Jordan and Pirtek Racing take control at Rockingham

With a sensational double victory, Andrew Jordan and his Pirtek Racing Honda Civic moved into a clear lead in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship during rounds 22, 23 and 24 at Rockingham (15 September).Andrew and the team could not have chosen a better moment to deliver a best-ever weekend in the championship as they dominated at the Corby track to take the overall championship lead for the first time. “To go into the weekend six points behind and go out 30 points ahead: it doesn’t get much better than that,” said an elated Andrew after a performance that left the other BTCC teams struggling in his wake.Despite carrying 36kg of ballast, Andrew qualified fourth fastest in the Pirtek Honda and then stunned his rivals by jumping straight into the lead of the opening race. “I got an awesome start from P4 in the first race, which was wet,” he said. “I just got my head down and pulled away and the car was so good.”That victory put Andrew into the championship lead but also meant he would have to carry 45kg of success ballast for the second race, which was hit by changing weather condition. “The track was drying and we were on slicks,” he said. “But it was still damp and looked like it was going to rain again and we only went about half-way on set-up: we should have gone to a full dry set-up and we struggled as a result,” Andrew said after dropping down to eighth place at the finish. “But Matt Neal was out of the race and so we were then 19 points in front of Gordon Shedden.”The reverse grid draw for the third race went Andrew’s way and he earned pole position as he went into the race using his set of soft tyres. “I can look after the soft tyres very well and our car was really good on the softs. Sam Tordoff was looking really racey at the start, but I could tell he was using his tyres a lot and it would only be a matter of time before he’d start dropping back,” said Andrew. “Then it was a case of keeping it consistent: still pressing on because I didn’t want to break the rhythm and it was only on the last lap that I really backed off.”With a perfect performance, Andrew dominated the race from the front and dealt with the re-start after a safety car period to maintain control of the race, finally winning by over three seconds as he measured his pace against the chasing pack. “It’s been a fantastic weekend: the first time I’ve scored two wins in one day. It was a really important weekend and the team has done a great job.”