Shedden bids to retain BTCC titleposted in BTCC21 | 03 | 2013
FIFER GORDON SHEDDEN lifted the wraps from his all-new Honda Racer and vowed to win back-to-back British Touring Car Championship titles (see more official photos of Gordon Shedden's new 2013 BTCC racer).
But the 33-year-old from Dalgety Bay, who last year became the first Scot to win the title since Galashiels' John Cleland in 1995, admitted it'll be tough.
"Last year was special, very special," Shedden said today as he unveiled his new Honda Yuasa Civic at Donington Park, "but repeating that success will be difficult.
"I believe I still have the best car on the grid, and it's fantastic to see the No1 on it, but there are a lot of guys desperate to wrestle the title away from me."
And Shedden, who starts his bid to win his second championship at Brands Hatch next weekend (Mar 31), acknowledges his biggest rival will be team-mate Matt Neal
"Matt's a great mate, but I know he's desperate to win the title again this year too," Shedden continued.
"He's got three titles already, so he knows how to win. Plus he's in an identical car to be. I think he'll be the man to beat again."
Watch our video of 'Flash' winning the 2012 BTCC title
But Shedden knows he'll also face stiff competition from the MG of double champ Jason Plato.
"We all know how quick Jason is, and his car's fast too," the Scot said. "If they've sorted the reliability of his car, then he'll be right in the mix at the end of the season."
And while Irishman Colin Turkington, the fourth former champ on the grid, returns to the BTCC this year in a BMW, Highland-based Dave Newsham will pilot his new Toyota.
"We were fortunate to get in a couple of days' intense testing at Portimao in southern Portugal a couple of weeks ago," the Inverness-based racer said.
"While the UK was covered in snow and ice, we were lathering on the sun cream. And our pace was fairly blistering too."
Kimi wins: Di Resta robbed
Shedden's Civic will line up at the opening weekend sporting a brand new livery, but he heads into the opener having had a mixed pre-season testing.
“Some of testing has been positive and some of it has been scuppered by the weather," the Knockhill director admitted. "It’s been so cold.
“We’ve definitely got some improvements, it’s just unproven because of the weather.”
A record 32 cars — 13 models from 11 different marques — have entered this year's 30-race championship which will be fought out over 10 race weekends.
And the organisers of the BTCC has confirmed an extension to its agreement with ITV, which now ensures all races will be covered live until at least 2017.
Keep up-to-date with all the latest news by following us on twitter.com/scotcars
Jim McGill