Gordon Shedden laments lack of straight-line speed at Brands Hatch

Gordon Shedden lamented a lack of straight-line speed in his Toyota Corolla around the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, as the three-time champion managed just one points finish in the British Touring Car Championship.

All four of the Toyota drivers ended up in the same Q1 group, and Shedden was unable to progress, hindered by a turbo wastegate failure in the session, leaving him to start from the back of the grid for the opening race.

Running the less-favourable hard tyre straight away, the Scot struggled to make inroads in the competitive field and took the chequered flag in just 21^st position.

With the soft tyre on for the second race, like most of those around him, Shedden moved forward five places to finish just outside the points in 16^th.

He made the most progress in the final encounter, when Shedden passed six cars on his way to a season-best finish of tenth.

However, on a weekend when the quartet of Corolla racers could only achieve a collective-best finish of tenth, Shedden shared the frustration of his team-mates in an apparent lack of straight-line speed – with all four Corollas near the bottom of the speed traps at the end of both sectors throughout Saturday.

“It’s a combination of things,” said Shedden to TouringCars.Net when asked about his weekend struggles. “This weekend, the wastegate failed in qualifying, so that’s a non-event and you start at the back and it’s difficult to come through.

“We were making good progress in races two and three – the lap time in race two was a tenth or so off the fastest lap, and we were passing people in race three, so from that it’s good.

“But when you start so far back and it’s so competitive, it’s very difficult to come through. But there’s no doubt we are just struggling in a straight line.

“We’re tweaking it and getting it finessed in the corners, but when I race other cars and I see how they’re doing their lap time – they’re not up to rocket science in the corners, they just drive away when they come off the corner.

“There’s no point in dwelling on that because we can’t change it. We’ve just got to keep doing our bit and improving. But it is a bit soul destroying sometimes when you get a good move and then get passed.

“Ultimately the way the qualifying format is now, you get one go and that’s it. If you don’t have the car exactly where you need it in qualifying…

“It’s only our second event. You look up and down the paddock – how long has [Tom] Ingram been there? The Ford boys have been together for a while.

“So, it is all new – four new drivers – and things take a little bit of time. The thing that’s the big highlight is it’s not fast enough in a straight line.

“I passed six cars cleanly, properly and with a bit of pace and confidence. That’s something we just need to build on. That’s where we are at the minute. The limitations are just frustrating when you’re in the car.”