Andrew Jordan – An AMAZING First Weekend

At the start of the weekend I was intrigued where we would be: with new team and new car, I was starting from scratch again. But the Pirtek Ford Focus ST that Motorbase delivered for me felt good and we all really clicked, so after the weekend and two strong races for us, I am feeling very upbeat.

The weekend didn’t get off to a great start though. In qualifying the car felt in the ballpark but there was traffic on my best lap and though we had the pace to be top six we didn’t get the opportunity to show it. That was frustrating.

Then in Race 1 the car felt all right but for some reason was dog slow. It was puzzling – until the team found a boost sensor had gone down. In a way it was good because we knew what the problem was, and were able to fix it, very quickly.

Coming through from 11th on the grid to finish fourth in Race 2 really was a cracking result for us. On soft tyres I worked hard early on to get track position. I wasn’t going to just sit and wait for the gaps, I had to find them. Taking the two MGs in the same move at Cleaways made me happy! I was really happy with my racecraft all weekend.

It was a bit disappointing not to get a podium, but by the end of Race 2 I just didn’t have enough grip left. Still, 11th to fourth isn’t bad.

The first lap of Race 3 was exciting. I had a big old moment going down the hill. I was very lucky the car didn’t go all the way around. I caught it okay but picked up some front-end damage and for the rest of the race the splitter was flapping around.

I had almost settled for fifth behind Matt Neal, which, given the damage, I thought would be a good result. We were both close and keeping very tight lines – until the last corner. Matt’s tyres had gone off more than mine and he went a little wide on the exit and couldn’t get the power down as well as I could. We ended up in a drag race to the line – where I pipped him by five thousands of a second!

So fourth place in Race 3 as well, which means that after the first round I am joint fourth in the championship. We had that boost problem early on which we sorted, then had two really strong results and scored some points, which is the important thing. The team is in a really good place and we have something solid to build on.

We have three races worth of data and tyre wear to look at and are sure there’s more to come from the car. We are probably a couple of tenths down on ultimate pace, which we made up for at the weekend with good race strategy. But for the rest of the season we should be able to find the extra.

What does the first meeting tell us about the season ahead? That the racing is going to be manic for sure! There was some hard racing at the weekend, some of which was a bit silly but I am sure it was very entertaining to watch. But it did surprise me a little just how feisty the racing was. It’s normally a little bit calmer than this for the first weekend of the year.

It really is a unique championship and I think this year lots of different drivers, cars and teams will get a podium place over the 30 races. But it’s a long championship and what you have to do is finish – that’s the most important thing at this point in the season.

Don’t get me wrong, I want to win every race but you have to be realistic and sensible. When something is achievable you go for it, but when it is not you need to get as much as you can out of what you’ve got. You have to play the long game.

Experience is going to count this year which is why I think that by the end of the season it will be the usual guys battling for the title – people like Matt, Gordon, Colin, Jason and me and teammate Mat Jackson who can keep scoring points even though they are not quite where they want to be.

Mind you the team and I will be giving it everything we have at Donington Park on 17 April. It’s my home circuit and I love it – especially the Craner Curves. I am really looking forward to it – and being on the podium. That’s certainly my aim.

Images courtesy of BTCC.net