BTCC: Team Halfords Lies Third In The Teams’ Championship

May 05, 2008

Team Halfords drivers Gordon ‘Flash’ Shedden and Tom ‘Sonic’ Chilton endured a weekend of mixed emotions at Donington Park during the third round of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship.

Flash secured a solid fourth place in race one after qualifying in fifth position, before contact in race two prevented him from challenging for a podium finish.  A tyre gamble for the third race didn’t quite pay off in the damp conditions.

Sonic rebounded from a retirement in race one to secure a pair of fifth place finishes after a stunning drive from the back of the grid in race two and he now lies eighth in the drivers’ championship, with Flash continuing to lead the Team Halfords challenge in fourth.

Team Halfords lies third in the teams’ championship.

Race one:

Having qualified in fifth place, Flash made a solid start and climbed up the order to third place on lap one. After an early Safety Car period, Gordon ran slightly wide in the tricky conditions at Coppice which allowed both Darren Turner and Jason Plato to get past the Honda Civic. Although he managed to climb back up as high as second, Vauxhall pair Matt Neal and Tom Onslow-Cole was able to bump Gordon off the podium to leave him in a credible fourth place.

Team-mate Tom Chilton had produced a solid driver in the second Honda to climb up from seventh on the grid to fifth in the early stages, before he was involved in an incident with Mat Jackson while dicing for position on lap ten. Contact between the two running down the very fast and tricky Craner Curves saw both cars end up in the gravel and out of the race.

Race two:

After a slightly confusing start to race two following an aborted start, Gordon quickly moved to the head of the field from the second row of the grid to lead the race after lap one, with damp conditions providing the teams with an extra challenge. After a Safety Car period following a lap one accident, Gordon ran wide on the restart at the Old Hairpin and dropped to third place but was then lucky to avoid a huge accident on lap ten was he was nudged off the track by Tom Onslow-Cole after the Vauxhall man got out of shape coming through the Craner Curves - just avoiding collecting the Vectra as he came back across the track. It meant Flash dropped down the order and he took the flag in ninth place, giving him pole for race three under the reverse grid rules.

Sonic was forced to start from the rear of the field after his race one retirement but launched a storming drive to come through the field and into contention for a points finish. He became embroiled in a heated battle with Matt Neal, Tom Onslow-Cole and Darren Turner before eventually finishing in a fine fifth place - just behind Turner’s diesel powered SEAT.

Race three:

The final race saw disappointment for Flash after he gambled on a mixed wet tyre setup on his Honda Civic, and despite sliding wide at the final turn on lap one to lose the lead, it looked like being the right move for the Scot as he soon emerged as the quickest driver on the circuit. However, having made up places, Gordon was unable to challenge as the circuit started to dry out and his tyres went off.  He didn’t give up though and managed to salvage tenth place and a points finish at the end.

Tom battled back from a disappointing start that saw him drop to eleventh to produce a storming drive back through the pack as he matched his result from the second race of the weekend by taking fifth place after a number of heated battles along the way.