Andrew Jordan says that he is performing at the level he expected to be at in his first British Touring Car Championship season in rear-wheel drive machinery, despite a run of bad luck in recent meetings.
Jordan is currently 11th overall in the drivers’ championship standings, 82 points adrift of the leader, after incidents in the races at Donington Park and a spin in the first race at Thruxton meant that his race weekends turned into a salvage exercise.
Despite the setbacks, Jordan believes he has shown strong speed, having taken victory in his first meeting in a BMW back at Brands Hatch.
“We’ve shown good speed so far this season and performed pretty much to the level I was expecting in my first year in a rear-wheel-drive touring car,” said Jordan.
“The frustration is that because of the way a BTCC race day works, a bad first race can have a massive knock-on effect on your grid positions for races two and three, and that’s something we’ve definitely suffered from.”
Looking ahead to Oulton Park, where Jordan took his first-ever BTCC podium in 2008 and previously won in 2013, the BMW Pirtek Racing driver is seeking to add to his solitary podium of 2017
“Because I’m 11th in the points, I don’t carry any success ballast into Oulton,” added Jordan. “That could be a game-changer because it’s a track I’ve gone well at in the past and one that suits rear-wheel-drive cars like the BMW.
“A podium is the minimum target as we try to put some momentum back into our season.”
WSR Team Principal Dick Bennetts reiterated his support of Jordan as he gets used to rear-wheel drive, acknowledging that he has similar pace to more experienced BMW racers and team-mates Colin Turkington and Rob Collard.
“BMW Pirtek Racing have had a difficult couple of races,” said Bennetts. “As we’ve seen with plenty of other drivers, rear-wheel-drive touring cars take a bit of getting used to and Andrew is learning this as he goes along.
“What’s significant is that his speed in qualifying and the races is pretty much on a par with the other WSR drivers; he’s just not getting the lucky breaks that every driver needs to turn them into consistent results.
“With zero ballast on the car he should be competitive this weekend.”