Andrew Jordan: I can't wait to get stuck in to 2019

I had a lot of understeer in qualifying, and it only takes a little bit to cost a few tenths of a second, so that lost me a fair handful of positions on the grid. I expected a little more from the car after our pace in free practice.

I was really having to fight on new tyres and just ended up scrubbing off too much pace. I was disappointed but qualifying 12^th gave us a good starting point for the weekend. You race on the tyres you qualify with, and as we’d had good pace on the older tyres in free practice, I knew we were in a good place with the base setup.

Going in to race day everyone had their eyes on whether Colin [Turkington, West Surrey Racing team-mate] was going to hold on to his title lead from the chasing Toyota Avensis of Tom Ingram, meanwhile I was aiming for third in the points standings and to secure the manufacturer’s title for BMW as I was nominated alongside Colin to score points towards the manufacturers crown that weekend – as I have done for the majority of the year.

I said to the team going in to the first race not to ask me to move out of the way for Colin if he was already in a position to win the title. For example, if I was seventh and he was eighth, but was already safely ahead of Ingram, not to ask me to step aside as I have sponsors to keep happy, my own championship to think about and, simply, I’m not going to move out of the way just for the sake of it.

Dick [Bennetts, WSR team principal] agreed and we went in to race day with a clear plan across the board. Annoyingly I got boxed in off the start so I couldn’t make up as much ground as I’d hoped, but we worked our way up the order nonetheless and made it to eighth by the chequered flag. It was as good as I could have hoped for, in reality. There’s no point pushing beyond the limits potentially throwing yourself off, so we held on for eighth, and that was good enough to secure us the Manufacturers’ title, so that was one job ticked off for the day.

Starting from eighth in race two, we got an absolutely fantastic start. In a stark contrast to the opening of race one, the gaps just opened up. Unfortunately, the great start meant I was on the outside of Paddock Hill bend and up into Druids, but held on and on to the inside for Graham Hill. Jack Goff did manage to get back past me but he had a mechanical issue later in the race which bumped us back up to third place.

I gave chase to Matt Neal, who was defending team-mate Dan Cammish as the Honda pair were looking for their second 1-2 of the day, but he defended really, really well. He knew he had to hold me back, and he came to see me after the race to say that he was desperately trying to keep me back, radioing his team to tell them to get Dan to put his foot down as he wasn’t sure if he could keep me behind much longer.

I didn’t know until two laps from the end that Tom Ingram had to get past me to keep his title hopes alive, so, even though loads of people were thanking me at the end of the race for keeping him at bay, I hadn’t driven any differently to what I would have done anyway. I would have held on to that position no matter what – I wanted that podium! It just so happens that in doing so I helped Colin secure his third BTCC crown.

For the final race we went a touch too far on the setup and were struggling with understeer and really struggled to get heat into the fronts. Starting from eighth after the reverse grid, I was ninth at the line and had to settle for fifth in the points – 9 points behind outgoing champion Ash Sutton, who’s win in the final round helped him leapfrog me in the standings.

Looking back at the year, it’s really easy to say how bad luck effected our year, and while that’s true, had I not been ill at Thruxton, or missed qualifying at Donington, or had mechanical issues from great positions at Snetterton or Silverstone, it could well have been a totally different season. We had, in my opinion, one of the strongest packages in the second half of the year and we really should have got more from this year, but that’s just how it goes in this championship sometimes.

At the end of the day, there are four people ahead of us at the end of the year with more points than us – fair play to them, they beat us, that’s that.

Normally at this point of the season I’m almost glad it’s over and ready for the off season, but after how strong we felt at the end of this season I can’t wait to get stuck in to 2019. I feel I’ve driven better than I ever had before, and I can’t say I’m not frustrated at all of these issues, but that’s the way it is. While I was saying I was aiming for third in the standings and having to settle for fifth, at the end of the day I’m only interested in winning. Yes, I’d prefer to be third rather than fifth, but neither of them is first.

Fair play to Colin, he did a fantastic job all year and his consistency paid off – he’s now a three-time champion.

Looking ahead to 2019, you always have to look around and see what’s out there. Of course I have to consider my sponsors and what’s best for them, but naturally the continuity with West Surrey would be a huge factor in deciding where I am for 2019, and if Colin returns then I’d love nothing more than to be alongside him again and try to beat him. I always want to push myself against the very best.

Photography by Motorsport Images.