Honda Yuasa Racing had a top weekend at Thruxton with two wins for Gordon Shedden and a podium for Matt Neal cementing their place at the top of team and manufacturer/constructor standings.
The team looked like they would dominate the weekend with Gordon Shedden topping the timesheets in FP1 and FP2 and Matt Neal finishing in second and third respectively. However an off in qualifying for Matt Neal and a penalty for Gordon Shedden in which his times were stripped due to overboosting problems with the turbo the pair qualified in 19th and 18th respectively.
Shedden reinforced his free practice and early qualifying pace charging through the field and spray to finish sixth in race one. His Honda team mate also made a charge through the field, finishing in tenth.
Shedden finished on the top step of the podium in race two after taking over the lead during the middle of the race. Neal also made up a number of positions to cross the line in fifth.
Starting ninth for the last race, Shedden again charged through the rain taking the race lead from pole sitter Tony Gilham in the third race’s opening laps. Neal followed him through, with the duo crossing the line in first and second respectively for a Honda Yuasa Racing 1-2.
Shedden was happy with his ‘mega’ weekend: “Apart from qualifying which was a disaster it has been a mega weekend. A sixth and two wins after my two wins at Donington a fortnight ago – it doesn’t get much better. The Civic is in a class of its own through the corners and in the wet conditions it was just phenomenal. I was passing them everywhere – the car was just handling so well.”
Neal was pleased for his team mate and happy to still be in the hunt: “Gordon has been the man to beat all weekend and he thoroughly deserves his results. I’m happy to get on the podium in the final race as it was a bit of a scruffy day up until that point. The main thing is I’ve come away still in the hunt, but it’s extremely competitive out there.”
The two wins have promoted Gordon Shedden from fifth in the drivers’ championship to second with a four point margin to Jason Plato. Matt Neal has slipped back to third, ten points behind his team mate. The Thruxton results cemented the position of Honda Yuasa Racing at the top of the teams’ championship and Honda/Dynamics at the top of the manufacturer/constructor standings.
