Persistence finally paid off for Sam Tordoff, who clinched his maiden win for West Surrey Racing and BMW in the fourth meeting of the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season at Oulton Park.
Tordoff added a third BTCC win of his career last Sunday in the final race of the day under glorious summer conditions at the Cheshire venue, his first victory in the colours of reigning Teams’ champions, WSR.
The BMW 125i driver edged his way forward over Sunday afternoon, improving from his ninth place result in race one to fifth in the second encounter.
Following a drive-through penalty for pole-sitter and erstwhile race three leader, Adam Morgan, Tordoff then successfully pounced when Matt Neal‘s Yuasa Racing Honda Civic skated slightly wide on oil left at the final corner on lap eight. The BMW moved ahead at Old Hall, Tordoff holding on for his first win in BMW machinery ahead of Andrew Jordan.
Delighted to have finally broken his victory duck with the German Manufacturer after four meetings, Tordoff admitted: “We really needed that on this side of the garage.
“Matt [Neal] made a slight mistake – I think there was some oil down – and it was the only chance I needed. I ran my own race and was a little concerned about Jordan’s pace towards the end but we had just enough.”
Neals oil-aided slip allowed Tordoff to pounce for BMW – Photo: btcc.net
Tordoff felt the success had taken longer than initially expected since his switch from the front-wheel drive Triple Eight MG over the winter, but was highly encouraged by the pace of the BMW 125i over the weekend in Cheshire.
“I’ve said right from the start of the year that my expectations have been very high this year and to be honest we’ve not got up to speed as quickly as I’d hoped at the first few meetings”, added Tordoff.
“Getting on the top step for a new team is very special and it shows how far we progressed over this weekend.
“The BMW was handling brilliantly and, while there are still some issues to overcome, we’ve shown that if we can get to the front we’ve got the pace to win races.”
A first win of the season – and WSR’s second – elevated Tordoff to seventh in the championship, the Leeds racer’s confidence boosted significantly heading to Croft circuit on 27/28 June as he keeps his eyes on the overall prize.
“I set myself high standards and I want to be challenging to win this championship”, continued Tordoff, who sits 46 points adrift of series leader, Jason Plato.
“That’s what I need to keep doing now, we should be strong at Croft and it’s my home track, so I can’t wait to get racing again!”
