Andrew Jordan has set his sights on making it to the semi-finals of the upcoming FIA World Rallycross Championship round 2, which will be held 24-25 May at Lydden Hill, UK.
The reigning Dunlop MSA British Touring Car champion is making a one-off return to rallycross for the first time since he won the British Rallycross SuperCar championship back in 2007.
“I haven’t competed in rallycross since I won the British SuperCar title in Will Gollop’s Ford Focus back in 2007.” says Jordan. “I was, however, given a chance to test one the Olsbergs MSE-prepared Fiestas last year and again briefly at the recent Media Preview event at Lydden Hill.”
He has the perfect tools for a hard charge as he will be taking part in a Ford Fiesta ST prepared by Olsbergs MSE, the team that leads the championship after the opening round. It’s not going to be a walk in the park though as he goes up again 36 other rallycross regulars such as 2003 WRC champion Petter Solberg, 2013 European Rallycross Champion Timur Timerzyanov, 2013 Global Rallycross Champion Toomas ‘Topi#’ Heikkinen, the British Bomb Liam Doran and former British Rallycross rival Ollie O’Donovan who swept the recent Knockhill round in his Ford Focus.
Talking about his switch away from rallycross to persue a touring car career he said “At that stage there was nowhere really to progress any further, so I switched to racing touring cars. That’s all changed now as the sport has become a lot more commercial with the arrival of a proper World Championship. I always said I’d love to go back to rallycross given a competitive car and the right circumstances. And this is certainly a great opportunity.”
Petter Solberg took the opening round win in his Citreon DS3, but the two Olsbergs cars lead the team championship, this is something Jordan is excited about.
“To be honest I knew the Olsbergs cars would be good and well capable of competing with the best right up at the front. It’s certainly my aim to be every bit as competitive as the other two drivers. While this really is just a learning weekend for me, I still obviously want to do as well as possible.”
Jordan is realistic about his expectations for his rallycross return but is determined to make his mark on the world stage.
“That’s going to be tough. My real aim is to reach the final, but I’m under no illusion that it’s going to be a ‘big ask’ just to reach the semis. I’m hoping to play the long game, not to take any unnecessary risks in the heats and then come out all guns blazing in the semi final. With 37 SuperCars in the field, making the last six would be brilliant.”