Sam Tordoff praised a successful day at the office for himself and the Triple Eight Engineering MG squad at Brands Hatch GP, as the team locked out the front row of the grid for the final Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship meeting of 2014.
Leeds driver Tordoff ended second quickest in the 30-minute qualifying session that was made frenetic by a drying track on a day of mixed conditions in Kent, joining MG team-mate Plato on the front row for the 28th race of the year.
Tordoff’s MG squad currently lie 28 points clear in the Manfacturers’ Championship of Honda with one hand on the crown, while Plato closed one point to Colin Turkington in the race for the Drivers’ Championship with a lap time 0.895s quicker than Tordoff.
“We’ve got exactly where we wanted to be with a front row lockout”, Tordoff told The Checkered Flag afterwards.
“Colin’s fourth, so we’ve done exactly what we set out to do. The car was quick, wet or dry, we’ve been up front in both practice sessions in mixed conditions and qualifying was very difficult because we didn’t know whether it was going to be dry or not.
“It was a lottery, the key to it was finding the right moment to switch onto the slick tyres, and unfortunately for me it was Jason that was just the one lap ahead of me on schedule that made the difference between us.”
The opportunity now lies firmly in MG’s hands to beat Honda to the Manufacturers’ title, to which Tordoff intends to help wrap up early.
“It gives us a great opportunity for tomorrow because the Hondas have struggled a bit, and we’ve got a little bit of a cushion in the Manufacturers’ Championship at the moment so we have the best chance already.”
2014 has been one of mixed emotions for Tordoff in his second BTCC season, having been denied a potential podium at Knockhill by car problems as well as the chance to score strongly at Silverstone last time out as he was left stranded on the grid.
“It’s been very frustrating”, said Tordoff on a season that has seen mechanical misfortune often plague his season. “So it would be nice to finish on a high.
“There’s no doubt about that. We’re all in the shop window at the moment for next year now, all looking at 2015 and drives for the new season that are available so you have to be at the front this weekend.”