Shedden aiming for podiumsposted in KNOCK02 | 09 | 2010
FIFER GORDON SHEDDEN heads into this weekend's British Touring Car Championship triple-header on home soil at Knockhill with one thought in mind: bagging as many points as possible.
After a frustrating outing at Silverstone, where his best finish was fifth, the 31-year-old from Dalgety Bay has slipped to fourth in the championship, 33 points behind the Chevrolet of leader Jason Plato. He is though only 19 points behind the Ford of second-placed Tom Onslow-Cole and 10 behind his own Team Honda team-mate, Matt Neal, in third.
"Yeh, Silverstone wasn't our best outing of the year, but that track was always going to be tough for us," Shedden, who has won three times this year, including at Snetterton last month, admitted. "There's no doubt the Honda will be far better suited to the tight, twisty demands of Knockhill."
As business development manager at the track, and occasional race instructor, Shedden certainly knows his way round the 1.3-mile circuit, something he proved last year when he put the Seat on the front row of the grid in his first outing.
"That surprised a few people," he smiled. "We finished second in the first race too, so that was a pretty good comeback after missing the season apart from the opening weekend."
Shedden though is keen to get something of a monkey off his back; he hasn't won at Knockhill since 2007.
"Three years is far too long," he continued, "but while it would be terrific to win this weekend in front all all the home support — and my family and friends — I really have to think of the championship. There's no point chucking the car off trying to pass for the win if it means its too damaged to take part in the next race.
"No, in some ways I'll be happy to accept three podiums. The main target has to be to close the gap on the guys in front of me and move myself back into serious contention for the championship.
"There are only two meetings left after Knockhill — at Donington Park and Brands Hatch — so we're at the stage of the season where the championship fight starts to get a bit more dramatic. I've got to make sure I'm still right in there when we leave on Sunday night."
Jim McGill