Andrew Jordan got his title defence back on track with his fourth victory of the season during the final race of the day at Croft, having taken a brace of top six finishes earlier in the day.
The Pirtek Racing driver had a tough time last time out at Oulton Park and he left the Cheshire circuit in third place overall, the first time he had failed to lead the Drivers’ Championship since Rockingham 2013.
“It’s great to be back up there – we really needed it,” Jordan explained. “Oulton Park was poor and we struggled in the first two races at Croft, so to get a win is so important. The car was fantastic: the boys have been working so hard and I’d have been happy with a podium, but to get the win was special. It’s a great pick-up for the team and I want to take this momentum forward into the break.”
Having qualified sixth on the grid, Jordan crossed the line fifth in the opening encounter before picking up a time penalty for contact with the Honda Civic Tourer of Matt Neal. This demoted Jordan back to sixth place.
Jordan improved to finish fourth in the second race which meant that he would line up seventh for the final race – a position which became sixth after penalties were applied to other drivers.
It took the Pirtek Racing driver half a lap to move into the lead of the race – with unfortunate contact with the Airwaves Racing Ford Focus of Fabrizio Giovanardi at the Jim Clark Esses – and he went on to claim victory number four of the season, a result which sees him close to within 28 points of the Championship lead.
“Fabrizio completely caught me by surprise on the first lap with how much he slowed for the Jim Clark Esses,” added Jordan, who was subsequently given a 10 place grid penalty for the first race at Snetterton, a decision which the team has appealed.
Despite the tough run of results Jordan and the team have encountered at Oulton Park and Croft, the reigning Champion admits that the team will never give up.
“We couldn’t quite get the balance where we needed it – sometimes the gaps open up for you and sometimes they don’t, and for the last few races they just weren’t there but we never give up at Pirtek Racing,” Jordan concludes.