Gordon Shedden expects a slight reduction in the quota of success ballast on board his Honda Civic Type R to allow for a more positive setup in the second British Touring Car Championship race at Thruxton.
The defending champion, laden with 75 kilograms in the opening race, acted as rear-gunner to cover off the threat from the Eurotech Type R of Jack Goff behind to enable team-mate Matt Neal to secure a 60th career victory in a Honda 1-2.
The challenging 2.3 mile circuit has been synonymous with tyre degredation in recent years due to its abrasive surface, but with a new compound of hard tyre supplied by Dunlop for this season, the Scot was pleased with their performance.
“They felt okay, I think we can tweak them a bit more, we were just safe in that first one – I’m the ginuea pig with maximum weight, so hopefully we can tweak mine a little bit more now and go a little bit faster in the second one!”
He also pointed to the changes in weight in cars alongside him on the grid for the middle race as a positive indicator of the team being able to take two victories on the bounce.
“I think you’ve got to bank points, but obviously everybody else is going to gain it. Goff’s going to gain about 20 or 30 kilograms, Ingram’s going to lose 18 and obviously Matt [Neal] is going to gain quite a bit. It should all be quite close together again, it should be a good race.”
With notoriously strong circuits for the rear-wheel drive cars next on the calendar, including Oulton Park, Croft and Knockhill, Shedden insisted the focus at the moment lies in banking points towards the defence of his title.
“We’ve just got to try and make the most of this weekend – whilst the cars are working well, we’ve got to score big points because we’re moving into rear-wheel drive circuits for the next couple of events. That’s going to be difficult.”
“If you’d offered me second place with 75 kilograms on board to start with, I’d have been well chuffed!”