SCOTLAND’S Gordon Shedden got his 2022 British Touring Car Championship campaign off to a flying start with a win and a huge haul of points.
The Fife ace and three-time BTCC title winner left Donington Park in the Midlands lying second in the table – adding third and ninth places to his victory during the opening three races.
The series has been revamped this year, with hybrid boost technology introduced to the cars, and Honda Civic Type R driver “Flash” Gordon said: “There was some great racing and the car is mega so I am really, really happy.
“There are so many competitive cars, it is just insane out there. To be in the mix is mega – that is exactly what we want just now.”
Rory Butcher, also based out of Knockhill, had a tough start to the weekend with mechanical problems in his Toyota Corolla. But he managed a 10th and seventh place finishes in the last two encounters.
Infiniti Q50 duo Aiden Moffat, from Dalketih, and Glasgow’s Dexter Patterson had a tough weekend. Moffat had to settle for two 16th-place finishes before an early exit in the finale while Patterson was 18th in all three outings.
In the supporting MINI Challenge UK competition, Fifer Ronan Pearson had a stunning reverse-grid win after finishing sixth and fourth in the opening two races.
Falkirk’s Jack Davidson had two second places before an early retirement in race three, while Peebles-based Robbie Dalgleish just missed out on a podium slot in the last encounter.
Perth’s Ru Clark, Aberdeen’s Hannah Chapman, Fifer Joe Tanner and Alloa’s Ross Marshall all had a mixed set of results – typical of the topsy-turvy MINI race action.
Teenage Ginetta Junior star Fergus Chalmers, from Aberdeenshire, was in the heat of some titanic battles – including a stunning sixth place in the final race.
Young kart star Oliver Stewart, from Inverness, made his debut in the F4 Championship. He showed excellent pace as he came home 12th, 10th and 11th.
Further south, Borders driver Garry Pearson, who claimed four national titles in 2021, was making a noticeable impression in the British Rally Championship during his top-flight debut at Clacton in Essex.
The 30-year-old, from Duns, was challenging for a podium position in his Ford Fiesta Rally2 at the mid-point of the rally until he and co-driver Dale Furniss ended up in a ditch during the ninth stage.
He said: “I’m really disappointed to end our rally in this way but the pace we showed was really encouraging. I know there is plenty more to come from us.”
Enticingly, the next round – the Jim Clark Rally at the end of May – is based around Pearson’s home town. He added: “Nothing beats the feeling of rallying on home soil. We will be going all out for a top result.”
Meanwhile, at home, David Bogie took an incredible 10th win at the Elgin-based Speyside Stages – which was the second round of the Scottish Rally Championship.
Co-driven by experienced Irishman Barney Mitchell, the Dumfries MINI WRC pilot trailed the leaders early on because of a fuelling issue. Once fixed, the pair charged from behind to take the win by 20 seconds at the finish.
Leading for most of the day, Jock Armstrong, from Castle Douglas, with Tobermory’s Cammy Fair on the notes, were delighted with a second consecutive second place in their tweaked Subaru Impreza.
Borders pair Michael Binnie and co-pilot Claire Mole backed up their Snowman win with a solid third place in their Mitsubishi Evo 9.
Fans were also treated to plenty of fast-paced action at Knockhill, which hosted the first round of Super Lap Scotland as well as ModSports and Scottish Legends races.
SLS class table-toppers were Nev Wood, Craig Nicol, Michael Osborne Jnr, Mike Jones, Robert Wilkie, Tom Lockhart and Steven Somerville. The results mean Wilkie and Lockhart are tied at the top in the battle to be crowned King of the Hill, with five rounds left to go.
In the ModSports, Roddie Paterson followed by Marc Dawson and Adam Morrison took the podium spots in both races.
The Legends saw Stewart Black win the first heat and Ben Mason take the second, with some incredibly close racing. Black, however, emerged victorious in the final.
This weekend signals the opening round of the 2022 KMSC Bike Racing Championships at the Fife circuit. More than 130 riders will participate in two days of full-on racing.
Also on two wheels, McAMS Yamaha rider Tarran Mackenzie, from Stirlingshire, will hopefully be back on track at Oulton Park in Cheshire to defend his British Superbike Championship title after missing the first round through pre-season injury.
And Perth’s Rory Skinner, on board an FS-3 Racing Kawasaki, will look to build on his podium success from the first round at Silverstone.
Aberdeen’s Dean Macdonald is due to head to Brands Hatch for the GT World Challenge Europe opening Sprint Cup contest, racing a Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3.
The GT Cup is running alongside it as a support event at the famous Kent venue and is set to feature Dumfriesshire’s Ross Wylie in a very rare Brabham BT62 with SB Race Engineering fellow driver Paul Bailey.
Motherwell’s Ian Loggie will also be hunting down rivals in his RAM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, having enjoyed early season successes elsewhere.
Neil Maclennan, from Inverness, is sure to want to build up his experience and gain points in the Valluga Racing Porsche Caymen GT4 he shares with Cameron Fenton.
And across the pond, Airdrie’s Ryan Dalziel will race with Era Motorsport colleague Dwight Merriman in an Oreca LMP2 in the IMSA Sportscar Championship endurance race at Laguna in California.
Glasgow’s Stevan McAleer will be in a Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 alongside Mike Skeen. In a busy weekend and hot off his American GT4 success at Sonomo, the Scot will also compete in an RS1 Porsche 718 GT4 for the Pilot Challenge.
