Reigning British Touring Car Championship title winner Andrew Jordan said he enters the 2014 season fully prepared ahead of his defence, following a healthy pre-season testing regime.
The Pirtek Racing driver has enjoyed a plethora of miles gained under his belt at a variety of different circuits around the UK in preparation for his title defence, and was encouraged by his pace in the recent visit to Brands Hatch on Tuesday (11 March) – the venue at which he clinched his maiden BTCC crown last October.
The 24-year-old, also a Red Bull Athlete for the new season, was one of the fastest cars at the Brands Hatch test in his Eurotech-prepared Honda Civic, the car having undergone further developments over the winter period.
Following the encouraging outing at the Kent venue, Jordan told btcc.net: “I don’t remember it having gone this quick from season finish to season start before! I’ve been busy, but that’s good – not long after the last race we were already looking at what we needed to do for this season.
“We’ve done a lot of testing all over the place, clocked up the miles and made some progress. We won’t truly know where we are or where anyone else is until the end of the first qualifying session.
With Jordan carrying the coveted number one adorning his rear windows for this season following a remarkable 2013 campaign which saw him add his name to the illustrious list of BTCC champions, the Pirtek man is enjoying the pressure-free year ahead of him as he aims to hang on to his crown.
“There’s loads less pressure – we’ve done it now!” he added. “There’s just as much reason to fight, but less pressure for sure. My aim is for back-to-back championships, but there’s a lot of other guys looking to stop me doing it!”
“The number of champions on the grid doesn’t really affect me, but it’s great for the championship and it’s great for everyone watching too”, added Jordan, who will be one of seven champions on the 2014 grid.
“We’re ready and we’re looking forward to it. The car was very good last year, but we still had a lot to work through. It’s working so we don’t want to play with it too much – it’s a winning formula, so we’re going to stick with it and hopefully make it a winning formula again this year.”
Jordan will be present at the BTCC Media day on Tuesday, 18 March, along with Eurotech team-mate, former Mini Racing champion Martin Depper.
