Pirtek Racing scored three solid points results this weekend in the second round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at the Rockingham Circuit in Corby. Driver Andrew Jordan (20) took a seventh, and a fifth place in the first two races of the weekend followed by a well fought fourth place in the final race of the day giving the team an 18 points haul.
The first of Sunday’s three races looked set to be a wet affair after a morning of intermittent rain showers, but as the cars lined up on the grid the sun started to creep through. The teams were left with a tough tyre choice as the wet track began to dry and Pirtek Racing opted for dry tyres on the front and wets on the rear. A storming start by Jordan in which he went around the outside of the first corner of Rockingham’s banked oval saw him move up to fifth by the third corner. Jordan quickly became one of the fastest cars on track and proceeded to slice his way through the field, ultimately running in second place by the fourth lap. As the track continued to dry the hand-full of cars on full slicks began to fight back and Jordan struggled to retain his position, at the flag Jordan was the highest placed car on a mix of wet/dry tyres, proving the potential pace in the car. After a last lap dice with Tom Onslow-Cole, Jordan dived up the inside at Tarzan hairpin and finished in seventh place.
Race two saw sunnier conditions greet the cars as they arrived on the grid. Jordan, starting in seventh place made another strong getaway, moving once again to the outside of the first corner and making up four places on the opening lap. On the second lap of the race Jordan once again found himself sitting in a podium position behind leaders Jason Plato and Steven Kane. As the race progressed Jordan struggled with a lack of front end grip caused by worn front tyres and he was unable to defend his position from the fast charging BMW’s of Rob Collard and Matt Jackson. The Pirtek Racing car crossed the line in fifth place, scoring six solid championship points.
For the final race of the day the car was given the customary nine kilo’s of success ballast for finishing fifth in the previous race, whilst the draw for the reverse grid presented the Pirtek car with a fifth place grid slot. A strong race by Jordan saw him move up to fourth and defend excellently from Steven Kane until the latter stages, before a spin on the same lap from Onslow-Cole promoted him back to fourth, a position he ultimately held from start to finish.
Jordan commented after the race, “Race one went well under the circumstances, we can reflect and saw we made the wrong decision on tyres but to be honest it was a tough call to make and the track dried out much quicker than we expected it to, so we were caught out. I had a great battle with Tom (Onslow-Cole) in the latter stages, I’d get close but then on the straights it was hard to keep with him, the LPG engine is really quick in a straight line, but it was great to grab the place and the points after a strong fight.
“We had good pace in the opening laps of each of the races but we struggled with tyre wear. The NGTC engine puts added weight over the front causing them to wear quicker, however we made progress in each race and we have to take that on to Brands Hatch to continue improving. I was also really pleased with the development we have made on our race starts, the turbo sometimes spins its wheels like it did at Thruxton, but in each race I made good progress off the line.
“Three full race distances and three solid points’ results is a really good way of finishing a race weekend, but after running in a podium position in two of the races I must admit I’m disappointed we didn’t score one. We lost the places to BMW’s and this is characteristically a circuit which favours them, now we move on to Brands Hatch which in turn should suit our car and I’m really looking forward to it.”
The team’s now face a quick turn-around as the cars prepare for the Brands Hatch race weekend in only one weeks time. They will race on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix configuration for the third round of the season.
