Gordon Shedden aiming for consistent Rockingham

Title challenger Gordon Shedden is aiming to maintain his ultra-consistent 2014 campaign as the championship fight enters its final stages at Rockingham this weekend.

Honda Racing Team’s Shedden has finished 20 of the 21 races in the top seven, and is the only driver in the field to have finished every race in the points. He lies 23 points behind West Surrey Racing’s Colin Turkington as the championship visits Corby this weekend.

The 2012 champion says he will not be changing his approach this weekend, racing on the track where the Civic Tourer had its public debut on Saturday.

He said: “We’ve simply got to keep at it, push as hard as we can and absolutely maximise every available opportunity. The championship can very quickly turn on its head, and you just never know what’s going to happen. There’s almost a third of the season remaining and still plenty of racing left to be done.

“Although Knockhill wasn’t ultimately the weekend we had been hoping for, we still scored points in all three races – and when the BTCC is as competitive as it is this year, that’s the kind of consistency that championships are built on. It’s crucial to stay in the mix even when you don’t have the outright pace.

“The nature of the Rockingham layout has provided some pretty exciting racing over the years, and it has been reasonably kind to us in the past. It’s a totally different prospect to Snetterton and Knockhill and it has some pretty quick corners and high-speed sections – which is where the Civic Tourer truly excels.”

Shedden’s team-mate Matt Neal took his first win of the season at Knockhill, and is hoping for more of the same at the weekend.

He said: “It was nice to get the monkey off my back in the Civic Tourer at Knockhill, and I’m looking forward to Rockingham. I love the circuit, and being Midlands-based, it’s a fairly local track for me so I do receive a lot of support there from family and friends, which always helps you find that extra tenth-of-a-second.

“The racing is invariably close and pretty wild, which can only be good for the fans, and getting the car well hooked-up through turns four, five and six is a real test. The banking will certainly be a challenge if it’s wet, and in the technical infield section, the Civic Tourer should really come into its own. Hopefully, Rockingham will be a happy hunting-ground for us.”