Published: Thursday, 21st August, 2008 08:40
Race ace Shedden fails to drive home his advantage
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THERE was no happy homecoming for Gordon Shedden as the West Fife flyer could finish no higher than fourth at Knockhill at the weekend.
The Team Halfords racer was out of luck as the British Touring Cars Championship roared into Fife and entertained around 35,000 fans.
Shedden, who works at Knockhill, was among the quickest drivers on track and was close to podium finishes in the first two races.
He reflected, “It’s so close just now with hundredths of a second separating some drivers but overall two fourth place finishes wasn’t bad.
“I could and should have finished fourth in the last race too but the third race was carnage.
“There were people firing off all over the place, unfortunately I got tagged by Matt Neal, who had just been hit by Turkington, and that dropped me down the order but I kept fighting to the end.”
Racing in the Honda Civic, Shedden is seventh in the drivers standings while Team Halfords is third in the teams’ points table.
Shedden had won at the previous meet at Oulton Park but insisted that racing on his home track didn’t make it any easier for him.
“There are so many professionals on the teams and in the cars that there’s no added advantage to the race being at Knockhill,” the Dalgety Bay man told Press Sport.
“There’s no added pressure either but at least I can sleep in my own bed at night.
“We came into this with our tails up and there were lots of positives but it never quite came together.
“We really need to find a bit extra from the car before Silverstone, to be honest, which is a totally different circuit again.”
In the first race, Shedden started in 10th place but used the Civic’s pace brilliantly to pick off drivers and just miss out on the podium.
The second race produced the same result after a bad start saw him overtaken but he battled back to fourth and was in the same position in race three when he was forced onto the gravel and finished eighth.
The penultimate weekend of racing in this year’s championship is at Silverstone on 30th and 31st August.
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