Pirtek's Andrew Jordan seeks to impress on landmark BTCC weekend

Having opened his win account for the year last time out, Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan has his sights firmly set on more success this weekend when the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship heads for Oulton Park for the fourth round of the season.On his best weekend to date at the wheel of his Motorbase Performance-run Ford Focus, Andrew picked up a brace of podium finishes at Thruxton last month – following up a solid third place in race one with a calculated run to victory in race two.Despite the disappointment of failing to score in race three after a puncture, a 36 point haul from the trip to Hampshire means Andrew sits well placed in the championship standings going into a weekend that will include his 250th race in the BTCC.That race will be the latest landmark that Andrew will be able to celebrate at the Cheshire circuit, with Oulton Park having been the venue where he secured his first touring car podium and also where he led a lap in a BTCC race for the first time – both during the course of his debut season back in 2008. Such is Andrew’s record at Oulton Park that he scored at least one podium finish in six of his eight seasons in the BTCC, including two last year in what proved to be his highest scoring weekend of the season.With a first win of the year now under his belt, Andrew will hope to at least replicate those results as he looks to make his move towards the top positions in the championship, with just 21 points currently separating him from top spot in the title race. “As a driver, I love racing at Oulton Park as it’s a proper old school circuit and one that provides you with a real challenge,” he said. “It can be hard to overtake so the racing can get a bit feisty but I’ve gone well there in the past and on the back of our results at Thruxton, both myself and the team are feeling confident about our chances.“Qualifying is going to be important this weekend and in that respect, the fact we didn’t score in race three at Thruxton could be a blessing in disguise as it means we carry less weight into the session and Oulton Park is a circuit where carrying extra ballast can really hurt – especially if it turns out to be as warm as the forecast suggests it could be.“Now I have a win under my belt this season, I’m feeling a lot more relaxed and it’s important to keep my focus on the bigger picture from this point onwards. Even though the opening three rounds of the year have featured a mixed bag of results, I’m only 21 points away from the championship lead and no-one has really been able to break away from the pack, which is a sign that consistency is going to be key in the fight for the title.“On a personal level, it’s great to be hitting 250 BTCC races this weekend, even if that makes me a feel a bit older than I am! It may sound a bit cheesy, but I’m very lucky to be able to do what I do and hitting that landmark is something I’m not going to take for granted as there is a lot of hard work that goes into this progamme from my sponsors and I’m grateful for their support in getting to this point.”After qualifying on Saturday 4 June at 15.20, the first of three BTCC races will be at 12.17 on Sunday, with race two at 14.45 and race three at 16.57. All three races will be broadcast on ITV4, whilst qualifying will be broadcast live on www.itv.com. Live timing and results from the weekend will be available at www.tsl-timing.comPirtek is Europe's number one provider of fluid transfer solutions and mobile hose replacement, with over 170 centres supported by over 700 mobile service workshops throughout Europe; offering solutions to a number of business sectors, including the automotive industry.


Related Motorsport Articles

84,554 articles