Andrew Jordan – "What a relief to be back on the podium"

The Rockingham weekend started really well for me and the Motorbase team. The Focus ST was on the pace from the get-go and we topped the first free-practice session after just two flying laps. The car had a small vibration shortly after but was soon traced, which averted too much drama.

I didn’t have new tyres for the second practice session and was still P6, within half a second of the benchmark, so all was looking good for qualifying. I really felt that I could challenge for pole. And then it rained!

We went for a bit a radical set-up for wet qualifying, which didn’t quite work for us. My team-mate Mat Jackson nailed a great lap to get on the front row, though, which was good for the team. The quirky set-up and a few mistakes from me when the track was at its quickest meant I ended up 14^th. Not ideal at all!

I did feel that that we had a quick race car so was confident of moving up the field. I really wanted a top-six finish, so to get seventh – and nine points – wasn’t a bad effort.

Race two was when our luck changed for the better. I knew a podium finish was on. I had the soft tyres on for this one with quite a few guys ahead of me running the harder compound.

There were four or five laps when I thought I could win it! I caught and passed Mat, who was working his tyres pretty hard. The car was ace and I was really focusing on nailing every corner every lap. There was no point fighting too hard with Sam Tordoff. I didn’t let him past easily but the traction the BMW has is incredible, so it was inevitable that he’d get me. He went on to win by nearly three seconds, but I was chuffed with second. We really needed that result.

Race three is hardly worth mentioning! With the hard tyre and 66kg of ballast it was always going to be ugly! Mat and I agreed that in clear air you could manage the tyres, but when you’re caught up in a train like I was it’s impossible. I went backwards from sixth on the reversed grid to 12^th. Still, I came away with four points!

All in all it was good weekend and I scooped my third biggest points haul of the season. Scoring big every time is what you need to do in this championship. I’ve scored points in 23 of the 24 races so far, only a puncture in race three at Thruxton spoiling my run. I’m pleased with that, but we need bigger numbers each time. I’m seventh in the table with six races to go, so the only way is up!

Photography courtesy of BTCC.net