Gordon Shedden was relieved to score his maiden podium finish in the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) in Wuhan, with the Audi Sport driver admitting that he hopes ‘the cork in the bottle has popped’.
The Leopard Lukoil driver was on the pace in qualifying, coming close to pole before being pipped by his brand mates and Pepe Oriola, leaving him to start Saturday’s first race in fifth.
The Scot then moved up to fourth on the opening lap of the race, in part due to contact between Comtoyou Racing duo Denis Dupont and Nathanaël Berthon ahead, but behind Münnich Motorsport’s Yann Ehrlacher.
Shedden spent the first half of the race pressuring Ehrlacher for the final podium position, before making a clean move on the 12th lap to bag himself a maiden WTCR podium.
That gave the WRT team a win and a podium result, with Jean-Karl Vernay taking his third win of the season, whilst Shedden also claimed his first points since Vila Real in June.
“It feels fantastic, it feels like it has been a long time coming,” said Shedden. “It’s been a tough season so far. Hopefully this means the cork in the bottle has popped and the results are more fruitful to the end of the season.
“It certainly feels like we have made a breakthrough with the car this week. We’ve made some changes which allowed me to drive the car rather than feeling like a passenger.
“It was fantastic to race with Yann, but I was very conscious he has a championship to fight for and any move had to be clean, had to decisive and without contact, and that worked out perfectly.
“To get a one-three, two drivers on the podium for Audi Sport and Leopard and Lukoil is epic. We’ve just got to do the same again tomorrow.”