Newly crowned British Touring Car Champion Andrew Jordan says that his first title in the series has not sunk in yet, after he beat Gordon Shedden and Jason Plato to the 2013 crown.
Jordan clinched the championship in the final race of the season at Brands Hatch by finishing in ninth position, having started from 24th on the grid. The Pirtek driver told TouringCars.Net that he had achieved more than he had thought possible when he first started racing.
“I’m very happy to achieve that – it’s more than I thought I could achieve when I first started racing, so to get it is a dream come true,” said Jordan. “I’m the second youngest champion and nearly scored in all races apart from race two today so I’m over the moon – it hasn’t quite sunk in yet. I’m looking forward to waking up as champion.”
However it was not a straightforward run to the title, as the 24 year-old suffered his first retirement of the sesson in race two as a result of contact with Matt Neal.
“I got in a group and I had a feeling it was going to kick off,” explained Jordan about the race two incident. “Árón Smith had a lunge at Surtees and hit Rob Collard and spun him round. I was heading straight for Rob and had to hit the brakes and jink left. But Matt Neal was there because he was trying to avoid it. I clipped the BMW and straightaway I knew we were in trouble.
“I thought I had a puncture so I carried on and then had a big spin at Hawthorns. I nearly got stuck on the grass and had to do this three-point turn because I didn’t want to go on to the grass on the other side of the track. But the wheel was hanging off and I managed to get it back to the pits.”
It meant that going into the final race of the day Jordan had to finish in the top eight if Jason Plato won, or inside the top fourteen if Gordon Shedden won. In the end it was the latter who won the race and, with Jordan finishing ninth, enough for the title.
“I had to go forward in race three and I knew I had to do just get on with it. The car was really good, our pace was good and we got fastest lap as well. Then it was just a case of holding station.”
Jordan added that his thoughts are already turning to a title defence in 2014, confirming that a deal has already been agreed with title sponsor Pirtek.
“I’m signed with Pirtek for the next two years now so we’re testing this Thursday to try and move the car forward even more – so no rest for the wicked!”