Gordon Shedden

Gordon Shedden

Nationality British
Born (1979-02-15) 15 February 1979
Edinburgh (Scotland)
British Touring Car Championship career
Debut season 2001
Current team Halfords Yuasa Racing
Car no. 52
Former teams Club SEAT
Clyde Valley Racing
GR Motorsport
Starts 317
Wins 45
Poles 11
Fastest laps 48
Best finish 1st in 2012, 2015, 2016
Previous series
2011
2008
2005
2003–04
2000
2000
British GT Championship
FIA GT Championship
Porsche Carrera Cup GB
SEAT Cupra Championship
Dutch Touring Cars
Ford Fiesta Championship
Championship titles
2012, 2015, 2016
2000
BTCC
Ford Fiesta Championship
Awards
2012, 2015, 2016 Autosport National Driver of the Year

Gordon Shedden (born 15 February 1979 in Edinburgh) is a British auto racing driver, who currently competes in the British Touring Car Championship for the Honda Yuasa Racing Team and is the current reigning BTCC champion winning the title for a second consecutive year in 2016. Having won in 2015 and 2016, Shedden was also the 2012 BTCC champion, joining John Cleland and Jim Clark as the only Scottish drivers to win the overall championship title.[1]

Racing career

Early years

In 1999, Shedden began racing in the Ford Fiesta Championship and won it the following season with 9 wins. He raced in the SEAT Cupra Championship, finishing as runner-up in 2003 and 4th in 2004. He also made a one-off appearance in the Production Class of the BTCC at Knockhill in 2001, and at the same circuit in the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain in 2005.[2] He was entered in the 2002 BTCC by GR Motorsport in an Alfa Romeo, but this never reached the track. He has worked as Business Development Manager for the Knockhill circuit,[3] alongside his wife Jillian. He has raced at Macau several times.

British Touring Car Championship

Team Dynamics (2006–2009)

Shedden celebrates his first BTCC win at Oulton Park in 2006.

For 2006, Shedden was chosen by Team Halfords to drive for them in the BTCC, alongside reigning series champion Matt Neal, noting that "it's brilliant to have a teammate that I can learn so much from". He took his first win in the series in race 7 at Oulton Park, and added another in round 10 at Thruxton, where he also took his first pole position. He finished 4th overall with five wins in 2006, finishing the season as rookie of the year. In 2007 his team switched to the Honda Civic, and again took four wins. He was again 4th overall ahead of Neal.

In 2008 he was the team leader alongside Tom Chilton, with Neal leaving to join VX Racing. He took a 2nd place in the season opener,[4] but crashed heavily in race 3.[5] He did not achieve a podium finish at Donington Park,[6] and at Thruxton he led races 1 and 3, but suffered punctures on lap 8 of both races. He was placed in 7th in the Drivers Championship.

2009 saw Shedden joined at Team Dynamics (previously Team Halfords) by former Luton Town F.C. Chairman, David Pinkney. He also took on a new role as Team Ambassador for new racing team, YourRacingCar.com who contested their first year together in the BTCC support series, the Ginetta G50 Cup. He was ranked 9th in the Drivers Standings but was later replaced by James Thompson.

CVR and GR Asia (2009)

Shedden's Civic leads two of the VX Racing Vauxhalls at the Croft round of the 2008 British Touring Car Championship season.

On 15 April 2009 it was announced that James Thompson would be replacing Shedden in the Team Dynamics car for the remainder of the 2009 season. The team said it was working on funds for a 3rd car for Gordon to run later in the season. However, before the round at Snetterton Shedden was signed by Clyde Valley Racing. After competing at two events for the team, they withdrew from the rest of the season. After missing the Silverstone round, Shedden rejoined the series at the penultimate round with the same bio-ethanol SEAT León that he raced for CVR, under the Club SEAT banner. Despite all the changes Shedden managed 2 podiums during 2009 and finished up in 12th in the Drivers Standings.

Honda Racing (2010–)

Shedden driving for Honda Racing at Brands Hatch in the 2011 BTCC season.

After Team Dynamics became an official manufacturer Honda team ahead of the 2010 season, Shedden and Neal were re-signed by the team. Shedden secured pole position for the first race of the season at Thruxton, he led the opening race but suffered a 125 mph shunt as a result of a puncture. Shedden won 2 races at Croft Circuit followed by wins at Snetterton, Knockhill and Donington and finished 3rd in the Drivers Championship.[7]

Shedden remained with Honda for the 2011 season with the Honda Civic now powered by an NGTC turbocharged engine. He finished the drivers championship in second place, 8 points behind his team mate Matt Neal having been his only title challenger at the penultimate race of the season.

Shedden stayed with Honda in 2012, driving the new full-NGTC Honda Civic. His teammate would Matt Neal for the third year in a row. He had a disappointing opening round at Brands Hatch, his car was plagued with electrical problems for much of the weekend. He was disqualified from the third race of the day after his team worked on his car during the red flag period.[8] Things improved at the next round where Shedden took two wins from three races, including one inherited due to penalties for Mat Jackson and Jason Plato. Problems for Plato at Oulton Park and good results put him in the championship lead after the first race.[9] He was second in the championship going into the summer break, one point behind team–mate Neal. When the season resumed at Snetterton, Shedden's car caught fire in the first free practice session.[10] Shedden finished third in race three but post-race scrutineering found that his Honda had been over-boosting, thus disqualifying him from the results.[11] He won two of the three races at Rockingham in wet conditions where he regained the championship lead.[12] Shedden secured his first BTCC title in race two at Brands Hatch, finishing second behind Aron Smith.

The Honda team retained Shedden and Neal for 2013 in a pair of Honda Civics.[13] He was excluded from the second race at the season opening Brands Hatch round having failed the ride height test, elevating Jeff Smith to the final podium spot. He went on to finish 2nd in the standings just 7 points away from retaining his crown.

2014 saw the Honda team make the switch to run the new Honda tourer model for a year. It happened to be fairly unsuccessful however. Shedden managed two wins, 8 podiums and finished up 3rd in the drivers championship.

for 2015 the team ran a pair of brand new Honda Type R's. Shedden took the cars first win in just the second race of the season. In what was to be one of the most tense and dramatic title showdowns ever. Shedden took the title by just 4 points from Jason Plato and thus his second drivers title.

Halfords returned as the teams main sponsor for 2016 a full 10 years since they took Matt Neal to his second drivers title. Shedden hit the ground running with a win at the first round. However a lean spell mid season due to some bad luck saw Shedden sitting 9th in the standings at the halfway point. In the second half of the season Shedden would take 3 wins and 4 podiums to claw back the points deficit to BMW's Sam Tordoff. In the last race of the season Shedden overtook Sam to clinch his third champinship title. Shedden became the first man to successfully defend his crown since Fabrizio Giovanardi in 2008.

Top Gear

Shedden has made multiple appearances on Top Gear. His first appearance came in Series 12, Episode 5, where he drove a Mercedes-Benz O305G Articulated bus in a bus race. In Series 14, Episode 4, he drove an articulated bus in the airport vehicles race.[14] In series 20, episode 2, he participated in and won a taxi race driving a Hindustan Ambassador.

Racing record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) Races in bold indicate pole position (1 point awarded – 2001 all races, 2006–present just in first race, 2001 in class) Races in italics indicate fastest lap (1 point awarded – 2001–present all races, 2001 in class) * signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap (1 point given – 2001–present all races)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Pts
2001 GR Motorsport Ford Focus P BRH
1
BRH
2
THR
1
THR
2
OUL
1
OUL
2
SIL
1
SIL
2
MON
1
MON
2
DON
1
DON
2
KNO
1

3
KNO
2

5*
SNE
1
SNE
2
CRO
1
CRO
2
OUL
1
OUL
2
SIL
1
SIL
2
DON
1
DON
2
BRH
1
BRH
2
15th 30
2006 Team Halfords Honda Integra Type-R BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

Ret
BRH
3

4
MON
1

5
MON
2

DSQ
MON
3

6
OUL
1

1*
OUL
2

3
OUL
3

Ret
THR
1

1*
THR
2

2
THR
3

11
CRO
1

12
CRO
2

4
CRO
3

17
DON
1

1*
DON
2

1*
DON
3

3
SNE
1

Ret
SNE
2

6
SNE
3

5
KNO
1

6
KNO
2

Ret
KNO
3

2*
BRH
1

7
BRH
2

4
BRH
3

2
SIL
1

6
SIL
2

2
SIL
3

Ret
4th 204
2007 Team Halfords Honda Civic BRH
1

8
BRH
2

Ret
BRH
3

Ret
ROC
1

4
ROC
2

Ret
ROC
3

6
THR
1

Ret
THR
2

8
THR
3

2
CRO
1

2
CRO
2

Ret*
CRO
3

4
OUL
1

1*
OUL
2

Ret
OUL
3

4
DON
1

1*
DON
2

2*
DON
3

5
SNE
1

1*
SNE
2

Ret*
SNE
3

5
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

3
BRH
3

2
KNO
1

Ret
KNO
2

4
KNO
3

1*
THR
1

3
THR
2

Ret
THR
3

9
3rd 200
2008 Team Halfords Honda Civic BRH
1

6
BRH
2

2
BRH
3

Ret
ROC
1

1*
ROC
2

4
ROC
3

4
DON
1

4
DON
2

9*
DON
3

10
THR
1

13*
THR
2

8
THR
3

17*
CRO
1

3*
CRO
2

Ret
CRO
3

6
SNE
1

4
SNE
2

8
SNE
3

Ret
OUL
1

7
OUL
2

8
OUL
3

1*
KNO
1

4
KNO
2

4
KNO
3

8
SIL
1

13
SIL
2

8
SIL
3

11
BRH
1

13
BRH
2

9
BRH
3

9
7th 144
2009 Team Dynamics Honda Civic BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

6
BRH
3

5
THR
1
THR
2
THR
3
DON
1
DON
2
DON
3
OUL
1
OUL
2
OUL
3
CRO
1
CRO
2
CRO
3
14th 34
Cartridge World Carbon Zero Racing SEAT León SNE
1

Ret
SNE
2

10
SNE
3

12
KNO
1

2
KNO
2

9*
KNO
3

Ret
SIL
1
SIL
2
SIL
3
Club SEAT ROC
1

12
ROC
2

Ret
ROC
3

8
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

10
BRH
3

9
2010 Honda Racing Team Honda Civic THR
1

Ret*
THR
2

11
THR
3

4
ROC
1

2
ROC
2

13
ROC
3

Ret
BRH
1

2
BRH
2

2*
BRH
3

9
OUL
1

2
OUL
2

Ret
OUL
3

10
CRO
1

1*
CRO
2

1*
CRO
3

9
SNE
1

4
SNE
2

8
SNE
3

1*
SIL
1

10
SIL
2

7
SIL
3

5
KNO
1

1*
KNO
2

2*
KNO
3

9
DON
1

1*
DON
2

2*
DON
3

6
BRH
1

2
BRH
2

NC
BRH
3

8
3rd 218
2011 Honda Racing Team Honda Civic BRH
1

6
BRH
2

2
BRH
3

4
DON
1

DSQ
DON
2

6
DON
3

Ret
THR
1

1*
THR
2

2*
THR
3

6
OUL
1

1*
OUL
2

6*
OUL
3

2
CRO
1

5
CRO
2

4
CRO
3

6
SNE
1

3
SNE
2

1*
SNE
3

7
KNO
1

3
KNO
2

1*
KNO
3

5
ROC
1

6
ROC
2

1*
ROC
3

21
BRH
1

19
BRH
2

8
BRH
3

2*
SIL
1

2
SIL
2

1*
SIL
3

10
2nd 249
2012 Honda Yuasa Racing Team Honda Civic BRH
1

5
BRH
2

Ret
BRH
3

DSQ
DON
1

2
DON
2

1*
DON
3

1*
THR
1

6
THR
2

1*
THR
3

1*
OUL
1

4
OUL
2

1*
OUL
3

4
CRO
1

3*
CRO
2

1*
CRO
3

6
SNE
1

7
SNE
2

2
SNE
3

DSQ
KNO
1

3
KNO
2

3
KNO
3

Ret
ROC
1

3
ROC
2

1*
ROC
3

1*
SIL
1

7
SIL
2

7
SIL
3

6
BRH
1

5
BRH
2

2
BRH
3

3
1st 408
2013 Honda Yuasa Racing Team Honda Civic BRH
1

19
BRH
2

DSQ
BRH
3

2
DON
1

1*
DON
2

3*
DON
3

2
THR
1

25
THR
2

3
THR
3

1*
OUL
1

3
OUL
2

2
OUL
3

17
CRO
1

3
CRO
2

2
CRO
3

4
SNE
1

3
SNE
2

7
SNE
3

1*
KNO
1

2
KNO
2

3
KNO
3

Ret
ROC
1

4
ROC
2

2
ROC
3

5
SIL
1

11
SIL
2

7
SIL
3

1*
BRH
1

2
BRH
2

7
BRH
3

1*
2nd 390
2014 Honda Yuasa Racing Team Honda Civic Tourer BRH
1

4
BRH
2

2
BRH
3

6
DON
1

6
DON
2

3
DON
3

1*
THR
1

3
THR
2

1*
THR
3

6
OUL
1

4
OUL
2

5
OUL
3

2
CRO
1

2
CRO
2

2
CRO
3

4
SNE
1

7
SNE
2

3
SNE
3

5
KNO
1

3
KNO
2

12
KNO
3

6
ROC
1

8
ROC
2

8
ROC
3

Ret
SIL
1

14
SIL
2

11
SIL
3

8
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

6
BRH
3

1*
3rd 349
2015 Honda Yuasa Racing Team Honda Civic Type R BRH
1

6
BRH
2

1*
BRH
3

NC
DON
1

2
DON
2

14
DON
3

3
THR
1

1*
THR
2

3
THR
3

5
OUL
1

6
OUL
2

2
OUL
3

4
CRO
1

4
CRO
2

5
CRO
3

3*
SNE
1

14
SNE
2

Ret
SNE
3

24
KNO
1

5
KNO
2

1*
KNO
3

8
ROC
1

2
ROC
2

1*
ROC
3

8
SIL
1

3
SIL
2

4
SIL
3

5
BRH
1

6
BRH
2

19
BRH
3

4
1st 348
2016 Halfords Yuasa Racing Honda Civic Type R BRH
1

2
BRH
2

1*
BRH
3

Ret
DON
1

11
DON
2

4
DON
3

2
THR
1

Ret
THR
2

4
THR
3

Ret
OUL
1

4
OUL
2

4
OUL
3

23
CRO
1

15
CRO
2

13
CRO
3

22
SNE
1

2*
SNE
2

10
SNE
3

1*
KNO
1

9
KNO
2

9
KNO
3

4
ROC
1

1*
ROC
2

10*
ROC
3

2
SIL
1

23
SIL
2

8
SIL
3

1*
BRH
1

5
BRH
2

3
BRH
3

3
1st 308

Complete British GT Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Pts
2011 Rosso Verde Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 OUL
1
OUL
2
SNE BRH SPA
1
SPA
2
ROC
1
ROC
2
DON
6
SIL
11
21st 12

References

  1. "Shedden receives Autosport award". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 3 December 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  2. "Round 8 – Knockhill 27 August – 28th". Parr Motorsport. Parr. 28 August 2005. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  3. Morrison, Iain (3 September 2006). "Sheddon hits the home straight". The Scotsman. Johnston Press. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  4. Disdale, James (31 March 2008). "BTCC opening round". Auto Express. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  5. Collantine, Keith; Goodwin, Andrew (31 March 2008). "Giovanardi wins as team mate crashes". Auto Trader. Trader Publishing Ltd. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  6. "Podium blank for race ace at Donington". Dunfermline Press. Forth Weekly Press. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  7. "Shedden secures final victory". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 8 August 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  8. Matt Neal makes strong season start for Honda, TouringCarTimes.
  9. Hudson, Neil. "Shedden soars into points lead after strong day". TouringCarTimes. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  10. Hudson, Neil (11 August 2012). "Practice fireball for Gordon Shedden". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  11. "Shedden excluded from results". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 12 August 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  12. "Rockingham race round-up". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 23 September 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  13. "Honda confirms 2013 attack". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  14. Gordon Shedden, IMDb.

Media related to Gordon Shedden at Wikimedia Commons

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Matt Neal
British Touring Car Championship
Champion

2012
Succeeded by
Andrew Jordan
Preceded by
Colin Turkington
British Touring Car Championship
Champion

20152016
Succeeded by
Incumbent
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Matt Neal
Autosport Awards
National Driver of the Year

2012
Succeeded by
Andrew Jordan
Preceded by
Colin Turkington
Autosport Awards
National Driver of the Year

2015–2016
Succeeded by
Incumbent
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