Andrew Jordan arrives at Brands Hatch with a 34 point advantage over his nearest rival, Matt Neal, in the race for the 2013 British Touring Car Championship drivers’ title.
With a maximum of 67 points up for grabs and five drivers covered by 49 points, the scene is set for a titanic battle between the three Honda drivers, Colin Turkington in the eBay Motors BMW 125i and Jason Plato in the MG6.
For Jordan to be crowned in race 1 – he needs a 45 point gap to his nearest rival:
He needs to outscore Matt Neal (34 points behind) by 12 points
He needs to outscore Gordon Shedden (35 behind) by 11 points
Colin Turkington mustn’t outscore Jordan by more than 3 points
Jason Plato can claw back no more than 4 points on Jordan.
For Jordan to take his maiden BTCC drivers’ crown in race 2, he needs to have a 23 point or more advantage over the second placed driver, as there is a maximum of 22 points available in the 30th and final round of the 2013 campaign.
After qualifying, Jordan finds himself third on the grid with his main Championship rivals behind him – 2012 Champion Shedden lines up 4th while Neal starts 16th after an accident in qualifying.
Plato starts on pole and has taken the point which goes with it while Turkington starts sixth – so it is advantage Jordan heading into the opening race, three solid finishes will see the Pirtek Racing driver secure the 2013 crown.
The battle for the Independents’ battle is more clear cut – Jordan needs a top 13 finish in the Independents’ category to retain the title he won in 2012.