Gordon Shedden takes the BTCC Crown for the third time amongst a trio of races that saw Turkington win race 1 & 2.

• Gordon Shedden joins elite group of drivers with three BTCC titles
• ‘Flash’ turns the tables to triumph in scintillating BTCC season finale
• Matt Neal’s championship bid undone by ill-fortune at Brands Hatch

Gordon Shedden became the first driver in eight years to win back-to-back Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) titles with a superb performance at Brands Hatch GP this weekend (1-2 October) behind the wheel of his Halfords Yuasa Racing Honda Civic Type R.

Shedden entered the weekend trailing championship leader Sam Tordoff by 11 points in the chase for the most coveted trophy in British motor sport. By out-qualifying his chief rival and finishing ahead of the Yorkshireman in all three races, however, the defending champion dramatically turned the tables for a popular success.

From seventh on the starting grid, Shedden carved his way through to finish fifth in race one before pulling off some opportunistic passes as he battled to his ninth podium of the season in race two.

Beginning the finale from fifth – and needing to beat Tordoff, two places ahead of him on the grid, in order to lift the laurels – the Scot produced one of the drives of his career. 

With the championship poised finely on a knife-edge, he grabbed his flame-spitting Civic Type R by the scruff of its neck and secured the spoils in style, overhauling his BMW adversary en route to third place at the chequered flag to snare the title by two points.

Team-mate Matt Neal should similarly have been in with a shout going into race three having converted 11th on the grid into seventh in the opener, but just after posting the fastest lap in race two, the three-time champion’s engine temporarily cut out and as he attempted to rejoin, contact with another car sent him into a dizzying spin and into the barriers. 

Suffering from mild concussion, he was unfortunately ruled out of the all-important finale.

That relegated Neal to sixth spot in the Drivers’ standings – albeit just 33 points adrift of newly-crowned champion Shedden – with Honda and Halfords Yuasa Racing placing second in the Manufacturers’ and Teams’ tables respectively.

Gordon Shedden:

“It’s unbelievable – an incredible feeling. I’ve actually been really relaxed all weekend, but even going into race three, I thought it was going to be very difficult – and it was! It was a shame Matt couldn’t join in – it would have been good to have him up there pushing for the title too, because we’ve both had really strong pace today. 

The Civic Type R was mint throughout – as it has been all season – and once again, I really stuck my neck on the line and made some bold, heart-in-the-mouth moves that were on the edge more often than not. 

After Croft in June, it looked like we were down-and-out in the title battle, but we stuck to our guns, kept plugging away and gave it absolutely everything to claw our way back. It just goes to show that every single point really does count in this championship. 

Winning the BTCC title for the first time felt phenomenal, last year was a real rollercoaster ride and this year it was just a huge release of emotion. I might allow myself a few cups of tea and a Tunnock’s Teacake tonight to celebrate...”

Matt Neal:

“First of all, huge congratulations to ‘Flash’ on his third BTCC crown. He’s driven fantastically all season and it’s a pleasure to welcome him to the ‘three titles’ club – I guess now it’ll be a straight fight to see who can get to four first! Seriously, though, I’m chuffed for him and he thoroughly deserves it – if I couldn’t win it, there’s nobody else I’d rather see lift the trophy. 

It was obviously a shame about the way my season ended. We did a solid job in qualifying and closed in on the championship lead in race one, but then in race two, I suddenly lost power and as I was attempting to recover, I was pitched into a spin that ended up in the barriers. 

I got knocked around pretty badly and because I had mild concussion, the decision was taken not to start race three, which clearly wasn’t the way I wanted to end my championship challenge. Still, I’ll just have to come back next year and try to win it again myself!”

Final Drivers’ Standings

1. Gordon Shedden 308 points

2. Sam Tordoff 306 points

3. Mat Jackson 292 points

4. Colin Turkington 289 points

5. Rob Collard 278 points

6. Matt Neal 275 points

Final Manufacturers’ Standings

1. West Surrey Racing 790 points

2. Honda / Team Dynamics 737 points

3. Subaru / Team BMR 722 points

4. MG / Triple Eight 571 points

Final Teams’ Standings

1. Team JCT600 with GardX 574 points

2. Halfords Yuasa Racing 557 points

3. Motorbase Performance 538 points

4. Silverline Subaru BMR Racing 531 points

5. MG Racing RCIB Insurance 332 points

6. WIX Racing 234 points

Sheddon is cruising towards his second BTCC Title, but Jason Plato will not make it easy for him.

• Gordon Shedden closes in on second BTCC drivers’ crown
• Matt Neal celebrates quarter-century with strong weekend
• Honda on-track to lift manufacturers’ laurels in season finale 

Gordon Shedden took a step closer towards clinching a second Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship crown with a superb performance at Silverstone, as Matt Neal celebrated his 25^th anniversary in the series with a hat-trick of strong finishes.

 

From second on the grid, championship leader Shedden made light of the maximum success ballast aboard his Honda Yuasa Racing Civic Type R by battling to a rostrum finish in third position in race one – in front of all his principal title rivals.

 

On the softer-compound rubber in race two, the Scot produced a consistent drive to take the chequered flag fourth – again the best-placed of the championship-challenging quintet – and he concluded proceedings with fifth spot in the finale, chasing Jason Plato throughout but remaining mindful to stay out of trouble with so much at stake.

 

Having been stymied by traffic in qualifying, Neal fought his way through to secure eighth in the opener – just two seconds adrift of the sister Civic Type R – before shadowing his team-mate across the finish line in fifth place in race two and playing a similar rear-gunner role in race three en route to sixth.

 

The results mean 2012 BTCC Champion Shedden has increased his advantage at the top of the standings from six points to 23 with only one race meeting remaining. Neal is still well in touch in fourth, as Honda pulled further clear in the manufacturers’ contest.

 

“It’s great to come away with such a good points haul from a circuit that we anticipated was going to be difficult for us because it traditionally has been in recent years,” reflected ‘Flash’. “Arriving at Silverstone, our aim was damage limitation and to try to maintain our championship lead, so to actually extend it is a really positive outcome and underlines how hard we’ve worked on the Type R.

 

“We laid the foundations in qualifying with a cracking lap, and the car was mega in all three races. It was good to get the podium in the first one, and in race two we concentrated on managing everything with the weight on-board and soft tyres. In the last one, I was trying really hard to find a way past Jason, but at the same time I knew I had to keep an eye on the bigger picture.

 

“We’ve seen time and again that this championship can turn on its head in barely the blink of an eye, so we’ll just go to Brands Hatch, give it our best shot and see what happens.”

 

“It was a very solid weekend that exceeded our expectations,” echoed Neal. “We thought we were going to be in for a pretty tough time here and it’s been completely the opposite.

 

“We turned the tables on the opposition and really took the fight to them, which was night-and-day compared to previous years at Silverstone. That shocked us a bit, and I think it definitely shocked them! They thought they would be breathing down our necks going to Brands Hatch, but as it is, we’ve pulled further away.

 

“We had strong pace in all three races and the car felt fantastic throughout. It was a little bit of a shame about qualifying – the slipstream effect is so important round here and when it’s this close, you’re looking for literally fractions of a second – and being so difficult to overtake, that probably prevented an even better set of results. Still, we scored good manufacturers’ points again and now we go to Brands Hatch fully focused on finishing the job off.”