Triple Eight MG drivers Andrew Jordan and Jack Goff enjoyed a weekend of solid results in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) at Oulton Park, with Jordan taking his first double podium of the year.
Having qualified in a solid fourth on Saturday, Jordan struggled to make progress in the first BTCC race as Oulton Park once again proved to be a difficult circuit to overtake on. Steady progress saw Jordan improve to third in race two, although it was again a race without a passing move for the former champion, who had posted the third fast lap time in race one for his grid position in race two.
Race three for Jordan provided the most improvement, as the MG driver advanced from fourth on the grid to take second, equalling his best result of the season so far.
Jordan admits that challenging for the lead in the third race was a tough task, with race winner Sam Tordoff controlling the race with relative ease in his rear-wheel drive BMW.
“It was good to be at the front and challenging for the lead, albeit a little bit disappointing not to have taken a win; I can go home tonight knowing I gave it my all,” said Jordan. “Looking at the weekend, a fourth, third and second is a decent set of results, and it gives us a nice boost as we go to Croft; I needed this result, the team needed it too.
“I’m feeling very positive about where we are with the car, and I’d like to say a big ‘well done’ to all the Triple Eight MG guys.”
Goff failed to secure a podium at the weekend but continued his run of points scoring finishes, taking a seventh, ninth and eighth in the day’s three races respectively.
Goff believes he was stymied by having his lap times disallowed in qualifying whilst holding fifth fastest, where he eventually managed eighth on the grid after failing the ride-height check with ten minutes to go.
“Qualifying was going to plan, but then we had an issue where we lost my lap times due to the car failing a ride-height check, so with five minutes to go, I hadn’t set a timed lap,” explained Goff. “I managed two quick laps, and did enough to get eighth on the grid. If we’d had one more lap I could’ve found another tenth, which would’ve put us fourth.”
“As far as races go, it was all a bit of a procession. The top nine were pretty much the top nine in all three races, but the order was usually determined by the start positions. You could say that Oulton is becoming the Monaco of BTCC, where qualifying is so vitally important to ensure a good race result. However, despite this, we came away with another three top-ten finishes, which is good for the championship. We just need to make sure we nail qualifying at Croft and give ourselves the best chance in the races.”
As a result of his points finishes, Goff has slipped to eighth in the championship, whilst Jordan moves up to fourth ahead of reigning champion Colin Turkington. Team Principal Ian Harrison is happy with the continued progress the team are making with the MG and their new driver line-up.
“We have continued our process of developing the MG in a different direction, which was reflected in the improving car performance as the weekend unfolded,” said Harrison. “It has become increasingly difficult to overtake at Oulton, as the grid becomes ever more competitive, but both drivers were error-free and delivered solid results notwithstanding Neal’s attempt to put AJ in the hedge in race 3!
“We have some new developments due for Croft, so we expect to improve our performance there over last year. All in all, it’s going pretty much to plan.”