Andrew Jordan narrowly claimed victory in the middle contest at this weekend’s penultimate British Touring Car Championship meeting at Silverstone, and in doing so reinvigorated his chances of taking a second championship crown.
With the top three in the championship all starting towards the tail end of the field, Jordan took full advantage after inheriting a front row start following the disqualification of MG duo Ashley Sutton and Josh Cook from race one.
Though Ingram initially held the lead from the start, seven laps of sustained pressure wore down the Toyota Avensis’ defences, with Jordan completing his conquest on the inside into Becketts.
Adam Morgan similarly followed through in more robust style past the race one winner, though he was unable to trouble Jordan and the two maintained a status quo to the chequered flag.
The story behind was one of Silverline Subaru BMR Racing’s comeback, with Colin Turkington and Jason Plato scything through the field together to claim fourth and fifth behind Ingram.
Despite championship leader Sam Tordoff unable to improve on his starting position any higher than 11th, his standings advantage has been extended over Matt Neal, who claimed a solitary point in 15th. He now leads by fourteen points with four races to go.
However, stronger results for defending champion Gordon Shedden, Team JCT600 with GardX team-mate Collard, as well as race winner Jordan have seen the race for the title close up once more at the front.
Jake Hill will have been disappointed to finish 27th after running an impressive fourth at one stage, whilst Rob Austin also squandered an opportunity to claim a third podium of the season as a front-left puncture curtailed his efforts.
The final race of the weekend will set the scene for the championship decider at Brands Hatch in a fortnight’s time, but if Sam Tordoff can utilize a ballast-free and normal tyre compound-shod BMW 125i M-Sport, he stands every chance of going into the finale with a comfortable advantage. He’ll have his work cut out ahead, though.
Race result
POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
1 | 77 | Andrew JORDAN | Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus | 25 | 26:44.945 | 59.481 | 2 | ||
2 | 33 | Adam MORGAN | WIX Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 25 | 0.884 | 59.472 | 4 | ||
3 | 80 | Tom INGRAM | Speedworks Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 25 | 2.456 | 59.722 | 1 | ||
4 | 4 | M | Colin TURKINGTON | Silverline Subaru BMR Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 25 | 2.662 | 59.327 | 8 | |
5 | 99 | M | Jason PLATO | Silverline Subaru BMR Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 25 | 3.001 | 59.366 | 10 | |
6 | 7 | Mat JACKSON | Motorbase Performance | Ford Focus | 25 | 3.253 | 59.378 | 17 | ||
7 | 100 | C | Rob COLLARD | Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 25 | 3.471 | 59.381 | 7 | |
8 | 52 | M | Gordon SHEDDEN | Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 25 | 4.409 | 59.322 | 23 | |
9 | 16 | Aiden MOFFAT | Laser Tools Racing | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 25 | 5.043 | 59.443 | 9 | ||
10 | 53 | Hunter ABBOTT | Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 25 | 5.993 | 59.364 | 13 | ||
11 | 600 | C | Sam TORDOFF | Team JCT600 with GardX | BMW 125i M Sport | 25 | 6.181 | 59.406 | 11 | |
12 | 12 | Mike EPPS | RCIB Insurance Racing | Toyota Avensis | 25 | 6.989 | 59.550 | 18 | ||
13 | 31 | C | Jack GOFF | Team IHG Rewards Club | BMW 125i M Sport | 25 | 7.229 | 59.534 | 12 | |
14 | 17 | Dan WELCH | Goodestone Racing | Proton Persona | 25 | 8.344 | 59.418 | 21 | ||
15 | 25 | M | Matt NEAL | Halfords Yuasa Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 25 | 8.524 | 59.391 | 24 | |
16 | 48 | Ollie JACKSON | AmD Tuning | Audi S3 | 25 | 9.025 | 59.412 | 14 | ||
17 | 66 | M | Josh COOK | MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 25 | 15.262 | 59.442 | 31 | |
18 | 30 | Martin DEPPER | Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 25 | 16.147 | 59.518 | 27 | ||
19 | 95 | Stewart LINES | Maximum Motorsport | Ford Focus | 25 | 16.356 | 59.506 | 19 | ||
20 | 14 | Alex MARTIN | Dextra Racing with Team Parker | Ford Focus | 25 | 16.517 | 1:00.153 | 29 | ||
21 | 34 | Tony GILHAM | TLC Racing | Toyota Avensis | 25 | 17.170 | 1:00.069 | 28 | ||
22 | 84 | Kelvin FLETCHER | Power Maxed Racing | Chevrolet Cruze | 25 | 20.414 | 1:00.543 | 22 | ||
23 | 20 | M | James COLE | Silverline Subaru BMR Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 25 | 20.905 | 59.296 | 26 | |
24 | 40 | Árón SMITH | BKR | Volkswagen CC | 24 | 1 Lap | 59.298 | 6 | ||
25 | 55 | Jeff SMITH | Eurotech Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 24 | 1 Lap | 59.375 | 15 | ||
26 | 116 | M | Ashley SUTTON | MG Racing RCIB Insurance | MG6GT | 24 | 1 Lap | 59.562 | 30 | |
27 | 24 | Jake HILL | RCIB Insurance Racing | Toyota Avensis | 24 | 1 Lap | 59.536 | 5 | ||
28 | 38 | Mark HOWARD | BKR | Volkswagen CC | 24 | 1 Lap | 59.711 | 16 | ||
29 | 39 | M | Warren SCOTT | Silverline Subaru BMR Racing | Subaru Levorg GT | 24 | 1 Lap | 59.304 | 25 | |
R | 303 | Matt SIMPSON | Speedworks Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R | 14 | 11 Laps | 1:00.237 | 20 | ||
R | 11 | Rob AUSTIN | Handy Motorsport | Toyota Avensis | 13 | 12 Laps | 59.611 | 3 |