SCOTTISH HERO SHEDDEN LOOKING FORWARD TO OWN BED
Gordon Shedden has responded to comments from fellow Scot
John Cleland earlier this week saying that he won’t
feel any extra pressure racing in front of his home crowd
in Knockhill’s three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car
Championship rounds this coming Sunday (3 September).
Shedden, nicknamed ‘Flash Gordon’, can be a winner
at Knockhill provided he doesn’t let the emotion get
to him, according to former double BTCC champion Cleland.
Shedden’s Knockhill race weekend will be busier than
normal for him – tonight (Thursday) he’ll be starring
in his Team Halfords Honda Integra on closed public roads
in Edinburgh in the much-anticipated British Touring Cars
Live: Edinburgh event, in association with the City of Edinburgh
Council.
Tomorrow (Friday) he’ll be taken for the flying lesson
of a lifetime when he rides at 500mph in a Tornado F3 fighter
jet at RAF Leuchars in Fife. And then it’s onto the
business of performing for the first time in his career as
a BTCC driver on home ground. Cheering him on will not just
be the local fans but also sponsor Clydesdale Bank that has
become the event’s race day sponsor.
But 27-year-old Shedden, currently fifth in what is his debut
BTCC season and having achieved four race victories, believes
he’ll cope with the weight of expectation.
The Dunfermline driver said: "I don’t think there’ll
be any extra pressure as such – it’ll be just
as big as any of the seven BTCC meetings I’ve already
taken part in this year. I think it’ll just be a very
enjoyable weekend.
"I’ve got lots more to do, starting off with the
demonstration in Edinburgh and climbing into the Tornado on
Friday.
"But what I’m really looking forward to is sleeping
in my own bed on the Saturday night. My house is only a 15-minute
drive from Knockhill."
Shedden has also dismissed talk that he has a better chance
of winning at Knockhill because he knows the track better
than any of his rivals.
"That’s nonsense," he added. "Drivers
like Matt Neal, Jason Plato and Colin Turkington have raced
far more laps around Knockhill than me.
"And I also never hear anyone saying the other drivers
have an advantage when we go to places like Thruxton or Brands
Hatch or Silverstone when they’ve all spent time instructing
around there."
Shedden, though, is after a set of strong results from Knockhill’s
three races on Sunday, and not just because he’ll be
competing in from of his home crowd.
He said: "I had a bad time at Snetterton last time out
and saw a whole load of points slip through my fingers.
"But I’ve shown I can bounce back before –
I had a bad day at Croft in July but next time out at Donington
Park won twice. It’s important I knuckle down at Knockhill
and just get on with the job."
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