Gordon Shedden topped Knockhill’s first Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship practice session as four of the series’ five main title protagonists filled the top spots.
As glorious sunshine burnt away the early morning fog, Shedden, the big local hero and fourth in the current standings came out on top with a best time of 53.395s in his Honda Racing Team Honda Civic.
Second fastest, a ‘sizeable’ 0.131s behind given Knockhill’s short 1.3-mile lap, was Tom Chilton in his LPG-turbocharged Team Aon Ford Focus. Notably, it was Shedden who set two of the fastest three sector times during session, while Chilton’s car was unrivalled through the speed traps.
Shedden’s team-mate Matt Neal, third in the standings, was next up just 0.037s further back and himself a mere 0.026s clear of series leader Jason Plato’s Silverline Chevrolet Cruze.
Plato’s performance was pretty ominous – he completed considerably fewer laps than his rivals as his mechanics spent the first 15 minutes of the session tinkering with his car’s set-up. Furthermore, his Cruze is starting the weekend handicapped with the maximum 45kgs of success ballast.
“There’s along way to go, we have some braking issues to sort out, but there’s still some time to be found out there,” Said Shedden.
Else where Jonny Adam qualified on pole position for the first Michelin Ginetta G50 race scheduled for 4.30pm today!
Source: BTCC.net
