Shedden lines up fourthposted in BTCC24 | 08 | 2013
FIFER GORDON SHEDDEN'S initial bid to give his thousands of fans something to cheer about at Knockhill ended in disappointment. The 34-year-old from Dalgety Bay could only manage fourth on the grid for tomorrow's opening race of the British Touring Car Championship triple-header at the Fife track.
Defending champ Shedden lapped the 1.3-mile undulating and twisty circuit in 52.581secs, 0.110s off the pole time set by Audi's Rob Austin.
It was the Englishman's first-ever pole position, and shattered the previous Knockhill qualifying record lap of 52.999s.
And while Austin, one of the most popular drivers on the grid, celebrated, Shedden — fastest earlier in the day's second free practice session with a time of 52.582s — remained upbeat.
"Yeh, of course it's a wee bit disappointing," Shedden said today after climbing out of his Honda Racing Civic, ladened with 27kg of success ballast, "because I really thought we had enough pace to get pole.
"Still, I'm on the second row and if I get a good start I'm certainly confident I can push for the win in race one.
"I've won here before and I'd love to do it again on Sunday, especially when I'm carrying the champion's No1 on the car."
Shedden — who entered the weekend third in the title race — outpaced his Honda team-mate and championship leader, Matt Neal.
The triple champ, who leads the Scot by 22 points and second-placed Andrew Jordan by nine, could only manage sixth-fastest with his 45kg of ballast.
Former Knockhill race instructor and 2009 BTCC champ, Irishman Colin Turkington, lines up second on the grid, having missed out in his BMW by just 0.047s. Jordan starts third, alongside Shedden.
Such is the ultra-competitive nature of the BTCC that the top 19 cars were covered by just eight-tenths of a second.
It was a mixed day for the other Scots in the BTCC. Inverness-based Dave Newsham lines up 15th in his Toyota, while debut boy Kieran Gallagher from Kilmarnock starts 24th in his Vauxhall.
There was frustration and disappointment for Aiden Moffat. The 16-year-old from Dalkeith is on course to become the youngest-ever racer in the BTCC, but he was forced to sit out qualifying after the engine of his Chevrolet blew up in free practice.
If his team manages to rebuild the engine overnight, he will start the race from 26th and last place.
And Shedden had words of encouragement for the youngster, who's stepping up from the Celtic Speed Mini Cooper Cup.
"In some ways, starting from the back of the grid will help Aiden," the current BTCC champ said," because he'll be able to set his own pace and shouldn't get mixed up with cars all around him.
"It's a huge jump and he's really chucking himself in at the deep end. He'll certainly learn more this weekend than he has from the rest of his career so far."
In the Porsche Carrera Cup, Kirkcaldy's Rory Butcher lines up second in his Celtic Speed Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.
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Jim McGill