The fight for second spot in the opening race of the 2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship went down to the wire, as Gordon Shedden held off Adam Morgan by just 0.167s.
Shedden and Morgan nipped by pole-sitter Jeff Smith on the same lap, with the Halfords Yuasa Racing car initially pulling away from the Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes. The Scotsman set the fastest lap of the race, and gained the extra bonus point, before Morgan started reeling him back in.
A series of quick laps left Morgan on Shedden's tail towards the end of the race, but the latter held on to take the place, although both were happy with the result.
"It’s a good start for us, pretty much exactly mirroring what happened last year," said Shedden. "It's a nice podium to start with and some good points in the bag. Tom (Ingram) got a cracking start and he’d made his escape and gone 100 metres or so up the road by the time I’d passed Jeff (Smith).
"Adam (Morgan) was coming on strong towards the end and we had a few dramas with some warning lights coming on all over the dash so I was trying to deal with them a bit, but it was alright in the end. It was a little bit like a Christmas tree with lights all over the dashboard. Something obviously went amiss but the guys will look at the data and try to stop it. It’s a work in progress but we’re moving forward. We’ll come out in race two and try to do a little bit more."
"That’s an amazing way to start the year," responded Morgan. "I was catching Gordon (Shedden) at the end, thinking to myself ‘is it worth it?’ but I just thought it best to bring the car home and get some good points on the board. It was a similar situation to last year really. Do you risk something and go for it, or do you take the points? I think we made the right decision."
