Published: Thursday, 22nd May, 2008 16:30
Touring cars race ace bemused by bad luck
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PUNCTURES twice denied Dalgety Bay’s Gordon Shedden victory in the latest rounds of the British Touring Cars Championship.
Twice the West Fife race ace had led at Thruxton, the quickest circuit on the calendar, before tyre trouble blew his chances of a podium finish.
In race one Shedden leaped into the lead from the second row and was keeping the chasing pack at bay until cruel luck meant a puncture at Church on lap eight saw him lose the lead while having to pit for a tyre change.
He ended up back in 13th, which saw him 13th on the grid for race two, a position he improved to eighth at the flag.
That put him on the front row for the final race under the reverse grid system and he was again the man to beat after a blistering start took him out front.
But another puncture – again on lap eight – brought his challenge to an end as he finished back in 17th after making a pitstop to change tyres.
Shedden said afterwards, “I don’t know what to say really. Twice I was leading and twice I had a tyre failure which is a bit baffling really.
“We didn’t have a lot of camber on the car and I wouldn’t have changed anything on it if you told me to go out there and do a race run again.
“It’s a bit strange as I was cruising in race one and three and just controlling things from the front but in race two, when I was having to push harder and attack people, I didn’t have a problem.
“We know we have a fantastic car in the little Civic and while this weekend didn’t deliver as it should have done, there is no reason why we can’t go and have a great weekend at Croft (1st June) next time out.”
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