Shedden starts third for BTCC openerposted in BTCC01 | 04 | 2017
SCOT GORDON SHEDDEN will begin the defence of his British Touring Car Championship title tomorrow from third on the grid for the opening race at Brands Hatch.
In a 30-minute qualifying session punctuated by two red flag sessions and intermittent rain, the three-time champ clocked a best time of 48.527secs.
“I’m perfectly happy with that,” the 38-year-old from Auchterarder said after climbing out of his Honda Civic Type R. “Second row of the grid? I’ll take that.
“The conditions today were challenging for everybody, with the rain drifting in and out, and the track being wet then drying. It was a tough session.
“But I’m glad to get starting so far up the grid, and hopefully we can bag a good haul of points in the opening three races of the season.”
Shedden finished 0.160s behind the Honda of polesitter Jeff Smith, who edged the Toyota of Tom Ingram into second by just 0.062.
Shedden’s Honda team-mate Matt Neal lines up fourth, ahead of the BMW former Knockhill race instructor and double BTCC champ Colin Turkington.
The top 24 cars in the 32-car grid were covered by less than a second, with Scot Aiden Moffat qualifying his Mercedes 23rd.
Related: Scot Gordon Shedden set for BTCC defence
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Jim McGill