TEAM HALFORDS WIN AT OULTON PARK
Victory
for Shedden and podium for Chilton at Oulton Team Halfords celebrated
its second win of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship
season after Gordon Shedden took victory in the final race at
Shedden, aka Flash,
finished in the top ten in both race one and two, and lived up to
his name in the final race of the weekend as he won at the Cheshire
circuit for the third year in a row. Team-mate Tom Chilton,
aka Sonic, started well with a fine second place podium finish in
the opening race of the weekend, and went on to suffer
disappointment in both race two and three which meant he was unable
to add to his points tally. Gordon lies seventh in
the points standings after the weekend with Tom in tenth place,
while Team Halfords' has strengthened third place in the teams'
championship. Race
one: From third on the grid,
Tom made a fine start to split the turbo-diesel SEATs but then came
under intense pressure from Darren Turner through the opening laps.
Despite the straight-line speed of the diesel, Tom was able to
defend his position before Turner made a move for position on lap
four. Running side-by-side down Cascades, contact between the two
saw Turner run wide and from that point on, Tom was never challenged
as he took a fine second place behind Jason
Plato. Gordon held his sixth
place at the start and climbed up to fifth when Turner ran wide on
lap four. Gordon held the position until he was forced wide by Colin
Turkington at Old Hall on lap eight and slipped back to seventh
place. That was the position he held to the finish despite an
incident on lap twelve when he was involved in contact with Mike
Jordan on the run across the start-finish
straight. Race
two: Tom lost a place at the
start of race two to the fast starting BMW of Colin Turkington and
found himself running in fourth place after the opening laps. He
then became involved in a heated battle with the BMW of Steven Kane
for position with Tom producing a fine defensive display to hold the
place until Kane finally managed to find a way past at Lodge on lap
seven. Unfortunately, Tom was forced wide at Hislops on lap ten
while fighting with Adam Jones and slipped outside the top ten,
eventually taking the flag in eleventh place. Starting right in the
pack, Gordon found himself involved in a number of heated battles in
the midfield and lost time when he was forced wide out of Hislops
and took a trip across the grass. That dropped him down to tenth
place, but the rapid Scot showed his pace to climb back up to eighth
place and secure a position on the front row for race three when the
reverse grid draw took place. Race
three: Tom saw his final race
come to an early end when he was forced to retire on the opening lap
after he got forced onto the grass onto the run into Hislops and
could do little to avoid colliding with the BMW of Steven Kane,
putting the Honda out on the spot. That led to a Safety Car
period with Gordon holding second place behind Andrew Jordan, and
when racing resumed, Flash made light work of taking the lead from
the BTCC rookie as he swept past at Old Hall on lap
five. From there, the Scot was
never troubled as he secured his second win of the
season. Team
Comments: Gordon
Shedden: "It's an amazing result
to get the win. We had struggled a bit in the first two races but we
worked hard to improve the car and it was amazing in the final race
- it was a different animal. All credit to the guys at Team Halfords
and to my engineer Eddie who came up with a masterplan for the third
race which worked. For much of the day I thought it was going to be
another one full of bad luck, so to finish on a win is awesome. I
made a good move on Andrew Jordan near the start and could control
it from the front, so to go away from here with a win ahead of my
home round at Knockhill is a huge boost for the whole
team." Olly
Collins - team manager: "It's a good boost for
the team as its far too long since Rockingham. We have had a
cracking car all year but have had more than our fair share of bad
luck since that first win which means we haven't been able to turn
our pace into race victories. We managed to change that today and
hopefully we have now turned a corner and can get our luck back. We
are a tiny team compared to the manufacturers but the guys do a
great job and this win is a huge boost for
them." ##
ENDS ## Notes
to Editors: The
British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) was formed in 1958 and is
the HiQ
(part of Goodyear Dunlop) has become the BTCC's new title sponsor in
2008 in a new three-year agreement. It provides a fast-fit car
care service at its 150 centres across the For further information and interview requests contact Richard
Tait Harris rth@rimstock.com.
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