The Story
Right from the off, it was clear both Halfords Yuasa Racing drivers were after the title. Though not quite the most consistent of teams in the championship, the team will have more than one trophy for their cabinet this season.
Things started off well for the Honda duo that would make it to the end of the championship. Both Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden took two podiums in the opening round, with Shedden even taking a win in the second race.
The same fate wouldn’t meet third driver Andy Neate. The Aylesbury driver had been a bit of a surprise to some, with his BTCC career matching up with neither Neal’s nor Shedden’s. Though Neate would give it a good go, the points just weren’t there for the third driver. The best he achieved over the opening weekend would be an eighteenth and, before the Donington Park weekend, he was dropped from the Honda line up.
Neal would have to wait until Donington Park to take his first win of the season but, six races in, and both of the drivers had taken wins. Shedden joined him on the podium, taking second and making it Honda’s third double podium in two race weekends.
It was rare to find such good weekends though. Even in the opening round, disaster struck the team with Shedden unable to finish the final race of the weekend. All through the season, both drivers finishes were erratic – Shedden’s more so. Though most of his finishes would be inside the top ten, Shedden would often have at least one poorer scoring finish per weekend and, despite taking points in every race he finished, Neal’s score sheet wasn’t entirely perfect either.
But still, the points the duo were pulling in were usually at the top of the spectrum and in the second half of the season, things seemed to be calming down a little as the pair completed nine consecutive races with both drivers in the top ten. Shedden even took Honda’s first pole position in the BTCC for over three years for the first Snetterton race.
Going into the final round of the championship, Shedden and Neal were second and third in the championship. If Shedden were to retain the title, he would be the first person to do it since Neal in 2006. If Neal took the win, he’d be only the second person in BTCC history to take four championship victories.
Neither would be on pole position for the first race of the final showdown. In fact, starting way back in seventh and eleventh (or what would have felt like way back), wasn’t where either of them wanted to be, but a strong drive from Shedden would put him right in the heart of the battle for the second and third races.
Neal’s championship hopes were wiped out with a retirement in the second race which damaged his car so badly he wasn’t able to come back out for the final race of the season.
Still, Shedden fought on. Starting right behind his championship rival for the final race of the season, Shedden showed just what the Honda could do, managing to get past Sam Tordoff’s BMW and take victory (or third in the race, anyway). It was enough to secure the crown and, for the second year in a row, he was atop his Honda in celebration.
The Stats
Qualifying Positions
Finishing Positions
Position Changes
Image Credit: Caroline Rhea
