Shedden sets up BTCC title shootoutposted in BTCC18 | 09 | 2016
SCOT GORDON SHEDDEN catapulted himself into a shootout, at Brands Hatch on October 2, to retain his British Touring Car Championship after winning the final race at Silverstone.
The 37-year-old from Auchterarder suffered a puncture in the day’s opening race but, having started 23rd for the second race stormed through the field to bring his Honda Civic home eighth.
Lady Luck then finally smiled on the defending two-time BTCC champ when his number was drawn out for pole position on the crucial final race.
Earlier, Tom Ingram was handed victory in Race 1 after the two MGs of Ash Sutton and Josh Cook were disqualified after they were both found to have an infringement on the rear wing alignment of. Andrew Jordan won Race 2 in his Ford Focus
When the lights went out in race three, Rob Collard’s fast-starting rear wheel-drive BMW predictably surged into the lead, leaving Shedden to bravely duel it out side-by-side with Mat Jackson for second.
It was a duel the Scot would win, and just a lap later, he went all the way around the outside of Collard through the Maggotts-Becketts complex in a move that drew gasps of admiration from the capacity crowd.
Thereafter, the defending title-holder pulled away to clinch his fourth win of the season and close to just 11 points shy of the championship lead, with team-mate Matt Neal right behind him only two points further back in third.
The three-time champion pulled off a series of spectacular passing manoeuvres to progress from 15th to fifth in his 600th BTCC start, overhauling championship leader Sam Tordoff along the way. Honda and Halfords Yuasa Racing sit second in the Manufacturers’ and Teams’ standings respectively.
“We did a good job in qualifying, but that was then undone in race one with the puncture, which was a real shame,” Shedden explained.
“It isn’t easy to fight your way through at Silverstone, but I got my head down in race two, opened as many doors as I could and squeezed through them all. I probably opened a few other people’s doors too!
“The car felt mega – as it did all day, to be fair – and that result was instrumental in securing us pole position for race three.
“I was expecting a tougher time of things on the soft tyres, but after losing the lead at the start, I knew I had good momentum and that I would have an advantage over Rob at Maggotts with the Civic Type R, so I kept it pinned – that was particularly satisfying, as it’s not the kind of move you manage to pull off very often.
“I genuinely couldn’t believe the grip I had and the car was phenomenal throughout; as far as I was concerned, the race could have gone on and on.
“This was exactly the kind of weekend we needed around a circuit where we had feared we might struggle, and points definitely make prizes at this stage of the season. It’s all to play for at Brands Hatch now, so bring it on!”
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Jim McGill