Super Shedden wins on home soil at Knockhill
After the tough weekend endured at Brands Hatch, Team Halfords rebounded in fine style in the latest rounds of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Knockhill as Gordon Shedden and defending champion Matt Neal secured a first 1-2 finish with the all new Honda Civic.
The result, which came in the third race of the day, saw Flash take a popular victory in front of the Scottish fans, while Matt’s second place was fine reward for the Team Dynamics squad that had worked over-time to build him a new car to replace the one written off in the opening lap accident at Brands Hatch just two weeks ago.
As a result of the weekend’s action, Gordon and Matt remain third and fourth in the overall standings while Team Halfords lie third in the teams’ championship – just 36 points behind VX Racing heading to the season finale at Thruxton.
Race one:
Having qualified on the second row of the grid, Flash maintained his place during the early stages of the opening race before taking second place from Colin Turkington at SEAT Curve on lap four. He then set about chasing down leader Darren Turner, but contact with the SEAT driver while going for the lead at the Hairpin on lap 18 forced him to retire, the only consolation being the fastest lap of the race on the Knockhill debut for the Civic.
Matt qualified ninth in the sister car, which had only completed a brief shakedown ahead of the weekend after been built up by the team in record time. However, contact on the opening lap with the BMW of Mat Jackson on the run to the Hairpin saw the defending champion bring the car into the pits where he retired.
Race two:
Starting from twelfth on the grid for race two, Gordon quickly started to make up places and was into the top six by the end of lap two. Battling through the field and making up further positions as the race progressed, he capped a fine recovery drive to finish race two in fourth – pressurising title hopeful Fabrizio Giovanardi right to the flag in the fight for a podium place.
From the back of the grid, race two was also about making up places for Matt and he did just that, fighting his way through the pack to finish in sixth place and secure a place on the second row of the grid for race three under the reverse grid rules.
Race three:
Flash started the final race from fifth place but quickly moved ahead of points leader Jason Plato into fourth on the opening lap. Within a lap he had climbed into a podium place behind Mike Jordan and team-mate Matt, who had made a good start to the race to slot into second.
Matt took the lead at Carlube on lap four and Flash followed him through into second place a couple of laps later at Scotsman. The pair then ran in formation out front before Flash took the lead from Matt on lap 16 at Carlube to take his first BTCC win on home soil and lead Team Halfords to its first 1-2 finish since introducing the Team Dynamics built and designed Honda Civic at the start of the season. To cap off the day, Flash was greeted on the podium by a rendition of Scotland the Brave.
Quotes:
Matt Neal: “It was a tough start to the day but it’s ended up great with a first 1-2 finish with the Honda Civic – so that it a real milestone for us. I don’t think anyone can appreciate how much work has gone in to getting me here this weekend as the guys have done two months work in ten days. I can’t name names as they have all worked so hard. I saw them on Bank Holiday Monday working with a smile on their face and it brought a tear to my eye – so this is a small thank-you to them going into the six week break before Thruxton.”
Gordon Shedden: “This is out of this world. I was quick here last year and things conspired against me and with a non-finish in race one I thought I was on for the same bad luck again. To be forced to retire from that race was soul destroying as I was quicker than Darren and I think I could have romped away to victory. However, to come back to take a win in race three is great. Knockhill in the sunshine with a large crowd, is there a better place to do it?!”
Steve Neal – team principal: “I wasn’t too happy with how the first race panned out, no-one would be as we could have won that one, but I was really pleased with race three. Our boys worked round the clock and they did a brilliant job, as did our suppliers, to get Matt’s car ready for this weekend. They strived for it and they knew that it could go out there and get the job done.”
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