Sam Tordoff believes that it is ‘ridiculous’ that the managed to extend his lead in the British Touring Car Championship races at Silverstone, having only finished in the top ten once.
Tordoff left Silverstone with an extended 11-point lead over his nearest rival, Gordon Shedden, in the drivers’ championship standings.
The increased margin comes despite the WSR driver once again struggling in qualifying and being forced to fight his way back into contention in the races.
Whilst the Yorkshireman managed to finish 11th in both races one and two, with only modest progress made in the first race and none at all in race two, he then finished sixth in the final race of the day.
The extension of the points gap comes as Matt Neal also struggled at the Northamptonshire circuit, and the title battle is now wide open as Shedden won race three to pass Neal in the points.
“From the off here we’ve had problems, so to come away having extended our lead from five points to 11 is quite frankly ridiculous,” said Tordoff. “For me, the pressure is off as nobody expected this at the start of the year. I’m picking points up as we go along and seeing how we go from there really.
“It could be difficult at Brands with the ballast – it’s undulating, so we have to be wary. There are a lot of corners and stop-starts, though, which should suit the BMW.”
Tordoff admits that he is wary of the challenge from the Halfords Hondas, but knows that with his rivals taking points off each other, he is likely to be in the best position at the season finale.
“There are seven or eight guys taking points off each other out there as well as off of me, so we’ll see what happens.
“Regarding the competition, Honda has been up there for many years as the benchmark. I think the biggest threat comes from them – they’re experienced guys who have been there and done it. My team-mate’s there in the mirrors too, and you can never discount the Fords.
“It’s going to be a strange two weeks. I’ll try to keep myself sharp with BMW in the meantime, and Brands Hatch GP is my favourite circuit. I’m looking forward to it. I’ll go there the same way I did this weekend. I’ll prepare, do the simulator work and walk the track three times if needs be.
“Hopefully we’ll qualify well, which will be really important, and we’ll go from there.”