Wow… what a weekend of BTCC action at Brands Hatch! As many of you will no doubt be aware, we’ve been firmly backing The Halfords Yuasa Racing team and were delighted to see Gordon Shedden successfully defend his title in the final race of an eventful season. Shedden’s teammate Matt Neal, who had previously led the championships, finished the rankings in 6th on a total 275 points.

Shedden’s finish of an impressive 308 points was just enough to see off main rival Sam Tordoff who ended the standings two points behind. Going into a dramatic final race of the season all Shedden needed to do was finish higher than Tordoff – the pressure was firmly on.

In the season finale, the top seven from the previous race were reversed with Tordoff lining up third on the grid and Shedden two places behind him in fifth. Tordoff steamed ahead to an early advantage, but Shedden gradually pulled it back to finish the race third, two places in front of Tordoff.

An elated Shedden commented:

“There have been lots of times during the year when I thought it was getting away from me, but I always said I wouldn’t give up until the very end and to do it in the final race of the season is unbelievable.”

As for next year, Shedden noted:

“A lot can happen over the winter. We will see what we can do – we will need to take more steps forward. We’ll figure it all out, but we will have to go forward.”

Congratulations once again to Gordon Shedden, Matt Neal and the rest of the team behind them. Here’s hoping for an equally successful 2017!

Final standings (top 10)