Nightmare quali for Sheddenposted in BTCC06 | 10 | 2012

BRITISH TOURING CAR Championship leader, Fifer Gordon Shedden, endured a nightmare qualifying session for the penultimate triple-header at Silverstone.

The 33-year-old from Dalgety Bay, who leads his Honda Racing team-mate Matt Neal by three just points in the title race, starts the first of tomorrow's races from 20th on the grid.

"Nightmare, absolute nightmare," Shedden said today after watching title rival Jason Plato qualify his MG on pole round the 1.64-mile National circuit.

The Oxford driver, who bagged his fifth pole of the season and third in succession, is just 29 points adrift of Shedden with 67 points available.

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"This is exactly what we didn't want this weekend," Shedden continued. "We always knew we'd struggle here simply because it's a straightline speed-dominated track.

"Because of the way the rules are at the moment, we struggle for straight-line speed, so starting 20th will definitely be tough."

Such is the competitiveness of the BTCC, that Shedden's time of 59.682secs was just 0.965s off Plato's fastest. Inverness-based Dave Newsham starts second in his Vauxhall.

Fifer Rory Butcher, battling for second place in the Porsche Carrera Cup Gb Championship, starts tomorrow's double-header from fourth and fifth positions.

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Jim McGill