Podiums, tyre walls and fire extinguishers!

While Chevrolet drivers Jason Plato and Mat Jackson, plus Vauxhall’s Fabrizio Giovanardi all savoured the British Touring Car Championship winner’s champagne, Scots racers Gordon Shedden and Jonathan Adam endured a mixed day at Knockhill.

Shedden, the 30-year-old from Dalgety Bay, started today’s annual visit to Scotland by the BTCC by finishing second to clinch the best result ever for his new team, Glasgow-based Clyde Valley Racing.

But the Fifer’s day ended with his Seat Leon stuck in the tyre wall after he speared through the gravel having been unceremoniously punted off at 120mph by Rob Collard’s BMW in the final race.

“I guess that’s the highs and lows of motor racing,” Shedden, who walked away uninjured from the smash and had earlier finished ninth in the second of the BTCC triple-header, reflected.

“Finishing second in the opening race was awesome and a fantastic way to repay all the hard work and dedication the guys behind the scenes had put into preparing the car.

“And while we struggled with the 45kilos success ballast in the second race, it was a real pity to end the weekend stuck in the tyre wall. I left Rob plenty of space to get past, but he made contact with me and broke the car’s steering. That was it; game over.”

Meanwhile Kirkcaldy 24-year-old Adam suffered an embarrassing  end to his race weekend. After finishing fifth and seventh in the opening two races, the Fifer was forced to retire from fifth in the final race when the fire extinguisher in his BMW went off.

“Not only did it cover me in foam, but it covered the engine as well causing a serious misfire,” Adam, his race overalls drenched, explained. “I don’t know what caused it to go off. It’s never happened to me before. It’s not been the best weekend really. Lady Luck certainly didn’t smile on us.”

Former champ Plato led from start-to-finish in the opening race to clinch his second win of the year, and seventh career victory at Knockhill, while Jackson — who finished second and third in the opening two races — dominated race three.

Giovanardi, bidding for a historic hat-trick of BTCC titles and who entered the weekend trailing the championship-leading RAC BMW of Irishman Colin Turkington by 17 points, was in imperious form to win the day’s second race.

The 43-year-old from Modena’s third-place in the final race means he heads to Silverstone in a fortnight with the gap closed to just nine points.

But it wasn’t just Shedden and Adam who flew the Saltire at Knockhill, Aberdeen 19-year-old Glynn Geddie stepped up his bid to win the Porsche Carrera Cup Pro-Am1 with two scintillating class wins.

Geddie, in his full season driving the blistering quick 420bhp Porsche 911s, capitalised on his gamble of starting the first race on slick tyres despite the fact the circuit was still wet from an earlier shower.

Despite initially dropping back from his sixth on the grid as the drivers who opted for wet tyres enjoyed the slippery conditions, the North-east racer scorched through the field as the track dried.

The talented young Scot not only won his class, but clinched second place overall behind the vastly more experienced Michael Caine and set the fastest lap of the race, 52.295secs.

“It’s been a terrific day,” Geddie, coached by former British and European Porsche champ Barry Horne from Dunfermline and backed by controldriving.com, admitted. “Winning in front of this big support, plus my family and friends, is awesome.”

Geddie heads to the next double-header at Silverstone as the man in form having now won the last four rounds of the Pro-Am1 and closed the gap on championship leader Robert Lawson to just 10 points with six races remaining.

JM

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