Shedden dazzles in the gloomposted in BTCC29 | 04 | 2012
FIFER GORDON SHEDDEN delivered the drive of the day in the opening British Touring Car Championship race at Thruxton.
The 33-year-old from Dalgety Bay stormed through from 18th on the grid, to finish sixth. But the Fifer's race was almost ended at the first corner when his car was badly damaged in a collision.
And Shedden, who won twice last time out at Donington in his Honda Racing Civic, admitted contains were appalling.
"It's nice to get up to sixth, but it's so, so difficult out there," he explained afterwards. "The pace round the corners has been awesome, but it's so difficult to see where you're going: the spray is phenomenal.
"And the fact we don't have any serious straight line speed in the Honda means we have to commit so much to the corner to try and get the run on the guy in front.
"It's like the blind leading the blind: and then you just get driven past in a straight line again.
"People were slipping and sliding, but I guess I'm a bit used to these conditions from Knockhill, and I managed to piece my way through.
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"My start was pretty good, and it all concertina-ed up at the first corner. I think Rob Austin hit the back of me hard enough to take the back bumper off.
"That impact spun me off and put me into the barrier on the left, and as I was pirouetting up the grass on the inside, Andy Neate hit me — felt like flat out — square on, and it kind of knocked the car straight again. It gave me enough speed to bump start it, and I got going again.
"It's done an enormous amount of damage, and how we got to the end I'll never know. Structurally it's ok, but there's a heck of a lot of panel damage.
"How it survived, I don't know. Thankfully he hit me right in the middle, and didn't damage either the back or the front wheel.
'Conditions? It's tricky, but we're professionals and that's what we're here to do: go racing. When you see the superbike guys doing it at 200mph in these conditions, why does anyone in a racing car have a problem?"
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Jim McGill