Andrew Jordan: BTCC 2018, Brands Hatch Indy – "I knew I had to maximise everything that I could get"

Last year we had the pace in the car, we had the wins, we just didn’t have the consistency. I knew going into this weekend that I had to maximise everything that I could get. It’s getting less important to win in this series and the focus is very much on consistency. That being said you still have to make sure that when you have a car capable of winning on the day, you have to make sure you get the win.

To get fifth in qualifying was great, that pace backed up all of the confidence that I had over the winter. As always at Brands it was really close, we were only one-tenth of a second behind Jack Goff on pole, and 30 of the 32 cars on the grid were separated by less than a second.

I got a really good start for the first race, but I had to blend out a little bit as I didn’t want to go around the outside of my teammate Colin Turkington at Paddock Hill Bend. BTCC new boy Dan Cammish then got me going into Druids in the brand-new Honda Civic Type-R, so I sat behind him for a bit waiting to make my move. I had a huge moment going past him for third at Paddock, running a little wide and lighting up the rears all the way up to Druids. While I was starting to catch Colin and Jack, it wasn’t quite enough and I wasn’t going to start taking any big risks this early in the season. Third, was a good start and I made sure I consolidated that first podium of the year.

Race two was something else. Unfortunately, Colin had an electrical gremlin from second at the start of the green flag laps, which meant as I was third, I was effectively promoted to second on the grid. The track was damp when we went around to the start line, so I asked the team to let me know what everyone was doing with their tyres. It definitely didn’t look dry enough to change from the wets, and the majority of drivers on the grid agreed. A few drivers at the back of the grid took the risk, but we decided to take what seemed to be the more sensible option and stick with the wet compound.

I had a great start again, passing Jack before we turned in for Paddock. After a short safety car period, I managed to keep the fast-charging Tom Ingram behind me for about five laps. He eventually got past me, but I could see he was properly pushing his tyres, whereas I was trying to make sure to look after mine, as the track was definitely starting to dry out.

I have never experienced tyres to drop off quite like they did in that race. They just turned to jelly. I plummeted down the order and ended up 21^st. The early safety car definitely didn’t help us as it gave the track a little bit of extra time to dry out, and those that had taken the gamble to run on slicks came through to make one of the most unpredictable BTCC podiums in years. Fair play to them for taking the gamble.

In hindsight, if I were to line up on the grid again for that race you’d probably say that yes, slicks were the way to go, but it’s easier said than done. Going into Paddock Hill bend as the only car at the front on slicks on a damp track with a grid full of cars on wets in your mirror would have been a very unnerving moment…

Despite some hefty contact early in race three with another competitor, I can’t remember who, it was looking quite good. The car felt good and I was working my way up through the field, getting up to 12^th until about halfway. The car felt good and I was really motivated to push on for a top ten after the crazy end to race two. Unfortunately, after that halfway point I just started to lose all rear end grip and we slipped back down the order, having to settle for 17^th at the line.

Job number one for today is to completely check the car and see why that happened. If it transpires that something was knocked out of place in that impact, then we can look back and know exactly why we lost all that grip. If not, then there’ll be a lot of head scratching to try and work out why there was so much oversteer at the end of the race.

Normally after a weekend like this I’d be pretty peeved, and no I’m not jumping for joy that we only had one podium, but due to the topsy-turvy nature of the weekend, there’s a lot of positives that can be taken. We were quick in qualifying and race one, and I feel comfortable in the car. We have no weight for qualifying and the first race at Donington, and the points are very close across the board. The feeling in both the car and the team is good. Roll on Donington!