Brands jinx hits BTCC champ Sheddenposted in BTCC31 | 03 | 2013
FIFER GORDON SHEDDEN'S British Touring Car Championship jinx at Brands Hatch struck again as he started the defence of his title.
In the first of today's opening triple-header at the Kent circuit, the 34-year-old from Dalgety Bay was almost rammed into the pitfall by his Honda team-mate Matt Neal.
As the Scot — who had been knocked into a spin at the opening corner by Jason Plato — moved to pass Neal for fourth, the Englishman squeezed his team-mate towards the wall forcing Shedden on to the grass.
Five laps later, the Fifer was forced to pit as his car's engine overheated due to the grass clogging the air intakes of his car.
Starting the second race from 19th on the grid, Shedden delivered a masterful drive carving through the field to finish third.
Fifer Gordon Shedden fired up for BTCC title defence
But after the podium celebrations, his car was excluded from the results after it failed a compulsory ride-height check.
Undaunted, and starting from the back of the 27-car grid for the day's finale, Shedden again produced the drive of the day.
Despite carrying 27kgs 'success' ballast, he stormed through to finish second, just 83/1000ths of a second behind Neal.
"Back row of the grid to second is pretty good," Shedden said, "and if we'd had another lap I think I'd have won.
"The car was just awesome today and our pace certainly didn't deserve the bad luck we had.
"It's nice to finish with a little bit of a positive. I was very, very disappointed after race two, but nice to be able to show the pace we have in race three.
"But I struggled here in the opening races last season, yet went on to win the championship, so we'll just have to do it the hard way again."
Shedden already has a tough challenge to retain his title. After the opening three of the season's 30 races, he now heads to the next triple-header at Donington Park, trailing Plato by 37 points.
The MG driver won the opening two races, and finished fifth in the final race.
Fifer Gordon Shedden starts from front row
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Jim McGill