Shedden limits the damage by grabbing podium place in final race at Knockhill
Gordon Shedden completed his damage limitation approach to the annual British Touring Car Championship triple-header at Knockhill by bagging a podium in the day’s final race.
The 38-year-old from Auchterarder entered the weekend taking a two-point lead to the Fife circuit. But on a track that benefits the rearwheel drive cars, Shedden’s front-wheel drive Honda Civic struggled for pace.
As expected, it was the rearwheel drive Subarus and BMWS that dominated. Jason Plato took the 96th BTCC win of his career, winning the opener ahead of Subaru teammate Ash Sutton. In Race 2, the roles were reversed, with Sutton claiming his fifth win of the season ahead of Plato.
In both the opening races, it was the BMWS of Colin Turkington and Rob Collard which finished third and fourth.
Shedden, who carried the maximum 75kg success ballast through qualifying and yesterday’s opening race, had to content himself with 11th in Race 1. That was followed by sixth in Race 2. Starting from fifth on the reverse grid for the day’s finale, three-time champ Shedden powered his way into second, then had to fend off the late challenge of the two BMWS. “We knew this week- end was going to be tough as Knockhill has always favoured rear-wheel drive cars,” said Shedden, who heads to Rockingham in a fortnight trailing Turkington by 12 points.
“So this weekend was all about damage limitation. Getting a podium in the final race was the best we could really do, because we were just outpaced all weekend. But we’re still in a really strong position to take advantage of the tracks over the closing weekends. They suit our car better than some of our rivals, and we’re still in the battle for the title.”
While Tom Ingram won the day’s final race in his Toyota, ahead of Shedden, it was Turkington who was the most consistent all day, finishing third in all three races. The BMW driver now leads the title race by four points from Sutton, with Shedden a further eight points adrift.