The Pirtek Racing team has announced its plans to return for its second season in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship in 2011. The team will continue to be run by Mike Jordan's Eurotech outfit and will grow to a two car outfit for the new season, with Jeff Smith joining team regular Andrew Jordan under the Pirtek banner.
The team will continue with their race-winning Vauxhall Vectra, powered by the TOCA NGTC Turbo Engines. Jordan returns for his fourth year in the series, after taking the team to two wins in their maiden season. Smith looks ahead to his first full season in the championship, after making a one-off appearance at Knockhill in 2010 after years in the Renault Clio Cup.
Andrew Jordan commented on the announcement saying: “It's great to be back in the BTCC with Pirtek Racing, we had such a strong debut last year and we have been busy building on those foundations in readiness of the upcoming season.
“We now have a bigger team behind us, we have greatly increased our staffing levels and our biggest focus is to develop and improve the Vectra for an even stronger season this year. Fundamentally the Vectra is a great chassis, the engine had teething issues in its development season but Swindon, the engine builders have also been focusing on improving the performance during the winter. As a team we are confident that we will be able to once again fight for victories in the BTCC and our aim is to be Independent Drivers Champions.”
Business Development Director at Pirtek UK, Alistair Wiggins, added, “The BTCC is a fiercely competitive series and we were pleased with our overall development and performance last year where we took the fight to more established teams with bigger budgets on numerous occasions. The Pirtek brand received great exposure from being part of the BTCC, which is why we have returned for a second season.
“This year the team will field two cars, and with double the technical feedback, increased development on the car, as well as increased exposure, Pirtek Racing will be looking to equal, if not better their success in 2011.”
