Defending champion Gordon Shedden was left counting the positives as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship left Thruxton, after the Halfords Yuasa Racing driver failed to finish two of the three races.
Despite his misfortune, Shedden magnificently showcased the cars performance in the middle contest, surging from the rear of the field to fourth position in a race shortened by 25% by series official due to concerns over tyre degradation, preventing the Scot from mounting a series podium challenge in the latter stages.
The results mean that Shedden, who came into the weekend just five points behind his team-mate, Matt Neal, at the top of the standings, has slipped to fifth and now has a fifteen point deficit to joint leaders Neal and Rob Collard.
Shedden was quick to pay tribute to his engineers after they rebuilt both Honda Civic Type Rs following an unfortunate incident in race one between Neal and Josh Cook, which left Shedden spinning after getting caught up in the incident and sent the two-time champion going nose-first into the Thruxton pit wall.
“It’s been a mixed weekend. What happened in race one was so unfortunate – simply wrong place, wrong time – but the Halfords Yuasa Racing team put in a monumental effort to repair both cars so quickly and to fight back the way we did in race two was mega,” he commented.
“The Honda Civic Type R was incredible, and to make up almost 20 places was a real result – if the race had run to its original length, we could probably have finished on the podium.”
Race three saw more misfortune for Shedden, as he tangled with IHG Rewards Club’s Jack Goff into the final chicane. The BMW appeared to twitch slightly under braking for the shallow right hander, and with Shedden moving across slightly to take the line the two made contact, damaging the Honda beyond repair as far as the context of the race was concerned.
“I felt like a bit of a BMW pinball in race three, and being taken out through no fault of my own was a hugely disappointing way to finish the weekend – particularly when the car was so strong and we were in the mix for another rostrum, which would have kept us towards the top of the standings.” explained Shedden.
But in upbeat fashion, he conceded that losing some of the success ballast ahead of Oulton Park, a circuit typified by long straights, uphill sections and tight corners, would be a welcome advantage to hold as he looks to close the gap in the standings.
“Still, at least it means we’ll go to Oulton Park with less ballast, so the key will be to capitalise on that.”