Triple Eight Race Engineering will put the reigning Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champion Andrew Jordan in a BMW Z4 GT3 this Thursday at Donington Park. The Pirtek/Eurotech Racing driver will have the opportunity to sample his second GT3 car after driving an Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3 previously.
Ian Harrison, team principal at Triple Eight, said recently the team were evaluating the possibility of entering the Blancpain Sprint Series, Gulf 12 Hours in Dubai and other rounds of the Blancpain Endurance Series after racing in the Silverstone round of the European endurance championship. The team, which started life as a touring car outfit themselves, are only recent entrants to the world of GT racing after a season racing at 888Optimum Racing in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship.
The #888 BMW Z4 GT3 took sixth place in the Silverstone 500 event this past weekend with Derek Johnston and Luke Hynes sharing the driving. Their first foray into the international world of GT3 competition resulted in retirement just past two thirds distance when the Blancpain series raced on the Grand Prix layout at Silverstone.
Harrison explained his thinking saying, “We’re looking at driver options for the winter GT programme with immediate effect and over the course of the next 6-8 weeks we’ll be evaluating some interested parties. We’re kicking that off with reigning BTCC Champion Andy, who has shown an interest in expanding his current driving commitments across different disciplines. This matches up with our own agenda here at Triple Eight as we look to develop our GT business ahead of the 2015 race season.
“You can expect to see a few familiar faces in the BMWs as we get our plans together for the year ahead, and run experienced drivers alongside our upcoming talent that is under development in TEDD (888’s driver programme). It’s an exciting time to be part of Triple Eight right now.”
Along with his commitments to the BTCC, Andrew Jordan recently competed in the World Rallycross Championship’s Autosport World RX of Great Britain raced t Lydden Hill. The Civic driver didn’t embarrass himself, claiming a podium finish against top line talent despite not having raced in Rallycross since 2007.
Jordan also plans to race at the Goodwood Revival in September, sharing an Austin A40 with his father and team boss in BTCC Mike Jordan.
