A win and a solid haul of points lifted Gordon Shedden to the head of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship standings after Rockingham, setting up what he describes as a “a cracking end” to the 2015 season with six encounters remaining.
The Honda Yuasa Racing driver came into the Rockingham round 11 points behind Team BMR driver Jason Plato, both sharing wins in Corby although the latter’s race one retirement saw him fall six points behind Shedden heading to Siverstone in three weekends’ time.
A fine recovery from seventh to second by Shedden in race one – with a 66kg ballast-laden Civic Type-R – was followed by a simple lights-to-flag fourth win of the 2015 season in race two, the Scot ending his day with an eighth place result in the final race won by nearest rival, Plato.
“I’m dead chuffed,” enthused Shedden, delighted with his points haul from round eight.
“You go into every weekend with high hopes, but to leave Rockingham with 48 points in the bag is fantastic – we really couldn’t have asked for very much more.”
The Scot was forced to recover from seventh on the grid however in race one, a pitlane infringement in qualifying on Saturday seeing a grid penalty enforced to his erstwhile third place result in the 30-minute session.
Shedden commented on the incident: “Being relegated three places on the grid for race one put a little bit more fire in my belly, and to work our way through to finish second was great. The set-up was spot-on and we were able to pull off some strong moves – the car felt in really good shape.”
The results lift Shedden eight points ahead of Plato in the standings heading to Silverstone’s National circuit, one that the Honda man says will be the beginning of a superb final six outings to decide the fate of the 2015 title.
“Race two was about as perfect as they come, but funnily enough, race three was almost even more valuable”, concluded the Scot.
“We came away with eight ‘top-up’ points from a tough situation – laden with ballast, starting down in tenth and on soft tyres around a track that is notoriously hard on them – and those points could ultimately prove crucial. It’s shaping up to be a cracking end to the season!”
Championship Standings After Round 8/10:
[table id=586 /]