Andrew Jordan claimed his first win of the 2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship after producing a stellar drive in race two at Donington Park.
The Staffordshire racer made a steady getaway before pressuring pole-sitter Gordon Shedden in the early stages. Jordan got a run on his Honda counterpart at the start of lap six and completed a move down the inside of Shedden at Redgate. 23-year-old Jordan never looked back and romped to a well-earned victory at his home circuit.
The home crowd are giving me a lot of support here this weekend, said Jordan, who has closed to within one point of championship leader Jason Plato. Matt and Jason obviously won at Brands and then Gordon won the first one here, so I thought it was time I got myself on the top step of the podium. The car has just been fantastic all weekend.
Plato and Neal had a memorable early battle for third with the milestone makers running side-by-side from the start/finish line all the way down to the Craner Curves. Plato eventually got by and went on to claim second in his 400th BTCC race after a late gutsy move on Shedden with another Craner Curves move on lap 16. Race one winner Shedden held on to claim a podium ahead of team-mate Neal, who was contesting his 500th BTCC race.
It was a good race. Things got close with Matt but I was worried about the mad Scotsman ahead, said Jason in jest. Gordon drove a good defensive drive but we were able to get by in the end and score some good points.
Adam Morgan finished just over half a second behind Neal after hauling himself into the battle for a podium. He bumped into Neal at one point as both drivers challenged Plato for third, but he eventually settled for fifth position in his Toyota Avensis. Such has been Morgans impressive start to the 2013 BTCC season that hes already accumulated more points in the opening five races than he did in the whole of last year.
Despite his young age and relative inexperience Sam Tordoff produced a mature drive, waiting to make his move past the BMW 125i M Sport of Colin Turkington. The Ulsterman made a great start initially but it was clear he was holding up the challenge of Tordoff and the Toyota of Dave Newsham behind. Tordoff eventually got by and was followed through by Newsham and an opportunistic Aron Smith in his Airwaves Racing Ford Focus. Turkington claimed ninth at the finish ahead of an impressive run from Tom Onslow-Cole in the PPCGB Kraftwerk Racing VW Passat. Onslow-Coles reward is pole position in race three after the number ten was chosen at random in the reverse grid draw.
Jeff Smith will have been disappointed to miss out on a top ten finish, but after making a poor start the Pirtek Racing driver stormed through the order, claiming 11th and the fastest lap in the process.
The majority of competitors in the Jack Sears Trophy endured a nightmare race, which began when David Nyes Ford Focus made contact with James Kayes VW Golf off the line. The pair eventually collided with the pitwall, which triggered a brief safety car period at the start of the race. Joe Girling retired his Chevrolet Cruze with a driveshaft problem, whilst Liam Griffin parked his Ford Focus with its own mechanical woes. Warren Scott spun his SEAT Leon at the bottom of the Craner Curves and ended up beached in the gravel, which left Lea Wood to claim victory in his Vauxhall Vectra. Far from just settling for the win, however, Wood fought hard with the quicker NGTC cars, finishing 17th overall and just 0.167s behind the eBay Motors BMW of Nick Foster.
2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car ChampionshipDonington ParkRace 2
1 Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing) 10.9672 Jason Plato (MG KX Momentum Racing) +1.955 3 Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa Racing) +3.233 4 Matt Neal (Honda Yuasa Racing) +4.365 5 Adam Morgan (Ciceley Racing) +4.980 6 Sam Tordoff (MG KX Momentum Racing) +7.004 7 Dave Newsham (Speedworks Motorsport) +7.422 8 Aron Smith (Airwaves Racing) +10.469 9 Colin Turkington (eBay Motors) +10.977 10 Tom Onslow-Cole (PPCGB / Kraftwerk Racing) +11.470 11 Jeff Smith (Pirtek Racing) +14.458 1:10.84112 Robert Collard (eBay Motors) +14.770 13 Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing) +19.626 14 Jack Goff (RCIB Insurance Racing) +22.534 15 Daniel Welch (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp) +26.80316 Nick Foster (eBay Motors) +43.201 17 Lea Wood (Wheel Heaven / Houseman Racing) +43.368 18 James Cole (RCIB Insurance Racing) +48.354 19 Will Bratt (WIX Racing) +1:16.788 Not Classified- Rob Austin (WIX Racing) +6 Laps - Ollie Jackson (Speedworks Motorsport) +6 Laps- Frank Wrathall (Dynojet) +11 Laps- Liam Griffin (Addison Lee Motorbase) +11 Laps - Joe Girling (M247 Racing with Tech-Speed Motorsport) +13 Laps 1:13.784- Warren Scott (Team BMR Restart) +14 Laps - James Kaye (AmDTuning.com) - David Nye (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp)
