Hard work for CBT’s Jordan at Brands / British Touring Cars

CBT-backed racer Andy Jordan endured a frustrating start to his British Touring Car Championship campaign at Brands Hatch on Easter Sunday, his new MG Triple Eight Racing machine showing pace but failing to collect any silverware.

The weekend didn’t start well for Jordan, who suffered a failure on the turbo unit of his Swindon-prepared 2.0-litre engine. The setback was small and while it curtailed his running in the first practice session to just six laps, he achieved five times that in the second practice. In qualifying, Andy secured 10th place on the grid for the first race of the Brands weekend.

Jordan made up two places on the opening lap, and passed early leader Andy Priaulx for seventh by the end. With both Jordan and his team-mate Jack Goff on the hard compound tyres for race two, the team opted for a more aggressive setup to provide them both with added grip. The changes worked and provided the MG pair with a racier challenger.

Jordan started 10th again and made a solid start, quickly in heated battles for position. Andy benefited from his team-mate’s misfortune and moved up to sixth, a position he held until lap 21 when he moved up to fifth after race leader Jason Plato crashed out with a puncture.

The reverse grid race saw Jordan start sixth and by the halfway point of the race had moved up to fourth after a battle with Tom Ingram’s Toyota while defending from Adam Morgan’s Mercedes, and a close scrap with Sam Tordoff’s BMW, setting the fastest lap of the race on his way. The MG pair remained around 1.5-2s apart over the final laps, until Goff made a move on Austin who was left reeling from Neal’s overtake for the lead. Jordan subsequently saw an opportunity too and went for the inside of Austin at McLaren, only for the pair to have contact. The clash saw Andrew’s MG suffer a front left puncture and the Red Bull-backed driver got the MG into the pits to have a new wheel fitted; he rejoined quickly and finished 19th.

“It was a frustrating weekend, but there are positives to take away,” said Andy. “The car had very good race pace in the final race, and it was the first time today we’ve been able to make progress. The car was up on its toes and felt alive, whereas earlier it didn’t, but it should’ve been a result at the end of it. You get a feeling that you’re in something that wants to go forward and you can put it where you want it on track; straight away it felt better and I thought there was a good result on the cards. The new rules have spiced things up and we all know touring cars is exciting anyway and these seem to have added to it. While we haven’t had the greatest weekend, all is not lost and the championship is very close. Moving forward we need to look at what we need to do to bring the car to life a bit more at Donington.”