Sam Tordoff expects West Surrey Racing to be ‘transformed’ by the loss of success ballast in the second Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race of the day at Brands Hatch GP circuit.
The championship leader’s points advantage was trimmed from 11 to six by Gordon Shedden in race one of the final day in Kent, Tordoff finishing 10th while Shedden crossed the line fifth.
Maximum success ballast made it difficult for the BMW driver to make progress from 10th on the grid, a race that Tordoff said he expected to struggle in with two races now remaining.
“It was probably about the best we could have done with the weight we had”, Tordoff told The Checkered Flag afterwards. “75kg is never pretty. I’m happy to get that one out of the way.
“I’ve got no weight and the soft tyres now – this is where the weekend starts.”
Tordoff will trade 75kg success ballast for a more manageable 9kg in race two, something which he expects to help transform the performance of the BMW 125i as it did so in recent rounds at Rockingham and Silverstone.
He added: “Race one was always going to be an issue. I expected to lose points and was just hoping to get it out of the way and the car should be very different now.
“It did so at Rockingham and did so at Silverstone, so [less weight] should transform it. There’s a few other people on the soft tyres as well which could cause us problems.”
One of Tordoff’s two victories came most recently from 10th place on the grid at Rockingham in similar circumstances, but a repeat of that particular occasion is something the Leeds race does not expect.
“It would be nice to win it”, he added. “I’m not expecting to win it to be honest, but we need to be in the top six or top eight and it will set us up for a title showdown.”
With a six-point lead and just two races remaining, Tordoff admits he may still be wise to air on the side of caution during the day’s second race at 14:22.
“The gloves are off now. I have to act on everything within reason still while I’m making those moves.”
