Champion Gordon Shedden to keep racing with #52 in 2016

2012 and 2015 BTCC champion Gordon Shedden will turn down the option of racing with #1 for the 2016 British Touring Car Championship season, and instead race with his preferred lucky #52.

Shedden took on #1 in 2013 after he won the title, but says as it didn’t bring him luck the following season, so is happy to break with

“It’s something people recognise and it’s a number I’ve run successfully since I’ve started racing so it’s nice to keep it,” said Shedden to TouringCarTimes. “I raced number 1 last time (I won the title) and I wasn’t very good in 2013 so maybe a change of luck for this year and keep 52.”

The last time the #1 wasn’t present on the grid was in 2010, when Colin Turkington didn’t return to defend his first title, instead taking part in selected rounds of the WTCC.

Prior to this, the last time a champion returned and didn’t race with #1 was in 1984, when Steve Soper ran with #20 on his car although he was entitled to as the Class A champion (though the overall title had gone to Andy Rouse in a Class B Alfa Romeo), with Soper just taking part in two races of the season in a TWR Rover Vitesse.

Shedden’s move is echoed in the WTCC, where 2014 and 2015 champion José María López has eschewed racing with #1 to continue with his lucky #37. Honda team-mate Matt Neal is set to keep #25 for this season.