Andrew Jordan branded the second meeting of the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season a “very good weekend” at Donington Park, telling TCF he was relieved to escape the dramas of race three with a podium.
The Triple Eight Racing man recovered from a tough opening trio of races at Brands Hatch by qualifying inside the top five last weekend at Leicester’s Donington Park circuit, before collecting two fourth places finishes and a second spot on the podium in a chaotic final race as Triple Eight also surpassed 500 BTCC races on Sunday.
Jordan was involved in contact with winner Matt Neal twice during the 19-lapper, finishing just under 0.2s behind the Honda man as he jumped into the top four in the championship standings.
A question mark still hangs over Neal’s race three win however as Triple Eight have appealed following an unsuccessful protest over the initial contact with Jordan at McLeans on lap six, an outcome to be heard at Thruxton.
“It felt like there was a big crash due and it never really happened”, Jordan told The Checkered Flag after a frenetic final race at Donington. “Cars everywhere, but I’m sure it was good to watch!”
Photo: Dan Mason
“It was a case of trying to stay out of trouble, but equally sometimes that can get you into more trouble. I had to try and make forward progress. It was a tough one and I felt quite drained after it because there was so much going on.
“It’s still a very good weekend. We’ve made progress and I’ve got the car doing what I want it to do so, overall, I’m very happy.”
Jordan’s Triple Eight squad had endured a troublesome Saturday which included two spins for himself and another for team-mate Jack Goff in qualifying, Jordan saying that the oversteer issues for the MG6 GT improved overnight.
The former Eurotech Racing man praised the progress made since Brands Hatch, adding: “To come away with two fourths and a second, I’m really happy.
“Brands was just a bad one and we didn’t have any pace, but we just put our heads down and worked to get to the bottom of it.”
“I’m looking forward to going to Thruxton”, added Jordan confidently, the high-speed Hampshire circuit a personal favourite of the 2013 champion, who took his first win at the track last year in race one.
“I know what the car needs around there and I love the place. There are some things which will need to change for there, but we tested there and we should be good.”
Jordan heads into the Thruxton meeting on 9/10 May now lying fourth in the Drivers’ Championship, 12 points adrift of series leader, Neal.
