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Gordon Shedden's BTCC Championship Year: Part 1

By MJP Media | 31 October 2012

In this special feature, we look back at the first half of the 2012 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship which was won by Scotland's Gordon Shedden and look at the highs and lows of his title-winning season.

Shedden put his Honda Civic on the front row of the grid at Donington

Brands Hatch (Indy)

Both Gordon Shedden and team-mate Matt Neal initially struggled at the first meeting of the 2012 BTCC season - in the first free practice session Neal was 11th fastest and Shedden was a worrying 21st fastest. Neal soon improved his form to run 2nd fastest in the second free practice session however Shedden was the slowest in 22nd place due to technical problems with his Honda Civic. In qualifying it was Dave Newsham from Inverness who took the first pole position of the season in his Team ES Racing.com Vauxhall Vectra with defending BTCC champion Neal 2nd. Shedden qualified in 9th place.

Neal finished the first race in 2nd place with Jason Plato 4th in his MG KX Momentum MG6 and Shedden 5th. Neal went on to win the second race with Plato coming home in 3rd. Shedden retired on lap 14, scoring no points. Plato won the third race with Neal 7th however Shedden was excluded from the results because his team carried out unauthorised work on his car during a red flag period.

At the end of the first meeting, Plato topped the championship table on 52 points with Neal 2nd on 48. Shedden was 11th with just 11 points - not the start he had wished for!

Donington Park

Following the disappointments of the opening races, both the Honda Yuasa Racing Team drivers appeared to have resolved the issues with their cars with Neal and Shedden 3rd and 4th in the first free practice session at Donington Park, although in the second free practice session Shedden was only 6th fastest whilst Neal moved up to 2nd. In the qualifying session it was Plato who secured pole position with Shedden 2nd and Neal 3rd.

Shedden had a fantastic set of results from Donington Park with a 2nd place in the first race and victory in races two and three. Neal got 3rd in the race1 and 2nd in race 2. Shedden actually finished the last race in 3rd place but was promoted to 1st place following the exclusion of race-winner Mat Jackson for exceeding turbo boost limits and a time penalty being applied to 2nd place finisher Plato for gaining an unfair advantage by bumping Shedden off the track on the final lap of the race.

Leaving Donington Park, Plato was still at the top of the championship table with 84 points with Neal 2nd on 80 points. Following his 3 podium finishes, Shedden was now 5th on 70 points.

Shedden led Neal to a 1-2 victory at Thruxton

Thruxton

Shedden was now on a roll and topped the time sheet in the free practice session at Thruxton with team-mate Neal 2nd and Plato 3rd. Shedden was also fastest in the second free practice session, this time with Plato 2nd and Neal 3rd. Qualifying proved to be a different story with Shedden and Neal managing only 18th and 19th respectively following electrical problems with their Honda Civics.

The Honda Yuasa Racing Team drivers continued to struggle in race one with Shedden and Neal finishing 6th and 10th. Their fortune soon turned with Shedden winning both races 2 and 3 and Neal getting 5th in the second race and 2nd in the third.

After the first 3 meetings of the season, Plato was still leading the championship on 129 points with Shedden now 2nd on 125 points and Neal 3rd on 115 points.

Oulton Park

The picturesque Oulton Park circuit proved to be another good venue for the Honda Yuasa duo who were 2nd and 4th fastest in the free practice sessions whilst Plato topping the time sheets. Plato went on to qualify in pole position with Neal 2nd and Shedden 5th.

Plato's MG KX Momentum Racing MG6 suffered a suspension failure on the out-lap for the first race which meant he could not start the race. Neal went on to take the race victory with Shedden finishing in 4th place. Shedden won the second race with Andrew Jordan's Pirtek Racing Honda Civic 2nd, Plato 3rd and Neal 4th. Neal got his second victory of the day in the third race with Plato coming 2nd, Tom Onslow-Cole 3rd and Shedden 4th.

With their drivers winning all three races, it was a fantastic day for Honda Yuasa Racing Team. Shedden now led the championship on 173 points ahead of team-mate Neal on 168 and Plato on 161.

Shedden celebrating his 5th race win of the 2012 season at Oulton Park

Croft

Croft marked the half-way point in the season and the Honda Civics were running well. Andrew Jordan was fastest in the first free practice session with Shedden and Neal 2nd and 3rd. Plato topped the time sheet in the second free practice session with Shedden 2nd ahead of Rob Collard in the eBay Motors BMW 320si 3rd and Neal 4th. In the all-important qualifying session it was Neal who claimed pole position with Shedden 3rd behind Jordan.

As at Oulton Park, Plato's MG6 suffered mechanical problems which put him out of the first race which was won by Neal with Shedden 3rd behind Collard. Race 2 was a Honda Yuasa Racing Team 1-2 with Shedden taking the victory over team-mate Neal. Plato recovered some valuable points by winning the last race of the day with Neal finishing 4th and Shedden 6th.

At the half-way stage of the 2012 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, Neal had regained the lead in the championship with 221 points however Shedden was only 1 point behind on 220 with Plato on 192.

Continued in Part 2

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