Gordon Shedden

Gordon Shedden, nicknamed Flash, is a Scottish racing driver who won the British Touring Car Championship title three times, claiming the title of champion in 2012, 2015, and 2016. He won all three titles driving Honda.

Shedden debuted in the BTCC in 2001 but he did not enter the championship as a full-time driver until 2006. Besides BTCC, he successfully competed in the Ford Fiesta and Seat Cupra championships. Most recently, he spent two seasons in the WTCR - FIA World Touring Car Cup.

Shedden won BTCC in 2012, 2015 and 2016

British Touring Car Championship debut in 2001

Gordon Shedden was born on February 15th, 1979, in Edinburgh, Scotland. He had started racing in the British Ford Fiesta Championship and won the championship in 2000 with nine victories. He was driving for Tim Norton Motor Services. With another team, GR Motorsport, he appeared in some races of the British National Saloon Cup and the Dutch Touring Car Championship, driving Ford Focus.

In 2001, Ford Focus was Gordon's car in his debut in the Production class of the British Touring Car Championship. He had raced at Scottish Knockhill circuit and took the pole position, one win and two podiums.

Flash is using number 52 since 2006

Good results in the Seat Cupra Championship

Although Gordon had a successful BTCC debut, he had to wait for a full-time schedule until 2006. In the meantime, he competed two seasons in the Seat Cupra Championship. He was the runner-up in the 2003 Seat Cupra Championship, behind Rob Huff. Shedden scored one win and five podiums in ten races.

In 2004, Shedden again scored one win and five podiums in twelve races and finished 4th in the Seat Cupra Championship. In 2005, he was a guest driver at Knockhill's round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain and reached two podiums in two races. Shedden had a special connection with the most popular Scottish circuit, not only as a driver, but he also worked there as Business Development Manager alongside his wife Jillian.

Shedden tok his first BTCCvictory in 2006 at Oulton Park

Full-time BTCC driver since 2006

Finally, in 2006, Gordon got a full-time arrangement for BTCC. Team Halfords chose him to drive alongside the reigning champion Matt Neal. Gordon got the number 52 on his Honda Integra Type R and he remained with that number for the rest of his career. His first win came in the third round at Oulton Park. In total, he took four victories and 10 podiums in 30 races, and finished 4th in the championship standings. Matt Neal was the champion again, Shedden won the Rookie of the Year award, and Halfords took the team's championship title.

In 2007, Team Halfords switched to Honda Civic Type R and Shedden again took four wins and ten podiums. It was enough for 3rd place in the classification ahead of his teammate Matt Neal. For the first time in BTCC, Shedden won at his home track at Knockhill.

24h Spa and British GT participations with Ferrari

In 2008, Matt Neal moved to VX Racing and Shedden got Tom Chilton as a new teammate. Shedden took just two wins at Rockingham and Oulton Park to finish 7th in the championship standings. In August 2008, Shedden competed with CR Scuderia at 24 Hours of Spa, which was the part of the FIA GT Championship. He was driving Ferrari F430 GT2 alongside Tim Mullen, Andrea Piccini, and Chris Niarchos, and they finished 9th overall and 4th in class.

Gordon recorded two more races with Ferrari later in his career. He was driving Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 alongside Hector Lester for Rosso Verde team in the last two rounds of the 2011 British GT Championship at Donington Park and Silverstone. He also experienced GT racing at the famous Bathurst 12 Hour race in Australia, driving Lotus Exige S (in 2014) and Aston Martin Vantage GT3 (in 2015) for the Motionsport team.

Shedden raced with Seat Leon in the 2009 BTCC season

Shedden changed three teams in the 2009 BTCC season

In 2009, Gordon had a diverse program in BTCC with three teams. He started the season driving Honda Civic for the Team Dynamics (renamed Team Halfords) at Brands Hatch. He was then replaced by James Thompson and he skipped four rounds. He signed for Clyde Valley Racing and drove its bio-ethanol powered Seat Leon at Snetterton and Knockhill, scoring the second place in the first race at the Scottish circuit. The CVR team withdrew from BTCC but Shedden re-entered with the same car under the Seat Club banner in the final two rounds. He finished 14th in the championship standings.

Shedden and Neal together since 2010

For 2010 season, Team Dynamics became the official manufacturer Honda team. Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden returned to the team. Both of them were very competitive in Honda Civics but Jason Plato won the championship title, leaving Neal and Shedden in the 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Honda Racing Team, at least, took the manufacturers' title. Shedden scored five wins and 12 podiums.

In 2011, Shedden progressed but again lost the championship. With six wins and 13 podiums he finished 2nd, behind his teammate Matt Neal. It was Neal's third BTCC crown, and Shedden was still waiting for his first.

Shedden won his first BRCC title in 2012

Gordon Shedden - the 2012 BTCC champion

The waiting was over in 2012; the team was renamed to Honda Yuasa Racing Team, Shedden and Neal remained the drivers, and Civics were again dominant cars during the season. Shedden and Neal again were at the top but this time, Shedden took the title. He won eight races and added eight more podiums to win with 21 points gap ahead of Neal.

In 2013, Shedden scored five victories and he was fighting for the title until the last race at Brands Hatch against Andrew Jordan but Jordan took the title by seven points.

Third in a championship with Civic Tourer

In 2014, Honda switched to unusual Civic Tourer cars. Shedden was much more successful than his teammate Neal. He scored three wins and nine more podiums while Neal had just one win and five podiums. Shedden finished 3rd in the final standings behind Colin Turkington and Jason Plato.

Jason Plato and Gordon Shedden fought for the 2015 title until the last race

Shedden won the 2015 and 2016 BTCC crowns in exciting finales

The season of 2015, in which Honda Racing team was using Civic Type R, was one of the most exciting in the history of BTCC with a fierce battle for the crown until the last lap of the last race. At the end, Plato was just four points short and Shedden was celebrating his second title. Neal finished third and Honda took the manufacturers' title.

In 2016, Shedden and Neal were chosen as teammates for seventh consecutive year. After Shedden's four wins through the season, the championship was again decided at the thrilling Brands Hatch finale. Shedden entered the last round as the second-placed driver, eleven points behind Sam Tordoff. After three races he beat Tordoff by two points, winning his third BTCC crown.

Shedden was driving the #52 Honda from 2006 to 2017, except in 2013

Leaving BTCC at the end of 2017, a new challenge is the WTCR

In 2017, which turned to be Shedden's last BTCC season so far, the Flash was a race winner three times in the #52 Honda Civic Type R, finishing fourth in the championship points. At the end of the season, Shedden and Team Dyamic parted ways.

On February 15, 2018, on Shedden's 39th birthday, it was announced that his new job would be in a cockpit of the #52 Audi RS3 LMS of the Belgian Team WRT in the inaugural season of the WTCR - FIA Touring Car Cup.

Shedden had a tough season in a new environment, scoring one victory (Wuhan) and finishing 13th in the championship points. In 2019, staying with Audi, he scored no wins or podiums, finishing 26th in the points.

Gordon Shedden next to his #52 Audi

Photos: Honda Racing BTCC, Wikipedia, Matt Sayle, gordonshedden.com, touringcartimes.com,