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Gordon Shedden's BTCC Championship Year: Part 2

By MJP Media | 26 October 2015

In this special feature, we look back at the second half of the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship which was won by Gordon Shedden and look at the highs and lows of his title-winning season.

Gordon Shedden celebrates with his Honda Yuasa Racing team

Snetterton 300

Gordon Shedden arrived at Snetterton for the start of the second half of the season with a 10 point lead over his nearest rival, Jason Plato, however that was about to change over the course of the race weekend. The early signs were ominous with the Scot being 7th fastest in the first free practice session and 12th in the second session. With team-mate Matt Neal just 2 places ahead in 10th it looked like the Honda Civic Type Rs did not suit the Norfolk circuit.

Team BMR stole the show in the qualifying session with Colin Turkington fastest ahead of Aron Smith and Jason Plato. Matt Neal qualified 5th behind Andrew Jordan however Shedden was down in 16th place. The Team BMR boys continued their show of dominance with a 1-2-3 podium lock-out in race 1 with Shedden coming home in 14th place for Honda Yuasa Racing with team-mate Neal 6th.

Race 2 was a total disaster for the Honda Yuasa Racing duo with Shedden being hit by Neal who had got caught up in an incident with the Eurotech Racing cars. As a result, Shedden failed to complete the first lap with Neal retiring shortly afterwards due to the first lap contact. Race 3 was not much better with Neal finishing 11 and Shedden 2 laps down in 24th - a pity since the Scot clearly had pace, setting the fastest lap in the early stages. With Plato and Turkington scoring well and Shedden taking just 3 points from the weekend, Shedden was now 3rd in the championship standings behind the two Team BMR drivers and 32 points behind leader Plato.

Knockhill

Following the disastrous weekend at Snetterton for the Honda Yuasa Racing team, Gordon Shedden needed to get his championship campaign back on course at his home circuit and the early signs were good, posting the fastest lap times in both the free practice sessions. Although the WSR-prepared BMWs had the upper hand in qualifying, 5th place was a reasonable starting place for Shedden with team-mate Matt Neal 7th.

The BMWs held their ground in race 1 with Rob Collard taking the win and Andy Priaulx 3rd and Sam Tordoff 4th with Motorbase Performance's Mat Jackson 2nd on the team's return to the BTCC. Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal finished 5th and 6th with championship rivals Team BMR struggling around the tight Knockhill circuit. Starting on the front row of the grid, Shedden went on to win race 2 with championship contender Jason Plato 7th ahead of Matt Neal in 8th and Colin Turkington failing to finish.

The reverse grid race provided Matt Neal with his first race win since Donington Park with Mercedes Benz A-Class drivers Adam Morgan and Aiden Moffat completing the podium positions. Shedden finished 8th with Jason Plato in 6th. With a sound points hail from his home circuit and the Team BMR drivers struggling, Shedden had closed the gap to championship leader Jason Plato to just 11 points and had moved up to 2nd in the standings with team-mate Matt Neal 3rd ahead of Colin Turkington.

The chequered flag welcomes Gordon Shedden home for another victory

Rockingham

The first free practice session at Rockingham wasn't good for Honda Yuasa Racing with Gordon Shedden 22nd and Matt Neal 24th. By the second session, Shedden was up to 6th with Neal still struggling in 16th. Things had improved slightly for the qualifying session with Shedden 3rd and Neal 7th behind Jason Plato in 6th place, however Shedden was subsequently handed a 4 place grid penalty for a procedural infringement during the session.

With Mat Jackson's un-ballasted Motorbase Performance Ford Focus taking a lights-to-flag victory, Gordon Shedden consolidated his championship position with a solid 2nd place ahead of Aron Smith, helped by championship rival Jason Plato suffering suspension damage to his Volkswagen CC which put him out of the race. For race 2 Shedden was on pole and claimed another race win to add to his 2015 tally whilst team-mate Matt Neal finished 5th with Jason Plato and Colin Turkington coming home 7th and 8th.

The reverse grid draw for the last race of the day put Shedden on row 5 with Plato and Turkington on row 2. This was just what Plato needed in order to salvage something from a difficult weekend and he went on to win the race with team-mate Colin Turkington 3rd. Matt Neal finished 4th with Shedden 8th but that was enough for Shedden to head to the penultimate meeting of the year with a slender 6 point lead in the Drivers' Championship over Jason Plato.

Silverstone

Mat Jackson was fastest in both the free practice sessions and the qualifying session, benefiting from a ballast free car due to his position in the championship standings. Gordon Shedden was 6th fastest in the first free practice session and 7th fastest in the second however a good performance in qualifying put him on the front row for race 1 alongside Jackson.

Shedden finished race 1 in 3rd place and crucially ahead of his nearest championship rivals with Colin Turkington 4th, Matt Neal 8th and Jason Plato 25th following a puncture. Shedden went on to increase his championship lead in race 2 with a solid 4th place finish ahead of Neal in 5th. Plato and Turkington kept in contention, finishing 7th and 8th and with the reverse grid draw putting them on the 2nd row of the grid, were well placed for the last race of the day with Shedden starting on row 4.

Colin Turkington made the most of his starting position and won race 3 for Team BMR RCIB Insurance ahead of the JCT600 Racing with GardX BMWs of Rob Collard and Sam Tordoff. Jason Plato finished 4th with Gordon Shedden 5th and Matt Neal 6th. Shedden now had a 23 point lead in the championship over Jason Plato and with 67 points available from the final three races of the year Colin Turkington, Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan were all in with a chance of taking the 2015 BTCC title.

Series Director Alan Gow 'helps' Gordon Shedden celebrate

Brands Hatch (GP)

The three championship leaders set the pace in free practice with Colin Turkington setting the fastest time ahead of Jason Plato and Gordon Shedden. Qualifying glory once again went to the un-ballasted Ford Focus of Mat Jackson with Shedden in 4th place ahead of Turkington in 5th and Plato in 6th. Jackson went on to win race 1 ahead of Aron Smith and Adam Morgan with Turkington 4th and Plato 5th, just out-scoring Shedden who finished 6th.

Race 2 saw mixed fortunes for the championship rivals with Colin Turkington retiring one lap from home and Gordon Shedden finishing 19th and out of the points due to seized brakes whilst Jason Plato finished 6th to keep his championship hopes alive. After 29 races, the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship would be decided by the last race of the season.

Gordon Shedden started the final race of the year with a 12 point advantage over Jason Plato however with Plato starting on the front row of the grid and Shedden starting 19th owing to the brake problems encountered in race 2, nothing was a foregone conclusion. By winning the final race, Plato had done all he could to maximise his chances however a fantastic drive by Gordon Shedden saw him make his way up through the field to finish 4th and by doing so, earn enough points to secure the BTCC Drivers' Championship by 4 points from Jason Plato. A thrilling finale to the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship and a popular champion in Gordon Shedden.

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