Gordon Shedden cut a frustrated figure in the British Touring Car Championship after qualifying in ninth for the opening race at Knockhill, with the Honda driver particularly vexed by the top speed of his car.
Points leader Shedden managed to break into the top ten despite carrying the maximum 75 kg of success ballast, marking the Scot’s return to the top ten having missed out in the previous round.
However Shedden was clearly frustrated with the lack of power in his Civic after the session, with the three-time champion pointing to the speed trap data, where he was bottom and fourth from bottom at the finish line and back straight respectively, as evidence for his lack of power.
“I’m not happy,” said Shedden to TouringCars.Net. “I’m hanging it all out and I’m absolutely dead last in the speed trap at the finish line and I’m [fourth] last in the speed trap down the back straight.
“We have no straight-line performance. I managed to hold it all together in the corners, but it’s just becoming frustrating.
“On a normal day you’d think the top ten would make me happy, but we should be better than that.
“We don’t have enough power. At the start of the season we were fine; everyone was competitive, but now it’s just difficult.”
Looking at his prospects for Sunday’s races, Shedden believes he has an uphill task ahead of him and admits that he expects to lose the lead of the championship which he has held in ten of the season’s 18 races contested so far.
“There’s a lot of rear-wheel drive cars up there, so it isn’t going to be easy, especially with the weight,” continued Shedden. “Hopefully as the day goes on we can get rid of some weight and try and get going a bit.
“I’ve got to go and try and score every point I can, nothing else will do. It’s all to play for tomorrow and I’ll give it the best we can.
“I think we’ll be lucky to be in the top four [in the standings after Knockhill], but those are the cards we’ve been dealt and we’ve got to make the best of it.”