The new racing season is fast approaching and Andrew Jordan says that Pirtek Racing is in good shape for the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.
The 2013 champion will spearhead the works MG team in the Pirtek Racing MG6 GT and believes that it will prove to be a good move from the Honda Civic he raced for the last two seasons.
“The move is something we thought about a lot,” said Andrew. “It’s not a decision you want to rush into and we wanted to give ourselves the best chance of challenging for the title. It is very different doing it this way, but I’m very comfortable with the decision we’ve made.”
Recent weeks have centred on a busy schedule of pre-season testing at Donington Park, Thruxton, Snetterton and Brands Hatch. “We’ll have done six days of testing by the time the season starts, which is about where we want to be,” he said.
The testing programme has allowed Andrew to really get to know his Pirtek MG. “The MG is very good,” he says. “It’s not hugely different to the Honda. There are some areas where it’s better and some areas where it’s not quite so good. We’ve been working hard on any areas where we felt we could improve and I think we’ll be very strong.
“Not many other BTCC teams have been out testing, so that should stand us in good stead at the start of the season. At this time of the year we just want to keep our heads down and do as well as we can and not worry too much about what everyone else is doing. We’re going to be challenging, that’s for sure.”
More than ever in 2015, Andrew reckons that consistency will bring success in the final championship standings. “They’ve increased the success ballast so this year, more than ever, it’s all about being there or thereabouts every weekend. I think you’ll see the championship lead swop more and people having peaks and troughs depending on the amount of success ballast.
“Any weekends carrying maximum ballast will be all about damage limitation. You’ve got to keep scoring points, even on the bad weekends. Our plan is to win when we can, get podiums and score as well as we can.”
The partnership between Andrew and Pirtek is one of the most successful in the BTCC. “This is the 11th year for us with Pirtek and we’ve grown together in the BTCC,” he says. “Now, Pirtek is the primary sponsor on a works car and we’ve very proud of that.”
After the media day at Donington Park (24 March), it will be time for final preparations ahead of the opening races of the season at Brands Hatch on Easter Sunday (5 April).
“The first race weekend of the season has come round really fast and I’m really looking forward to going racing again. I think we can hit the ground running and I’ve been on pole for the first race for the last two years. That’s due to being ready early and being out testing. If I can do that again this year, it would prove a good point!”
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