More points for CBT driver Jordan at Rockingham / British Touring Cars

CBT-backed BTCC racer Andy Jordan endured a difficult weekend at Rockingham but came away from the Northamptonshire Speedway with a trio of strong points-scoring finishes under his belt.

In qualifying, such was the level of competition around the 1.94-mile track that the top 19 cars were separated by little over eight tenths of a second. Finding the ragged edge as he hustled his factory-supported Triple Eight MG to the sharp end of the grid early on, 2013 champion Jordan lodged a best time of 1:22.506 to finish 10th and right among his fellow title protagonists.

In the first race, Jordan elevated himself to ninth on the opening tour and began his fight to improve from there; it would not be until lap 12 that the Red Bull athlete could claim eighth, and then he took seventh away from Josh Cook at Deene before the chequered flag flew.

With the fastest lap time in race one dictating grid positions for race two, Jordan started from 11th. After a frustrating start, Jordan was soon on the back of a lengthy train of cars all battling for ninth, but with the grid so competitive, finding a way past proved difficult. Inheriting 12th after an incident inside the top 10, the 26-year-old crossed the line to claim more points in his quest for a second championship.

Despite a lengthy two-hour break between races two and three, it was very much all hands on deck for the team as Jordan’s #77 machine underwent an engine change, which was successfully completed with time to spare. In the finale, Jordan found himself embroiled in a heated battle for 13th – a position he would hold until lap 15 before capitalising on a number of late incidents to jump into the top 10 and secure ninth.

In what was a pivotal weekend for all title protagonists, Jordan remains fifth in the drivers’ standings, now 46 points off of the summit.

Said Andy: “I don’t really know what to say – the only positive seems to be that we were fastest in second practice. We’ve had set-up issues ever since topping the times yesterday and we need to get on top of it because we keep saying it should be better and it’s not. To be fair we made a few good moves but I have just been sat waiting for it to kick off in front of me so that we can move forward otherwise it has been about watching my mirrors and although I like the challenge of defending, doing it all day doesn’t excite me. The championship is over for us now, it is between everyone in front me now – we just need up our game.”