Andrew Jordan was denied the chance to add to his Donington Park victory as he suffered a puncture on the final lap of the opening British Touring Car Championship race at Thruxton.
Having finished qualifying on Pole Position – his second in three weekends in 2013 – the Pirtek Racing driver was all set to take his form into the three races on Sunday.
“Qualifying was mega,” explains Jordan. “We were two and a half tenths clear of Shedden and we did it on the last lap as well. We had 36kg of success ballast but we were still the quickest package all weekend.”
Jordan lost the lead of the opening race on the run to the complex for the first time but was soon back in the lead – a position he held until the final half lap of the 16 lap encounter, when he suffered a puncture and could only recover 11th.
“Gordon Shedden just got ahead of me into the Complex and then he and Plato had a bit of a tangle and I was through. Then it was a case of managing the gap and really looking after the left front tyre.
“I felt a vibration start with three or four laps to go, so I was really backing it off. The tyre started to go as I went through Noble on the last lap. It’s just one of those things and a classic Thruxton problem: there was nothing I could do about it. I was just able to drag the car round to the flag and take eleventh place,” added Jordan.
Lining up 11th but without any success ballast, Jordan fought his way up the field to challenge for 2nd on the final lap but eventually wound up 4th after controlling a lurid slide at Church enabled the chasing Shedden to pass him on the run to the chicane.
“On the last lap he was slow out of Goodwood and bottled me up, which allowed Shedden to get a run on me. I just dropped a rear wheel on the grass as I turned into Church and had a big sideways slide at about 130mph. It was a massive moment and it was the save of my career so far!” Jordan continued.
The final race of the weekend saw the top 9 cars reversed and this left Jordan sixth on the grid. He finished 3rd to secure another podium finish which kept him in contention at the head of the standings.
“In the first few laps, Jack Goff was all over the place and everywhere I went was the wrong way,” said Jordan about the opening laps in race 3.
“Plato had a puncture and Jeff had the off at the chicane and that put us up to third. It was close across the line with Matt Neal for second as I got a bit of a run on him out of the chicane,” he concluded.
Team-mate Jeff Smith secured a trio of top six finishes in the #55 Pirtek Racing Honda Civic to elevate him to 6th in the overall standings ahead of the five week break to Oulton Park.