Scotland’s Gordon Shedden says he will fight to the end to win this year’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship crown – even if he requires a miracle at his home track of Knockhill this Sunday (2 September) if he’s to catch leaders Jason Plato and Fabrizio Giovanardi.
Shedden lies third in the BTCC standings in his Team Halfords Honda. But a bad run of luck early in the season has left the Dalgety Bay racer trailing Plato by 78 points with only 104 on offer from the remaining rounds at Knockhill and Thruxton, Hampshire in October.
The 28-year-old said: “I need Jason and Fabrizio to go on holiday for a couple of months – either that, or they don’t make it through passport control when they arrive in Scotland.
“Only if they wipe out one another at Knockhill and I have three mega results would I have a chance of going to Thruxton still in with a chance of winning the title. But I’m sure they’ll both drive cleverly enough to make sure they finish every race.
“My circuit knowledge certainly doesn’t give me any advantage. At this level the top drivers learn a circuit within a few laps and in reality Jason has probably raced more laps around Knockhill than I have. Fabrizio had never seen the place before last year but still managed a race win.”
But Shedden says he has far from settled for third in the final standings. He will still push to his maximum to achieve the best results possible at the circuit where he grew up watching racing cars.
If he was to become BTCC Champion – in what is only his second season in the championship – he name would join those such as former Scottish racing greats Jim Clark and John Cleland to lift what is the most coveted trophy in UK motor sport.
Shedden added: “I had a bad start to the season, but since then, whenever I’ve finished races, the results have always been top results. I want that to continue at Knockhill and Thruxton and then let’s see where we end up. I suppose right now I’ve nothing to lose and Jason and Fabrizio clearly have.
“I’ll try to hold on for as long as is possible. Anything can happen, as we all saw last weekend at Brands Hatch. You just need to get tangled up in another driver’s error and your weekend can suddenly nosedive. I can only gain from any slip-up by those two.”
Tickets for Knockhill's BTCC event can be booked at discounted prices on the Knockhill circuit’s website www.knockhill.com. Admission for children aged 7 and under is FREE.
The crowds will have an 11-race bill of action to savour on the day – in addition to the BTCC’s penultimate three rounds there will be further action from the supporting BMW, Porsche, SEAT and Legends championships.
Adding to the appeal is the BTCC’s open paddock which allows the public to mingle with the drivers and get a close-up look at the teams working on their cars.
