Jordan second for CBT & MG at Thruxton / British Touring Cars

CBT-backed Andy Jordan and the MG Triple Eight Racing team stormed back onto the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) podium during a thrilling third round at Hampshire’s Thruxton circuit on 10 May, collecting further championship points at arguably the worst track for the pacey MG6 GT racer.

The MG-factory supported squad delivered a progressive performance yet again, collecting five top-ten finishes during Sunday’s three races, ending on a high note with a well-deserved podium in the final race for Andrew Jordan, with Jack Goff narrowly missing out a podium in the second race of the weekend.

From the outset, it looked like a weekend of fresh promise for Jordan as he charged off the start line from P11 for the first race, moving up to 10th by the end of the first lap. Local driver, Rob Collard would be Jordan’s next victim on lap nine, before a puncture for Aron Smith’s Volkswagen promoted the Red Bull athlete to eighth. With three laps remaining, Jordan turned poacher again, leapfrogging his team-mate Goff and then reigning BTCC Champion Colin Turkington for sixth, a result he held to the flag.

After the excitement of race one, a more attacking pair of performances from both Goff and Jordan were delivered in race two with the MG drivers seemingly more pacey, both making up four places on the opening tour of the 2.3 mile Hampshire track.
Jordan went on to finish sixth in race two, which earned him a front-row start in the finale. Jordan harried pole-man Adam Morgan over the early laps, but before too long Morgan and his Mercedes had outpaced Jordan and a gap of 2s developed, with the MG unable to compete for outright speed with the Mercedes A-Class.

When racing resumed after a lengthy safety car period, Jordan looked to have something in reserve and set off with Morgan, again distancing themselves from the rest. Jordan pushed Morgan to the flag, securing a second place finish and a second consecutive BTCC weekend of silverware.

Andrew Jordan: “I’m frustrated by the performances this weekend. We’re in the mix thanks to consistency, not necessarily down to outright speed. We need to try to add that into our performances over the remainder of the season. You can’t roll out with last year’s set up; you’d be nowhere if you did. Things move on so quickly now and it’s evolving all the time. I’m disappointed but, that said, if you’d told me yesterday that I’d finish on the podium today I’d have taken it. You’ve got to keep your head down and keep at it, it’s a long season and it’s always good to get silverware. We’re still very much in the title hunt, but we need more pace. We’re going to go away now and work on it. From my point of view I want to be scoring podiums on a more regular basis.”