Shedden gives team third victory of the year at Donington Park
Team Halfords was able to celebrate victory for the second successive weekend in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship after Gordon Shedden clinched his second win of the season at Donington Park.
Having qualified on pole, ‘Flash’ stormed to victory in the opening race of the weekend in tricky wet conditions, and followed it up with a further podium finish in race two.
Team-mate, and defending champion, Matt Neal was also on form, scoring podium finishes in races one and three with the all new Honda Civic as Team Halfords clinched the teams’ trophy for the second BTCC meeting in a row.
Race One:
For the second successive race weekend, Gordon made the most of pole position to take victory in challenging conditions caused by heavy rain at the East Midlands circuit. Although he lost out to the fast starting BMW of Mat Jackson at the start, Flash was quickly able to reclaim the lead before the end of lap one and controlled the race from the front – surviving two Safety Car periods to clinch his second win of the season.
Team-mate Matt had held fourth at the end of the opening lap and climbed to third on lap three when Jackson ran wide at Redgate. However, a puncture forced him to pit and the #1 Civic dropped down to 16th place when Matt came back onto the track towards the back of the field. The defending champion quickly started to make up places and within two laps was just outside the top ten. When the Safety Car was called out for a second time on lap twelve, Matt was up to eighth place and when racing resumed he continued to make his way up the order, taking the final place on the podium on the last lap when he dived down the inside of Mike Jordan at McLeans.
Race Two:
From pole position, Gordon held the lead for the opening laps before coming under pressure from Jason Plato’s SEAT. Despite some fine defensive driving from Flash, Jason took the lead on lap twelve with Gordon settling for second place in tricky conditions following more heavy rain.
Matt climbed up to second past Adam Jones on the opening lap and held the position until he was overtaken by arch nemesis Plato on lap six at Redgate. Matt then came under pressure from the Vauxhall of Fabrizio Giovanardi and lost position to the Italian three laps from the finish and had to settle for fourth.
Race Three:
The reverse grid rules meant Matt led the Team Halfords challenge into the final race from sixth on the grid. Climbing up to fifth at the start, the champ moved up to fourth when Matt Allison ran wide at the Old Hairpin and then took third from Darren Turner at McLeans on lap eight. Matt then drew onto the back of Jordan’s ex-Team Halfords Honda Integra and passed the Eurotech man for second on lap eleven, trying to close the gap to Plato out front but settling for second.
Gordon started the race back in eighth due to the reverse grid rules and dropped to eleventh on the opening lap before a storming drive from the Scot saw him progress up the order and he took the flag in fifth.
Quotes:
Matt Neal: “I’m over the moon. We were strong in the dry but have done no work in the wet, so to come away with the results we have considering how much rain there was is fantastic. It was really tough, especially down the Craner Curves and the Old Hairpin as the water drained to the bottom of the track so it was treacherous. I’m sure I saw the side of cars more than anything else round that part of the circuit! We’ve had a good weekend, although we know we still have work to do. The car is strong in the dry and has now shown it is strong in the wet, so we are confident that we can fight for wins whatever the weather - which is pleasing for the team.”
Gordon Shedden: “The conditions today have been terrible. In fact, the third race was the worst conditions I’ve ever raced in, bar none. To convert pole into a win in the first race was great and to get second in race two with full ballast was almost as good! The main goal in race three was to finish, as finishing all three races is something I haven’t done this year which has hurt me in the points. I was a bit cautious as the start to make sure I didn’t get taken off but came back through for a good points haul, I’ll go home quite happy with what I’ve got this weekend. The little Honda Civic is going really well now and let’s hope it continues for the rest of the season.”
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