‘Flash’ marks 400th race with podium double

A DOUBLE podium was the reward for Gordon Shedden following the latest weekend of Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) action.

The three-time champion consolidated his position in the top seven of the drivers’ standings by enjoying one second and one third place at Thruxton, while his brother-in-law, Rory Butcher, claimed sixth-, fifth- and fourth-place finishes across the weekend’s three races.

Halfords Racing with Cataclean driver Shedden qualified for race one in fifth and he took advantage of squabbles ahead of him, involving Tom Chilton, Ricky Collard, Ash Sutton and Josh Cook, to manoeuvre his way cleverly into second place.

Although he dropped to third in the early running of race two, ‘Flash’ maintained that position for a second place on the rostrum, in his 400th BTCC race, while Toyota Gazoo Racing UK’s Butcher improved from his race one position of sixth – achieved from a qualifying position of 12th – to take the flag in fifth.

In the partially-reversed grid for the finale, Butcher rounded off an encouraging day by placing fourth, following a tense three-way tussle with Stephen Jelley and Sutton for a place on the podium, while Shedden completed his 39-point haul by crossing the line in ninth.

With six races of this season’s championship remaining, the results have left Butcher sixth in the standings with 218 points, 93 behind leader Colin Turkington, while Shedden is one place, and nine points, behind his relative.

Butcher commented: “I’m really happy with that. After a disappointing Saturday, to come away with three topsix results on Sunday was the perfect response. With our starts being one of our strengths, the focus was on trying to gain ground early on and we did exactly that in race one, which catapulted us up the order. The first lap was pretty mental – there was just carnage everywhere you looked! I saw (Josh) Cook going sideways and was lucky not to be collected in his slide, and then Ricky and one of the PMR cars went through the chicane absolutely broadside.

“I could see Ricky coming across the track and was worried he was either going to take me out or hit the pit wall. It was a real shame for him because he had good pace and deserved a lot more out of the weekend but, on my side, I was really pleased to bring the car home well inside the points in sixth, which set us up nicely for the rest of the day.

“The Corolla’s chassis was working really well and that allowed me to hold off Ash (Sutton) in race three, even when I wasn’t using hybrid. It was a pity the race was shorter than originally planned because we were continuing to lap quickly at the end and Stephen (Jelley) was clearly beginning to struggle with his rear tyres but I just caught him a fraction too late. Still, fourth place was a strong way to sign off the weekend and put some more big points on the board to reward the whole team.”

The series’ penultimate weekend takes place on September 24-25, at Silverstone National.