Andy Jordan brought to a close the 2013 Michelin Clio Cup Series with Protyre season with a dominant double victory in Rounds 7 and 8 at Brands Hatch.
The privateer racer followed up a dominant first win in Saturday’s opening race with an even more commanding victory on Sunday, on a weekend that saw no less than four new faces join him on the overall podium in the absence of series front-runners Luke Herbert and Peter Felix.
Jordan’s dominance started in the weekend’s opening qualifying session, the Bridgnorth-based driver heading the timesheet 0.6 seconds clear of the rest of the pack. A good start in light rain saw Jordan lead into Paddock Hill bend for the first time, with fellow front-row starter Pete Bennett just fending off a fast-starting Brett Lidsey.
On the run into Druids, Lidsey grabbed second, but at Graham Hill Bend he slid wide and dropped to sixth behind Bennett, Simon Hunt, David Pierce and David Thomas.
With the chasing back jostling for position, Jordan was able to scamper off into the distance, leading by 2.3 seconds at the end of the opening lap. Comfortable from there, he eventually took the chequered flag 21 laps later roughly five seconds to the good.
Finesse Motorsport’s Bennett remained in the runner-up spot for the duration to take a podium on his debut, impressively setting the fastest lap of the race on the penultimate tour.
Hunt held third until lap six, when Pierce managed to get through coming out of Clark Curve. As the Procom Team Racing ace held the final podium place until the finish for a long-awaited first podium, Hunt just fended off Thomas for fourth, with another moment for Lidsey leaving him to settle for sixth.
Jordan’s dominance went to new levels in the second race on Sunday. Fresh from qualifying on pole once again by a quarter of a second, the former Euro Saloons champion stormed into the distance to take another lights-to-flag success, this time by around eleven seconds.
“It’s been a great weekend,” said Jordan. “The car felt good in both races, Saturday was a bit tricky with the conditions being a bit slippery at the start but it was great to win – I would have liked more of a battle but I was still happy. I got a really good start to the second race, then just drove away.”
Bennett ran second for the majority of the race and looked set to take another podium finish until he was forced into retirement on the penultimate lap when his Clio lost all power.
Benefitting to grab second was Lidsey, his maiden podium in the series, while series debutant Ollie Pidgley battled back brilliantly from the back of the class after a sluggish start to take third and with it the fastest lap of the race, a great result following his eighth place in race one.
In the battle of the David’s, Pierce just fended off Thomas for fourth, while Hunt rounded out the top six ahead of James Weston, the Scuderia Vittoria racer adding a seventh to his ninth from race one. Jason Tarling and Ian Jordan failed to make the finish meanwhile, having finished seventh and tenth respectively in the opener.
In the ‘roadcar’ class, Tommy Ostgaard saw him 100% winning record ended in style by his SWB Motorsport team-mate Sam Randon. Ostgaard started the opening race from pole, however Randon squeezed ahead on the opening lap and never looked back, an assured drive giving him his first class win.
Ostgaard managed to maintain second, while Autosport journalist Glenn Freeman usurped Jake Honour for third after an entertaining scrap.
Randon led from pole to flag in race two to complete a dominant weekend, with Ostgaard and Freeman once again completing the class podium, the latter earning the ‘Driver of the Event’ award after a strong maiden weekend.
“I’ve been working so hard all year to beat Tommy [Ostgaard], he’s been the man to beat all season and now we’ve managed to do it,” commented Randon, “I couldn’t have asked for much more this weekend, I’ve done more than I set out to achieve this year so I’m really happy about that.”
