Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan made a return to the podium with an impressive on-track performance during the latest rounds of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Rockingham.
Andrew went into the weekend keen to impress in his Motorbase Performance-run Ford Focus and showed his intentions by topping the times in the opening free practice session of the weekend.
Wet conditions for qualifying played a part in Andrew only managing 14th on the grid for the opening race of the weekend but he made the most of the undoubted speed of the Focus to race his way through to seventh spot by the finish.
Further improvements came in race two, with a strong opening lap seeing Andrew rocket up into third spot before he battled ahead of the Honda of Gordon Shedden to sit second behind team-mate Mat Jackson.
Whilst hopeful of making a move for the lead, Andrew came under attack from the BMW of points leader Sam Tordoff but despite being briefly demoted to third spot, a move on Jackson on lap twelve saw him take the chequered flag in second spot for a third podium finish of the year – and a third Independents win.
Race three on the hard tyre would prove to be damage limitation as he slipped back to twelfth place by the finish, with the points from the weekend seeing Andrew leave Rockingham seventh in the championship standings.
He also retains the lead of the Independents’ championship with two rounds still to go this season.
“It’s been a good day after a tough qualifying session,” he said. “We knew the car was good in the dry after practice, so I was pleased with race one to get seventh from where we were on the grid.
“From there, I knew a podium was on the cards in race two. I thought we could get a win as I was catching Mat, but then Sam came from behind and we just couldn’t match him. It’s been a while since we were on the podium though despite us having shown strong pace, so to get second was still a good result and the Independent win was also good for the championship.
“Race three was always going to be tough with the hard tyre and we got biffed about a bit, but on the whole, it’s been a good weekend and I’m happy with how it’s gone.
“The pace this season has been good but we haven’t had much luck on our side. Hopefully that has changed a bit this weekend and I’m feeling positive going to Silverstone and Brands Hatch for the remaining rounds that we can end the year well.”
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