Gordon Shedden hailed a “mega finish” to a dramatic day at Snetterton, moving up to fourth in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship after a second victory of the season.
The reigning champion clinched his first pole position since Donington 2013 on Saturday at the Norfolk circuit, backing up results of second and 10th with success in the final race of the day after a hard-fought last-lap battle with Rob Collard.
Climbing through the pack from 10th on the grid with a lighter Honda Civic Type-R, Shedden moved up to second place by lap three to begin a seven-lap chase of the BMW 125i of Collard. Lunging inside at Agostinis on the final tour, Shedden emerged ahead but not without several taps from his rival at Oggies and Coram before the flag.
Photo: BTCC Media
“A mega way to finish”, Shedden told The Checkered Flag afterwards. “An unlikely win from 10th place, but such a great way to finish.
“The BMWs had been really strong all day. The [Honda] came alive though with only nine kilos on board. I gave it everything – it was almost off the road at every corner. It was just enough to win.”
Contact occurred multiple times during the frenetic final lap dash to the flag, Collard himself praising his rival while Shedden admitted that it was a hard, but fair way to decide the race.
“He never would make it easy”, added the Scot on his fierce dice with West Surrey Racing‘s Collard.
“But, it was fair. Yes we were slapping doors and wing mirrors, but we both survived. I’m delighted to win again.”
The victory and 47-point haul sees Shedden climb from ninth to fourth in the championship heading to the Scot’s home circuit at Knockhill, a place he is aiming for consistency at rather than necessarily adding to his four wins in Fife.
25 points behind, Shedden concluded: “It’s got us even more solid points which is good. We’ve just got to try and keep it going and get some more points on the board which is the hard thing now.”
