Strong weekend for Gordon Shedden at the Nürburgring Nordschleife
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21/05/2018
Gordon Shedden had a competitive weekend at Audi’s home circuit, with key points scored on his Nordschleife debut
Racing on Audi’s home turf, and with a much overdue adjustment in the championship’s compensation weight heading into the weekend, the Audi RS 3 LMS was flying at ‘The Green Hell’, the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife, with Shedden setting the eighth fastest time in the first qualifying session from the 27-car entry, hailing the car as the “best it’s been” all year.
The three-time British champion then secured a strong result in the first race for Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team, with the team finishing 5-6-7 in the epic 75km race on Thursday.
Qualifying for Saturday’s two races was slightly more problematic, with a number of cars making significant gains in set-up, but Shedden’s Audi was quick in the second race, with the saloon shaped car much suited to the long straights of the Nürburgring, again allowing Shedden to carve his way up the order.
There was trouble though as Shedden came together with the BRC Hyundai of championship leader Tarquini on the opening lap, with the Italian closing the door on Shedden’s Audi. Tarquini was eliminated from the race while Shedden continued on with damaged suspension.
The team did a fantastic job to repair the car for Race 3, but the Scotsman found himself the victim of some unhelpful shoves which saw him drop down the order and out of the points, while the offenders picked up minor penalties for their infractions.
Shedden hauls himself up to 20 points in the championship standings, and barely has time to breath with the next race coming up this weekend at the Circuit Zandvoort in The Netherlands.
Gordon Shedden said:
“There were some good moves and the car has felt the best it’s done this year. There’s still a lot of work to do however, and we’ve got to keep our heads down and keep plugging away at it.
“We’ll be racing again at Zandvoort next week, and then after that we’ll have a little bit of time to take stock of the situation. These first few rounds are quite close together, and both I and the team are new to the world championship, so it’ll be nice to work on what we’ve got and try and make a big step forwards for Vila Real in June and onwards.”
Thursday qualifying result
1 - Thed Bjork - Yvan Muller Racing - Hyundai i30 N TCR - 8:58.700
2 - Yvan Muller - Yvan Muller Racing - Hyundai i30 N TCR - 0.079
3 - Norbert Michelisz - BRC Racing Team - Hyundai i30 N TCR - 0.365
4 - Esteban Guerrieri - Münnich Motorsport - Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR - 0.954
5 - Rob Huff - Sébastien Loeb Racing - Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR - 1.209
8 - Gordon Shedden - Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team - Audi RS 3 LMS - 2.535
Thursday race result
1 - Yvan Muller - Yvan Muller Racing - Hyundai i30 N TCR - 3 laps
2 - Thed Bjork - Yvan Muller Racing - Hyundai i30 N TCR - 0.331
3 - Rob Huff - Sébastien Loeb Racing - Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR - 0.853
4 - Norbert Michelisz - BRC Racing Team - Hyundai i30 N TCR - 1.288
5 - Jean-Karl Vernay - Team WRT - Audi RS 3 LMS - 8.112
7 - Gordon Shedden - Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team - Audi RS 3 LMS - 13.468
Friday qualifying result
1 - Thed Bjork - Yvan Muller Racing - Hyundai i30 N TCR - 8:55.085
2 - Frédéric Vervisch - Comtoyou Racing - Audi RS 3 LMS - 1.040
3 - Norbert Michelisz - BRC Racing Team - Hyundai i30 N TCR - 1.449
4 - Yvan Muller - Yvan Muller Racing - Hyundai i30 N TCR - 1.654
5 - Yann Ehrlacher - Münnich Motorsport - Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR - 1.665
15 - Gordon Shedden - Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team - Audi RS 3 LMS - 6.617
Saturday reversed grid race result
1 - Esteban Guerrieri - Münnich Motorsport - Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR - 3 laps
2 - Pepe Oriola - Campos Racing - Cupra TCR - 1.148
3 - Frédéric Vervisch - Comtoyou Racing - Audi RS 3 LMS - 2.988
4 - Yvan Muller - Yvan Muller Racing - Hyundai i30 N TCR - 3.787
5 - Norbert Michelisz - BRC Racing Team - Hyundai i30 N TCR - 4.088
18 - Gordon Shedden - Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team - Audi RS 3 LMS - 44.954
Saturday final race result
1 - Thed Bjork - Yvan Muller Racing - Hyundai i30 N TCR - 3 laps
2 - Frédéric Vervisch - Comtoyou Racing - Audi RS 3 LMS - 0.793
3 - Yvan Muller - Yvan Muller Racing - Hyundai i30 N TCR - 8.947
4 - Benjamin Lessennes - Boutsen Ginion Racing - Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR - 13.088
5 - Nathanaël Berthon - Comtoyou Racing - Audi RS 3 LMS - 15.900
13 - Gordon Shedden - Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team - Audi RS 3 LMS - 30.584
The next round of the 2018 FIA World Touring Car Cup takes place at the Circuit Zandvoort in The Netherlands on May 20th-21st.
