Eurotech Honda driver Andrew Jordan believes he will be strong when the BTCC springs back to life at Oulton Park next weekend after maintaining his impressive form at Thruxton last time out.
Independent champion Jordan was the quickest man of the weekend at the previous round at Thruxton, securing pole despite a severe weight handicap for lying second in the championship and leading race one and heading towards a comfortable second win of the season.
However, the Pirtek man man was denied victory in a heart-breaking manner when he suffered a left-front puncture on the very last lap, handing victory to Matt Neal, the Honda Yuasa Racing man now leading the championship ahead of Jordan heading to the next round at Oulton Park next weekend (June 8/9).
On his race one disappointment, Jordan commented: “Gordon Shedden just got ahead of me into the Complex and then he and [Jason] Plato had a bit of a tangle and I was through. Then it was a case of managing the gap and really looking after the left front tyre. I felt a vibration start with three or four laps to go, so I was really backing it off. The tyre started to go as I went through Noble on the last lap. It’s just one of those things and a classic Thruxton problem: there was nothing I could do about it.”
Despite the setback, Jordan recovered his weekend by fighting through from 11th to fourth in race two, before securing third in a Honda 1-2-3 in race three to remain second in the championship, 13 points behind Neal after a puncture for Jason Plato while – just like Jordan in race one – leading the race prevented the MG driver from extending the points lead he had held going into the Hampshire event.
Jordan was however very upbeat by the pace he once again showed throughout the weekend, and although thinking of the bigger championship picture, feels confident of converting his speed further success at Oulton Park.
Qualifying was mega,” he said after setting pole position at Thruxton. “We were two and a half tenths clear of Shedden and we did it on the last lap as well. We had 36kg of success ballast but we were still the quickest package all weekend.
“There is a long way to go yet. We should have got pole at Oulton Park last year, so I think we’ll be very strong. We had very good race pace there last year. In the break we tried a lot of things to make sure we keep the momentum going forward. It will be great to be back racing again!”
– Pirtek Racing are also appealing for fans to help raise money for three-year-old cancer sufferer Dylan Duff, who dreams of meeting his Uncle’s pet dog Scozzie in Australia. The team will support this at Oulton Park and would be grateful if fans could donate in any way possible both at the circuit, or online at the team’s Pirtek Racing Facebook page or gogetfunding.com.
