Andrew Jordan was left delighted to have returned to the podium in last weekend’s eighth Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship meeting of the season at Rockingham, admitting it had felt ‘a long time coming’.
Jordan ran consistently at the sharp end throughout the weekend’s action at the Corby Motor Speedway, qualifying fifth and then claiming a trio of top-six finishes on Sunday, returning to the podium in race three of the afternoon as he fended off championship leader Colin Turkington in a tight finale to the day.
The result was surprisingly the first time the Pirtek Racing driver stepped up to the rostrum since Croft back in June, one which the Red Bull Athlete said felt long overdue.
“It’s great, I’m really happy to be back on the podium at last”, the reigning champion told The Checkered Flag afterwards. “It shows what we missed out on and that we’ve just had a lot of bad luck recently.
“I really thought we should have been on it in race two as well, but I got hit on the infield on lap one which dropped me to 10th”, referring to a tap in the right-rear at Tarzan hairpin by Adam Morgan‘s Mercedes that dropped him down the pack, prior to a charge on the soft tyres through to fourth.
“Two race weekends has felt like a long time what with having the summer break before that as well, so it was probably one of the better drives and one of the harder drives I’ve done. Really happy with it.”
The trio of strong results were long overdue for Jordan and the Pirtek Honda squad, after a pair of troublesome meetings at Snetterton and Knockhill followed his fourth win of the season prior to the summer break at Croft. A crash in practice at Snetterton left him only able to pick up a point as effects from the shunt ruled him out of qualifying and race three, while a race one clash with Gordon Shedden at Knockhill all but ended Jordan’s title defence.
“At Snetterton it was really disappointing because that was my own fault. I’ve got nobody else to blame”, Jordan said. “Then Knockhill was just annoying because I was a bit unlucky really, I’d rather have somebody to blame for that one!”
Jordan adds that the next meeting at Silverstone on 27/28 September may potentially be Honda’s worst circuit of the season, commenting: “I think Silverstone will be tough – that’s going to be the Honda’s worst track of the year I think.”
Despite the title having seemingly slipped away from Jordan’s grasp 11 months after claiming a maiden championship success at a wet Brands Hatch finale in October 2013, Jordan’s passion still remains stronger than ever he says, improving to fourth in the standings after Rockingham.
“I always enjoy racing no matter what”, a smiling Jordan enthused. “You enjoy it when you’re doing better obviously, and it’s been a shame knowing the title’s gone because of the last two rounds, but I still love it and that result shows what we’re made of.”
The season has unfortunately also seen a yearly debate revolve around the parity between front-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive machines, Jordan another to add that equalisation measures maybe require a tweak within the regulations for 2015.
He did however praise the performances of rival Turkington and West Surrey Racing‘s BMW squad who claimed two wins at Rockingham, adding: “I think everybody can see that it’s maybe a bit too far at the moment, in terms of how quick [BMW] are. But that’s nothing against WSR at all, because they’ve done the best job that they can, plus Colin is driving fantastically at the moment.
“I’m not getting concerned because I’m just going to get on and do my own thing, and let them sort it all out. I love Brands GP circuit, so I think we’ll be strong there while the pressure is on the guys fighting for the championship.”