Pirtek Racing scored valuable championship points in two out of three races in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at the Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk today. The team and driver Andrew Jordan (21) left the East Anglian circuit with a ninth place finish and a well deserved sixth place in the first of the two races of the day, whilst an overheating engine caused premature retirement from race three.
Rain greeted the cars for the start of yesterday’s 40 minute qualifying session where Jordan ran as high as second during the session. As conditions on track worsened due to the heavy rain, he failed to improve on the time set during his third run and ended a respectable sixth place just ahead of championship protagonist Matt Neal.
Race one
The first of Sunday’s three races took place under bright sunshine at Snetterton - conditions which typically don’t favour the Pirtek Racing car. Starting on the outside of the track, Jordan followed Neal through into the first corner and closely pursued Neal and Tom Chilton for the early part of the race. After making a move on Neal into The Esses, contact was made which resulted in damage to the front suspension. As the tyre wear on the Pirtek Vectra deteriorated as well as damage to the front of the car, Jordan was unable to keep fast charging drivers such as Tom Onslow-Cole at bay and ended the race in an eventual ninth place.
Race two
A strong start from ninth place saw Jordan move up to eighth on lap one. After a brief safety car intervention to clear debris on track, Jordan made a storming restart to pass the BMW of Rob Collard to take seventh and join the rear of a train consisting of Steven Kane, Mat Jackson and Gordon Shedden. With little to choose between the quartet, Jordan continued for the majority of the race to search for a window of opportunity to pass, and on lap 16 he was able to out-drag Shedden out of the last corner and passed him on the start/finish straight. With only five laps left to run, Jordan was left with little time to put a move on Jackson but continued to chase him down until the end, crossing the line in sixth.
Race three
The third race of the day was over before it began for the Pirtek Racing team. On the installation lap, the car’s onboard sensors detected the engine overheating and as Jordan arrived on the grid, the smoke pouring from under the bonnet signalled a terminal problem for the Pirtek Vectra and the car was forced into early retirement.
Jordan commented after the day’s three races, “In race one, we struggled with our tyres in the heat, we had also gone in the wrong direction slightly with set-up which didn’t help, but we rectified it for race two. The car felt the best it had all weekend in the second race after a few tweaks and that really showed in our pace. I was able to push the car more and I had much more confidence to be able to go up against the BMW’s and Honda’s.
“I was optimistic going into the last race that we could have a good result and as always we were aiming for the podium, so to have the issue with the engine was frustrating. However we continued to show we are able to run well within the top ten and I’m sure we have plenty more in the pipeline for Silverstone.”
Jordan now lies tenth in the Drivers Championship table, whilst Pirtek Racing is eighth in the Constructors Championship. The next round of the BTCC takes place at the Silverstone circuit in just under two weeks time.
