Gordon Shedden aiming to stay ahead in close title fight

Honda Yuasa Racing’s Gordon Shedden, showed the competitiveness of the Civic Type-R at the Rockingham Motor Speedway, taking back the lead in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) driver standings.

By taking second place in race one, pole position and the win in race two, along with a well-deserved eighth in the final race, the Scotsman now leads chief rival, Team BMR’s Jason Plato, by just six points.

“Today just goes to show how close it is out there and how quickly everything can change. It’s been a brilliant day though – the Civic Type R has been fantastic around here but coming into today we weren’t sure how well we’d go,” explained the 2012 champion, who has consistently finished in the top ten for the majority of the season, apart from two retirements and two non-points finishes.

“It could come down to just one or two points at the end of the season so I’ll take every one I can get at this stage.”

In years past, the package that Honda has brought to the BTCC has not had its best run of form, when the series heads to the Northamptonshire track.

This is significant, because Shedden is a target for Plato, teammate Matt Neal and Team BMR’s Colin Turkington, as all three drivers are separated by 33 points with six races remaining.

“I’m sure it’s going to be tough for us at Silverstone but we’ve got to keep grinding out the results and getting the points – we’ve got to stay in the hunt as our car will be very quick at Brands Hatch.”