Video: Andrew Jordan Thrashes Ford GT40 At Donington

‘I’m a very, very lucky boy today!’

That’s British Touring Car Championship star and Goodwood Road & Racing’s official track tester Andrew Jordan’s appraisal of his first laps aboard an authentic, mid-1960s Ford GT40 racer.

The 2013 BTCC title winner, who’ll race a Motorbase Ford Focus in the series in 2016, was let loose around the majestic sweeps of Donington Park in the V8-powered GT40 that’s owned by Philip Walker and looked after by Jordan Racing Team, which Andrew runs with his father and fellow racer Mike.

Jordan Jr is a keen convert to historic racing and will share the GT40 with his old man in the Alan Mann Trophy at the forthcoming Members’ Meeting. The two-driver race, which will run into the dusk on Saturday evening, is named after the late, great Alan Mann, whose eponymous team ran many of the pseudo-works Fords in the 1960s, including the GT40.

‘It’s a car Dad’s raced in the Spa 6 Hours and in the Classic events at Le Mans and Daytona, so he knows it well,’ Andrew explained. ‘I’m very fortunate to be able to share it with him now – it’s an awesome car, a proper, purpose-built racer with lots of grunt and not quite the right amount of grip, especially at Donington in the wet! Which is how it should be, of course.

‘I was pleased with my pace during my first laps, so the Alan Mann Trophy should be great,’ he added. ‘There are lots of quick drivers in the race. We’ve been studying the formbook, with the help of YouTube onboards, and have worked out that we need some different ratios in the gearbox to be properly competitive at Goodwood. It’s a circuit I love – what a great track for giving a GT40 a proper work out. I can’t wait.’

Photography by Tom Shaxson

Andrew Jordan Ford GT40