a very impressive fashion from a longer and longer line of hard-charging adverse risk Jackson was right off the VW's bumper as the high speed train entered the final lap but it was third place Gio Bernard Lee who wilted under the pressure the Italian ran wide was turning to Plato and deal full charge through the unflustered Smith moved on to score his second BTCC win of the season after what beat another epic encounter less than six seconds covering the top ten as they flashed over the line with the BTCC now heading to nocturnal Scotland Louise caught up with Gordon Shedden as the teams headed north for what are sure to be three more action-packed races well Gordon this weekend it's medicine has provided some interesting racing albeit possibly not the results that you would have wanted difficult weekend's probably the best way to put it but you know the handle of the Civic tutors been fantastic it's been awesome on the brakes but you need three elements and one's being a little bit missing this weekend but we have made the best of that could tough and qualifying to qualify 1113 it was always going to struggle but you know some who managed to make some places you and every race and I think the positives out of that for street and then we don't seem to be able to quite fight there you know failure the ultimate at the moment well if you're gonna have 100% the support of the home crowd at the next round because we're often not kale yeah and you couldn't find two more different circuits both in location in the UK and also you know smash them in the longest laps are we going to not kill one of the shortest Natha them in one of the flattest circuits not kill been like an absolute ruler coaster rate so yeah and we got what we need to do some wooden pretty soon and not kill would be a cracking place to start it all up again not pill toss always provide us with brilliant racing doesn't it it does you know the nature of the circuit means that was you know it really is all action and I mean with 30-plus tuning cars gonna be no kale air is going to be an absolute cracker of an event quite a setting as well I mean for the fans coming along it's a beautiful location lovely you know 900 you know 900 feet above sea level beautiful views and a lot going on this year it's the 50th anniversary since Jim Clark won the bet student car championships or massive Lotus presence with car Tino's and things which be pretty cool and it's also the 40th anniversary of knock hill as well so the place has changed a lot in 40 years and you know I'm really hoping for a kind of carnival atmosphere as the weekend goes on hopefully with some silver we have to tear from year the end of it it's gonna be a busy weekend I would imagine because obviously it's a circuit where you were you where you work yeah but you also Sun you know Sun shines you know Scottish crowd love the motorsport whether it's bikes rally in our circuit racing you know and hopefully they can give me that extra little X a little kind of you know spot on to get to the top step of the podium see you there blue forward it youfor a five week summer break the battle for the coveted 2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship crown resumed at a packed and sunny Snetterton in Norfolk it was Colin turkleton table as the UK's premier a series entered its second half but it was double champion Jason Plato who planted his mg or pole position for the first of the three action-packed showdowns Tetons BMW lined up second with Sam thought of making it to MGS in the top three behind them came former champ Matt Neal and alum nu Neil's teammate Gordon Shedden was back in a lowly 11th while defending champion Andrew Jordan had it all to do starting from the pit lane after missing out on qualifying following a crash in Saturday's first free practice session as the lights went out Plato made the perfect start with taking ttan tucking in behind the mg behind the bit was the VW of menu that had slipped into third have taught off went all over the grass kicking off some predictable first corner mayhem as the dust flew there was further opening lap drama as jaggoff and Mark Hines came together sending the former Formula three champion spinning off the track as Plato and Turkey had made their getaway Neel battled his way first past the Toyota of Tom Ingram and then menu interfer Aaron Smith was also on the move squeezing inside Ingram and in the process opening the door for a de Morgan's Mercedes and a grateful Shannon Morgan then squeeze his way past both VW's to grab fourth leaving menu with a long line of cars behind him up front the untroubled Plato and turkleton continued to set the pace passing burlap focus of Dave Newseum as they flashed across the finishing line behind the Morgan closed on Neal data venturi had a second for a season best fourth place with menu holding on to fifth from teammate Smith and Shedden who had bravely battled his way through to seventh Andrew draw meanwhile fought his way through the pack to claim 16th spot but still had a lot of work to do if he was to score points later in the afternoon in race two it was the slightly lighter BMW that made the faster start we've turned into ramming the first corner lead from Plato he'll swatted into third but behind the menu clashed with morgan resulting in the swiss star being fired dramatically across the pack and into the barriers taking advantage of menus demise Jordy was jumping into the top ten but the champions charge was short-lived as he came off worse in a dramatic freeway scrap 4/9 organ meanwhile had his mirrors full of sheds on the Torah and it wasn't long until the Scott had scythes down the inside into fourth which was then to be comfort when teammate Neil moved aside at the sharp end though Plato wasn't letting turned to an escape the MG closing right onto the tail of the leader before making the move through it and lead just after half distance BMW driver dueled it out but eventually settled for a safe second as Plato took his 85th career win more importantly to make further inroads into the Ulsterman chapter to bleed the two factory Honda's came home third and fourth with a recovering Jordan stealing 15th and the final tragic point white on the finishing line the champion would miss a final race of the day on medical advice after showing signs of exhaustion firmance the previous day's high speed accident with the top eight reversed for the day's final showdown aaron Smith's PW was on pole ahead of the two air waves Ford Focuses of a pretty og Evan Rd and match Aksum previous play such as plato hand turkey turn what further back in the pack Smith made a good start to the to Ford's tucking it behind Morgan's Mercedes was in the mix too before losing ground after contact from peels Honda there was yet more drama in the midfield as Martin Decker got sideways and collected Nick Foster's BMW after several attempts Jackson finally managed to squeeze past his teammate into second spot at the same time turkleton and Neal made contact this time the Honda coming off worse back at the front Smith was doing a great job to hang on to the lead soaking up increasing pressure in a very impressive fashion from a longer and longer line of hard-charging adverse risk Jackson was right off the VW's bumper as the high speed train entered the final lap but it was third place Gio Bernard Lee who wilted under the pressure the Italian ran wide was turning to Plato and deal full charge through the unflustered Smith moved on to score his second BTCC win of the season after what beat another epic encounter less than six seconds covering the top ten as they flashed over the line with the BTCC now heading to nocturnal Scotland Louise caught up with Gordon Shedden as the teams headed north for what are sure to be three more action-packed races well Gordon this weekend it's medicine has provided some interesting racing albeit possibly not the results that you would have wanted difficult weekend's probably the best way to put it but you know the handle of the Civic tutors been fantastic it's been awesome on the brakes but you need three elements and one's being a little bit missing this weekend but we have made the best of that could tough and qualifying to qualify 1113 it was always going to struggle but you know some who managed to make some places you and every race and I think the positives out of that for street and then we don't seem to be able to quite fight there you know failure the ultimate at the moment well if you're gonna have 100% the support of the home crowd at the next round because we're often not kale yeah and you couldn't find two more different circuits both in location in the UK and also you know smash them in the longest laps are we going to not kill one of the shortest Natha them in one of the flattest circuits not kill been like an absolute ruler coaster rate so yeah and we got what we need to do some wooden pretty soon and not kill would be a cracking place to start it all up again not pill toss always provide us with brilliant racing doesn't it it does you know the nature of the circuit means that was you know it really is all action and I mean with 30-plus tuning cars gonna be no kale air is going to be an absolute cracker of an event quite a setting as well I mean for the fans coming along it's a beautiful location lovely you know 900 you know 900 feet above sea level beautiful views and a lot going on this year it's the 50th anniversary since Jim Clark won the bet student car championships or massive Lotus presence with car Tino's and things which be pretty cool and it's also the 40th anniversary of knock hill as well so the place has changed a lot in 40 years and you know I'm really hoping for a kind of carnival atmosphere as the weekend goes on hopefully with some silver we have to tear from year the end of it it's gonna be a busy weekend I would imagine because obviously it's a circuit where you were you where you work yeah but you also Sun you know Sun shines you know Scottish crowd love the motorsport whether it's bikes rally in our circuit racing you know and hopefully they can give me that extra little X a little kind of you know spot on to get to the top step of the podium see you there blue forward it you\n"