Shedden admits he ‘didn’t have the luxury’ to try ‘anything too forceful’

Gordon Shedden admitted that he was happy to settle for just a podium finish in the final British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Snetterton, after spending the day fighting back from a qualifying penalty.

Shedden had put his Honda Civic on pole position on Saturday, only to have it taken away again after his car’s rear wing was found to be out by just one degree.

Forced to start from the very back of the grid for the first race, Shedden had to focus on a recovery throughout Sunday as he battled himself back into the mix.

In race one the Scot climbed to 15^th for a solitary point, before progressing slightly further in race two to 11^th.

Missing out on the reverse grid, Shedden had to start from that position for race three, albeit as one of only a few drivers with the benefit of using the softer tyre.

The Team Dynamics driver fought through the field early on in the race and was up to fourth by lap four, at which point he came up behind the Infiniti of Ash Sutton.

In the end Shedden was unable to pass the reigning champion, although he gained a further place when he got past the early race leading BMW of Stephen Jelley.

Reflecting on his day, Shedden admitted that he had opted not to try too hard to get past Sutton in race three, settling for the points for third which elevated him to tenth overall in the drivers’ championship standings.

“Yesterday after qualifying it was all smiles, and then obviously it went a little bit pear-shaped after that,” said Shedden.

“To be back on the podium I thought was a real tall order today. There are so many competitive cars and it’s difficult to pass around here, but I’ve kind of thrown the kitchen sink at it.

“We’d got to try and get some points on the board and in the last race it was just too risky to try and do anything too forceful to Ash and risk not scoring again, we just don’t have that luxury just now.

“We’ll take a podium, move on to Brands and hopefully it’s a little bit better and more productive.

“The car felt strong all weekend so I’m really looking forward to Brands Hatch now in two weeks’ time where we generally run well.”