Gordon Shedden claimed his first victory of the 2025 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season after resisting pressure throughout the race in tricky conditions during the final race of the day at Oulton Park.
The entire pack started on wet tyres following a downpour shortly prior to the race. Shedden took the lead from the start in his TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK with IAA machine, initially leading from Josh Cook who jumped past Senna Proctor who started slowly from the front row. Cook’s BTC Racing Honda ran straight on when the pack arrived at Hislops, however, allowing Jake Hill through in his Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport BMW.
This meant Shedden lead from Hill and Cook with Daniel Rowbottom and Tom Ingram fourth and fifth with Proctor back in sixth after that sluggish getaway in the Team VERTU Hyundai. Cook almost immediately attempted to re-pass Hill at Old Hall, but the BMW remained in front at Cascades with Cook going off again later that lap, this time at Lodge.
With Cook now out of the picture at the front, Shedden was now leading from Hill with Rowbotom third in the first of the NAPA Racing UK machines. Further back, Ingram was dropping down the order Dan Cammish made a bid to pass Proctor for fourth at Old Hall, but slight contact slowed both cars and allowed race two winner Ash Sutton to fly past both of them.
As the race zoomed towards its scheduled halfway mark, Max Hall went off at Lodge causing the safety car to be summoned. By this point Shedden still headed the pack, with Hill, Rowbottom and Sutton tucked in behind ahead of Proctor and Cammish. Mikey Doble and Tom Chilton sat seventh and eighth as the contest was neutralised with James Dorlin ninth ahead of the struggling Ingram.
Action resumed on lap 10, but only briefly before Chilton and Doble collided at Hislops, meaning the safety car reappeared. The track was beginning to dry at this stage, but most of the field remained on wet tyres – though both Dexter Patterson and Daryl DeLeon gambled on a switch to slick rubber.
A return to racing speed on lap 13 saw Shedden fending off an eager Hill, but the BMW wasn’t able to forge an opening. With just a couple of laps remaining, the reigning champion attempted a move around the outside at Island, but this only resulted in allowing Sutton who’d edged in front of Rowbottom.
Hill’s challenge for the win ended a lap from home, when he ran off the circuit at Cascades, promoting Sutton to second. Shedden was able to resist the four-time champion to the flag though, claiming his first win of the season and 53rd in the series overall.
Rowbottom completed the podium after holding off a late charge from Ingram, who climbed back up the pack late on. Ingram, who’d dropped to the fringes of the top-10 prior to the safety car seemed to gain a new lease of life as the track dried, making the most of others’ misfortune and opportunistic moves to move back to fourth.
Proctor and Cammish crossed the line fifth and sixth ahead of Hill who recovered from his off-track excursion to salvage a points finish. Dorlin was eighth ahead of the charging Charles Rainford who worked his way from the back of the pack through the race to secure a strong ninth with Sam Osborne completing the top-10.
Patterson was the lead driver on dry tyres, rising through the order to 12th and setting the fastest lap along the way. However, with only limited time left in the race he wasn’t able to progress any higher up.
Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship, Oulton Park, Race 3
- Gordon Shedden, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK, with IAA, Toyota Corolla GR Sport
- Ash Sutton, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST , +0.741s
- Daniel Rowbottom, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, +1.472s
- Tom Ingram, Team VERTU, Hyundai i30N, +1.592s
- Senna Proctor, Team VERTU, Hyundai i30N, +5.386s
- Dan Cammish, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, +5.804s
- Jake Hill, Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport, BMW 330i M Sport, +6.391s
- James Dorlin, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK, with IAA, Toyota Corolla GR Sport, +9.685s
- Charles Rainford, LKQ Euro Car Parts Racing with WSR, BMW 330i M Sport, +10.696s
- Sam Osborne, NAPA Racing UK, Ford Focus ST, +11.525s
Click here to view full results and times from this event.