Gordon Shedden believes that he ‘defended well’ despite losing victory in the first British Touring Car Championship race at Snetterton, with the Scot forced to settle for second behind Colin Turkington.
Shedden had led the first half of the race despite strong pressure from Turkington, but the Honda driver’s defence eventually cracked on lap eight when the Subaru driver was able to get alongside on the exit of Agostini.
Despite the loss of victory, Shedden remained positive after the first race, accepting that the ballast-free Subaru had better pace than his lightly-ballasted Civic.
“It is what it is, really; the difference is between front-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive,” said Shedden to TouringCars.Net. “I gave it everything, but it was what it was. I defended well and defended hard, and made the best of it really.
“The rear-wheel drive car looks after its tyres but mine weren’t particularly bad, mine were actually quite good but it’s just that that car has got good performance.”
Having been concerned about both himself and Turkington being overtaken on the back straight, Shedden added that the fact that third-placed Mat Jackson had his hands full defending from Adam Morgan probably helped the leading duo out.
“Me and Colin could get going, and I think Jackson had his hands full with Morgan, so it was good and that was positive.
“We keep racking up points. It shows you how close it is; I’ve jumped from ninth to fourth in the championship in one race, so there’s plenty still on offer. It wouldn’t take much [to catch points leader Sam Tordoff] though.
“Let’s see what the next race brings.