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BTCC 2012 Index

Shedden takes victory in first race at Knockhill

BTCC News | Sun 5th September 2010

Honda Racing Team's Gordon Shedden claimed a popular victory in front of his home crowd in today's first race at Knockhill.

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Shedden, who works at Knockhill when he's not racing, got the jump on polesitter Alex MacDowall away from the line, but only a remarkable save at Seat Curve prevented the Scot from becoming a first lap casualty.

MacDowall failed to make the most of his qualifying performance as he struggled to get the Silverline Chevrolet off the line. Shedden had the inside line as they turned right at the end of the straight, but MacDowall had not given up and a slight tap to the back of Shedden knocked the Civic into a slide. Shedden floored the throttle and was soon pointing in the right direction again.

While Shedden then looked fairly secure at the front, he had to survive two safety car periods which ensured he was never able to open up a gap.

The first safety car period started at the end of the first lap, triggered by simultaneous incidents for John George and Andy Neate. Both drivers spun at Seat Curve, before recovering to rejoin the back of the pack. That meant it was just a single lap before racing could resume.

With the track clear, Shedden led from MacDowall, Matt Neal and Jason Plato. It was Plato who was under the most pressure, with Tom Onslow-Cole challenging him for fourth position in the first of the LPG-powered Fords.

However, as Onslow-Cole went for fourth, he ended up losing out to Steven Kane. That was just the start though, as both Tom Chilton and Paul O'Neill also passed Onslow-Cole on the following lap.

Lap eight saw more shuffling towards the front, with Jason Plato losing two places to Kane and Chilton. Running with 45kg of ballast, Plato could not match the pace of the BMW and the Ford.

On lap 13, it was the second of the Airwaves BMWs that was in the wars. Mat Jackson moved to the inside of James Nash's Vectra as they headed through Seat Curve. Jackson claimed the position and Nash spun out of the race at the bottom of the hill.

Nash's stranded car, along with debris on the track, brought the safety car out for the second time on lap 15 – much to the disappointment of Shedden, who saw his lead disappear.

Shedden held on when the race restarted again and that was enough for him to take his fourth win of the year, in front of his home fans.

Alex MacDowall drove a strong race to finish second – the best result so far in his maiden BTCC season.

Third place was not decided until late in the race, with Kane getting past Neal on the penultimate lap. Neal crossed the line fourth, with Chilton fifth and Plato sixth. Tom Onslow-Cole just edged out Paul O'Neill for seventh, while Andrew Jordan and Mat Jackson rounded out the top ten.

Racewinner Gordon Shedden said: "Alex [MacDowall] went into my back quarter at the first corner. I thought I'd done a good save at Brands Hatch earlier this year, but I think that just about equals it. It's great to get a win here."

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