Fifer Shedden bags BTCC winposted in BTCC01 | 05 | 2011

    FIFER GORDON SHEDDEN won his first British Touring Car Championship of the season, and followed it up with a second place, as he enjoyed his best weekend of the year in the latest triple-header at Thruxton.

    The 31-year-old from Dalgety Bay started today's opening race from pole position and led from start-to-finish to claim the 16th BTCC win of his career ahead of his team-mate, former champ Matt Neal.

    Despite again starting from pole position for the second race, Shedden struggled with a combination of an extra 45kg of success ballast, plus a problem with the front-left of his car before finishing second behind Neal.

    "It's been a brilliant weekend for me, Matt and Honda Racing," Shedden, who powered through from ninth on the reversed grid for the day's final race to finish sixth, admitted afterwards.

    "Two Honda 1-2s is terrific. I've had so much bad luck here over the years that you start hearing noises for the last couple of laps; but the car was fantastic.

    "The opener was pretty plain sailing, but in the second race for some reason the front-left air-jack dropped down on the opening lap and I spent the whole race hearing it grinding against the track.

    "It was bizarre, I've never had that happen to me before in a race. It slightly knackered the handling of the car, so to be honest, third place with that problem is a minor miracle, so I'm chuffed.

    "The additional 45kilo success ballast always makes a difference, but I knew straightaway there was something else wrong with the car; either the exhaust was hanging off and trailing along the ground, or something else. But I definitely knew there was something; the constant loud grinding noise was a bit of a giveaway!"

    Defending champ Jason Plato took victory in the day's final race in his Chevrolet ahead of the Ford Focus of Mat Jackson. Tom Boardman completed the podium in his Seat Leon.

    Neal heads to the next round at Oulton Park in five weeks leading the championship by 12 points ahead of Jackson. Shedden is is a further 13 points adrift.

    At the same circuit, Aberdeen-based sportscar team Celtic Speed continued its success in the highly competitive Porsche Carrera Cup.

    While Dunfermline 25-year-old Rory Butcher claimed two second places in the Pro-Am1 Championship, Edinburgh's George Brewster won the second race in the Pro-Am2 Championship after retiring on the opener after his car suffered a puncture.

    CLICK HERE to see more images of Shedden at Thruxton

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    Jim McGill

     

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