Gordon Shedden was left frustrated with a lack of ‘genuine pace’ after the British Touring Car Championship races at Knockhill, where the Honda driver lost the lead of the drivers’ championship standings.
The Scot went into his home race with a slender two-point advantage but leaves having dropped to third and 12 points adrift after claiming 11th, sixth and second in the three races respectively.
It is the second meeting in a row where Shedden has struggled for pace early on in the weekend, something which has left the three-time champion feeling frustrated.
“We’re giving it everything and it’s just frustrating, because we’re not where we need to be in terms of performance,” said Shedden to TouringCars.Net.
“It’s this round and Snetterton where we’re not there on genuine pace. That’s clear to see – look at race two and the Subaru, with 75 kg on board, can set the fastest lap of the race two laps from home.
“I was on the soft tyre, which is the preferred option around here, with zero ballast, and we’re still nowhere.”
Despite his clear frustrations, Shedden says that he and the team will continue to try and find areas to improve the Civic to ensure he remains in the title fight over the next three rounds.
“We’ve got to find more, but all we can do is go back and try and make the car better in every way that we can.
“I think the car feels good, but what I see out of my front window in the middle of races explains a lot to me.
“I only know what we’ve got and I know we’re maximising everything and that’s all we can do. We’ll give it all we can.
“From a personal point of view I just want to have more genuine pace. That’s now this weekend and Snetterton where we’ve lucked into some results which is frustrating because I can foresee that if the title battle goes down to the wire that we’re not going to be in the mix on current performance.”