Remaining coy ahead of the visit to Silverstone, Gordon Shedden says that the experience of Halfords Yuasa Racing could be vital in the latter stages of their 2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship title push.
Sitting 20 points behind Sam Tordoff in the Drivers’ Championship with six races to go, Shedden said that the shorter 1.64-mile Silverstone national circuit may not be suited to the Honda Civic Type-R of himself and team-mate Matt Neal.
The reigning champion said that Honda ‘need to find seven tenths’ of a second in qualifying if they are to contend for pole position at the national circuit, after finishing 0.737s adrift of Ashley Sutton‘s pace-setting MG6 GT in a dry second practice.
“Silverstone’s National Circuit is essentially composed of three long straights, which doesn’t play to the strengths of our car”, said Shedden.
“The weather can obviously intervene and the reverse grid throws up opportunities, too. We’ve seen how quickly everything can turn on its head in this championship.”
Echoing what team-mate Neal told TCF after the visit to Rockingham, Shedden knows that any mistakes during the nitty gritty phase of the title fight could potentially be critical for those in the hunt.
The Scot said that experience could pay divends for the Honda duo, adding: “It doesn’t take much to make a mistake when the pressure is this high, but Matt and I have both been there before, done it and have the T-shirt to prove it so that experience could prove to be significant.
“We will need a little bit of luck, but rest assured we will be giving it everything we can and will duke this out right the way to the end.”
