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Andrew Jordan's BTCC Championship Year: Part 1

By MJP Media | 21 October 2013

In this special feature, we look back at the first half of the 2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship which was won by Pirtek Racing's Andrew Jordan and look at the highs and lows of his title-winning season.

Andrew Jordan won his first race of the season in race two at Donington Park

Brands Hatch (Indy)

Andrew Jordan arrived at the opening meeting of the 2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship as the reigning Independents' Trophy winner and with the clear objective of winning the outright Drivers' Championship. The early indications were encouraging with Jordan qualifying his Pirtek Racing Honda Civic on pole position for the first race of the season and with it, earning the first championship point of the year.

Jason Plato won the first two races in his MG KX Momentum Racing MG6 however Jordan kept in contention with two second place finishes to be only 8 points behind championship leader Plato going into the last race of the day.

With neither of the Honda Yuasa Racing drivers scoring points in the first race, their 1-2 victory in the last race was just what Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden wanted - Neal taking the race win. With Jason Plato finishing 5th and Andrew Jordan 6th, Plato ended the first meeting of the 2013 season at the top of the championship standings, 9 points ahead of Andrew Jordan and 14 points ahead of his MG team-mate Sam Tordoff.

Donington Park

At Donington Park, Andrew Jordan once again topped the time sheet in free practice, however it was defending champion Gordon Shedden who took the honours in the qualifying session with Jordan taking 3rd place behind the Dynojet Toyota Avensis of Frank Wrathall.

Victory in the first race went to Gordon Shedden with Andrew Jordan taking another podium by finishing 2nd ahead of Matt Neal and Jason Plato. The second race was significant for a number of drivers. For Jason Plato it was his 400th BTCC race and for Matt Neal it was his 500th and their cars carried the numbers '400' and '500' to mark the occasion. For Andrew Jordan it was his first race win of the 2013 season, finishing ahead of Jason Plato and Gordon Shedden.

The race three victory went to Colin Turkington in the eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sport with Gordon Shedden 2nd and Matt Neal 3rd. Both Andrew Jordan and Jason Plato finished outside of the top 6 and at the end of the second meeting, Plato was still at the top of the championship standings however Jordan was now just 5 points behind in 2nd place. Having arrived at Donington Park lying 5th in the championship, Matt Neal was now just 9 points behind Jordan in 3rd place.

Jordan's Pirtek Racing Honda Civic on the edge at Thruxton

Thruxton

Thruxton in Hampshire is the fastest circuit on the BTCC calendar and this appeared to favour the Honda Civics. The first practice session took place in light rain however in the second session and in dry conditions it was the Pirtek Racing Hondas that posted the fastest times with Andrew Jordan leading his team-mate Jeff Smith. The duo continued their dominance into the qualifying session, again putting their Civics on the front row of the grid for the first race of the day.

Unfortunately for Pirtek Racing, it was the Civics of the Honda Yuasa Racing team that took the race wins with Matt Neal winning the first and second race and Gordon Shedden winning the third. Having led the first race from the start, Andrew Jordan was set to take the victory but this was denied him by a puncture sustained on the final lap. Finishing in 11th place he still managed to earn some valuable championship points.

With the Honda Yuasa Racing drivers dominating the three races and a 1-2 finish in race three, Andrew Jordan was consistently gaining points with a 4th place finish in race two and a 3rd place podium finish in race 3. A puncture on Jason Plato's MG6 in race three meant that he scored only 1 point and with Matt Neal winning two of the day's races, Plato had slipped from 1st to 3rd in the championship standings with Neal now taking the top spot. Jordan was still 2nd in the standings, 13 points behind Meal and 3 points ahead of Plato.

Oulton Park

Jason Plato and Andrew Jordan were the drivers to beat at the picturesque Oulton Park circuit. Plato was fastest in the first free practice session and Jordan was the fastest in the second session. Plato went on to qualify his MG KX Momentum Racing MG6 in pole position for the first race of the day with his team-mate Sam Tordoff 2nd. Gordon Shedden qualified 3rd with Dave Newsham 4th and Andrew Jordan 5th.

The MGs of Plato and Tordoff went on to secure a 1-2 victory in the first race with Gordon Shedden completing the final podium position. Andrew Jordan finished 4th with the improving eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sport of Colin Turkington 5th and Matt Neal's Honda Civic 6th. Jordan's car was smoking heavily during the second half of the race however race officials were assured by the team that it was being caused by wrapping on the exhaust system and he wasn't black-flagged.

Plato also brought his MG6 home first in the second race of the day with Gordon Shedden 2nd and Colin Turkington 3rd. Andrew Jordan finished 5th behind Matt Neal. Plato's luck ran out in race 3 when his car caught fire on lap 4. Rob Austin led in the early stages of the race but in the latter stages it looked like it would be a Pirtek Racing 1-2 finish until a couple of spins by Jeff Smith put him out of the running leaving Andrew Jordan to take his 2nd race victory of the season. Colin Turkington finished 2nd with Ciceley Racing's Adam Morgan 3rd. Matt Neal had now regained the lead in the championship lead with Andrew Jordan 4 points behind and Jason Plato just 3 points further behind.

Andrew Jordan's 2nd win of the season was at Oulton Park in Cheshire

Croft

Colin Turkington had been achieving increasingly good results in his eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sport at the recent meetings and at Croft he really gave his championship campaign a boost by qualifying in pole position and going on to win the first two races and take 2nd place in the final race.

Honda Yuasa Racing's Matt Neal kept up the pressure with 2nd in the first race and victory in the third whilst team-mate Gordon Shedden got 2nd in the second race. Jason Plato's MG6 didn't perform well in the wet conditions and was even lapped during race two by his championship rivals. Meanwhile, Andrew Jordan was steadily accumulating points and achieved a 3rd place finish in the last race of the day.

At the half way stage of the season and heading into the summer break, Matt Neal was leading the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship on 224 points with Andrew Jordan 2nd on 205. Behind the two leaders, Jason Plato and Gordon Shedden were both on 188 points with Colin Turkington now 5th in the standings on 184. It looked like the second half of the season was going to be a 5-way battle between these drivers.

Continued in Part 2

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