Andrew Jordan: “Oulton Park Was Tricky, But I’m Moving Up The Championship Table…”

Things started OK in the first free-practice session; I was quickest for a while, before dropping to fourth by the end of the session. The car felt good though, to be honest. It was in the ballpark.

The second session should’ve been a chance for us to hone the car’s set-up for qualifying, with an eye on race one as well, of course. We tried a qualifying run, which is normal for FP2, as well as some long runs. Sadly, we had an exhaust issue, which robbed the car of power. Eleventh quickest wasn’t ideal, even if it was only 0.4s off top spot. The BTCC is that close!

Qualifying itself was a bit of a wake-up call, too. We went the wrong way on set-up, to the extent that I was slower, by 0.2s, on new rubber than I had been on old tyres in FP1.

Starting race one 12^th, still only about 0.4s from pole, meant we were in for a bit of a struggle. The car needs more straightline speed at the moment, and the stop/start and uphill sections of the lap at Oulton accentuate that problem.

I got stuck in regardless, as I like to, and managed to pass a couple of cars to finish 10^th and earn six points. My team-mate, Mat [Jackson], finished 16^th so I was pretty happy with my performance in the circumstances.

With the grid for race two this year determined by the results of the opener, rather than on fastest laps, I’d be starting 10^th, with it all to do again. Good job, actually, as I only set the 13^th-fastest lap! I made up two places in an otherwise uneventful race to take eighth. Mat was 10^th in that one so it was another double points haul for the team.

I was then praying for a bit of luck in the reverse-grid draw for race three. Sadly, they picked out Matt Neal, who finished one place ahead of me in seventh. That meant he was on pole, with the six ahead of him falling in behind. Muggins here would be starting eighth!

And that’s where I stayed. Starting out front would’ve been perfect as it’s easier to defend with a slight power disadvantage than it is to attack, so I reckon I could’ve scored some big points.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though, as I managed to do what I said I was aiming to do after Thruxton: move up the points table. I left Hampshire in eighth, but have jumped to sixth, ahead of my team-mate. And the gap up to Rob Collard in third is only 11 points…

I’ve also taken the lead – from Adam Morgan – in the Independents’ battle, which is good. I’m happy with the car and the team and how we analyse problems and deal with them. Once we hit that sweet spot, I’m confident we can challenge for more wins and podiums.

Next stop Croft, the half-way point in the series. That’s going to be a pretty important weekend, but I’m ready for it.