Shedden starts P8 at Doningtonposted in BTCC15 | 04 | 2017
DEFENDING CHAMP GORDON SHEDDEN will start from the fourth row of the grid for tomorrow’s opening race of the British Touring Car Championship triple-header at Donington Park. Fellow Scot Aiden Moffat lines up fifth in his Mercedes.
The 38-year-old from Auchterarder clocked a best time of 1min 09.803secs in his Honda Civic Type R, despite carrying the maximum 75kg of success ballast.
“I’ve got to be pretty happy with that,” championship leader Shedden, who finished just 0.391s behind the Subaru of pole sitter Ash Sutton, said today.
“Eighth-fastest with maximum ballast, which is like carrying a passenger in the car, isn’t bad, so I’ll take that.
“We always knew we’d struggle for out-and-out pace in qualifying because of the extra 75kg, but we’re in a good position to maximise the results in races two and three.”
While triple BTCC champ Shedden — who leads the Toyota of Tom Ingram by six points in the championship — lines-up alongside his Honda team-mate, seventh-quickest Matt Neal, fastest Scot in qualifying was Aiden Moffat.
The 20-year-old from Dalkeith lapped the 1.98-mile circuit in 1:09.728s, just 0.316s off pole, in his Mercedes.
Rob Austin starts race one from second in his Toyota, just 0.102s behind Sutton — whose 1:09.412s set a new qualifying lap record —with Jack Goff’s Honda third.
Related: Shedden bids to boost BTCC lead
Keep up-to-date with all the latest news by following us on twitter.com/Scotcars
Jim McGill