Shedden tops Donington practice
Gordon Shedden set the pace in free practice for the latest round of the British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park
After going third quickest in the morning session, the Honda driver upped his pace by 0.7 seconds during the afternoon as he went quickest in 1m11.341s.
Morning pace-setter Jason Plato, who is carrying 45kg of success ballast in his championship-leading Chevrolet, twice knocked Shedden off the top spot later on.
Shedden, whose car has 18kg of success ballast, was equal to his challenge each time though and wound up 0.223s quicker than his rival.
The other two title contenders, Tom Onslow-Cole (Arena Ford) and Matt Neal (Honda), were third and fourth quickest. Onslow-Cole recovered from going only 12th in the opening session to third later on, although he was almost half a second off the pace.
While Shedden and Plato were comfortably quicker than anybody else, the gap between Onslow-Cole and 14th placed James Kaye - making his BTCC return after four years away - was less than a second.
Tom Chilton (Arena Ford), Alex MacDowall (Chevrolet) were fifth and sixth while Mat Jackson - second in the morning session - was seventh overall in what was an unusually bright practice overall for the Motorbase BMW squad.
Andrew Jordan (Eurotech Vauxhall), Steven Kane (Motorbase BMW) and James Nash (Triple 8 Vauxhall) completed the top 10.
Rob Collard wound up down in 13th after missing most of the afternoon session when a vibration was detected on his WSR BMW. Shaun Hollamby missed most of that session too when a problem developed with the engine manifold of his AmD Milltek Volkswagen.
The morning session was interrupted by a red flag to retrieve the Tech-Speed Honda of John George, which stopped on the circuit.
Martin Depper had been out on track for just half a lap in the morning session when his Forster BMW dropped a cylinder and came to a halt. He will take no further part in the weekend's activities.
Combined practice times:
Pos Driver Car Time Gap 1. Gordon Shedden Honda 1m11.341s 2. Jason Plato Chevrolet 1m11.564s + 0.223s 3. Tom Onslow-Cole Ford 1m11.799s + 0.458s 4. Matt Neal Honda 1m11.820s + 0.479s 5. Tom Chilton Ford 1m11.911s + 0.570s 6. Alex MacDowall Chevrolet 1m11.922s + 0.581s 7. Mat Jackson BMW 1m11.977s + 0.636s 8. Andrew Jordan Vauxhall 1m11.979s + 0.638s 9. Steven Kane BMW 1m12.040s + 0.699s 10. James Nash Vauxhall 1m12.208s + 0.867s 11. Tom Boardman SEAT 1m12.377s + 1.036s 12. Paul O'Neill Honda 1m12.472s + 1.131s 13. Rob Collard BMW 1m12.556s + 1.215s 14. James Kaye Honda 1m12.712s + 1.371s 15. John George Honda 1m13.039s + 1.698s 16. David Pinkney Vauxhall 1m13.244s + 1.903s 17. Andy Neate BMW 1m13.266s + 1.925s 18. Lea Wood Honda 1m13.538s + 2.197s 19. Martin Johnson Vauxhall 1m13.891s + 2.550s 20. Arthur Forster BMW 1m14.068s + 2.723s 21. Shaun Hollamby Volkswagen 1m14.468s + 3.173s 22. Martin Depper BMW No Time
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