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Andrew Jordan's BTCC Championship Year: Part 2

By MJP Media | 23 October 2013

In this special feature, we look back at the second 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.

Knockhill was the venue for Andrew Jordan's 4th win of the year

Snetterton

At Snetterton it looked like the MG KX Momentum Racing team had the upper hand following the recent testing session at the circuit. Jason Plato and team-mate Sam Tordoff topped the time sheets in both the free practice sessions and Tordoff qualified his MG6 on pole for the first race of the day, going on to take his maiden BTCC victory and lead his team to a 1-2 finish with Plato 2nd. Gordon Shedden finished 3rd with Colin Turkington 4th and Andrew Jordan 5th.

Andrew Jordan won the second race for Pirtek Racing with Matt Neal 2nd for Honda Yuasa Racing and Aron Smith 3rd for Airwaves Racing. Jason Plato retired from the race when his MG6 slowed to a crawl on lap 5. Team-mate Sam Tordoff didn't have a good race either considering his promising start to the day's racing as he steadily lost places and finished well down the field.

The race three victory went to Gordon Shedden with 2nd and 3rd going to Airwaves Racing team-mates Mat Jackson and Aron Smith. Colin Turkington had been leading the race but was tapped by Shedden's car on lap 8, causing him to slide off the track and lose several places - he ended the race in 6th place. Jason Plato's day went from bad to worse when his MG6 spun off the track, collided with the barriers and flipped over. Leaving Snetterton, Matt Neal was heading the championship standings on 256 points with Andrew Jordan 2nd on 247 and Gordon Shedden 3rd on 234. Plato had now slipped to 5th behind Colin Turkington in 4th.

Knockhill

The annual visit to Scotland was significant for a number of reasons. At 16 years of age, Aiden Moffat became the youngest driver ever to compete in the BTCC, having started his racing career when he was 12. In the qualifying session, Rob Austin took pole position after a stunning performance which saw the WIX Racing driver knock over half a second off the existing BTCC qualifying record.

After a hard-fought battle, eBay Motors driver Colin Turkington won the first race of the day with Gordon Shedden 2nd and Rob Austin 3rd. Turkington then went on to win race two, earning maximum points from both races. Rob Austin finished the second race in 2nd place behind local hero Shedden. Championship contenders Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan finished 5th and 6th respectively.

Fortune smiled on Andrew Jordan as the number 6 ball was randomly selected for the reverse grid for the final race of the day, meaning that the Pirtek Racing driver would start from pole position. Jordan made the most of his position and went on to win the race - his 4th victory of the season. Matt Neal finished the race in 3rd place ahead of Colin Turkington and Rob Collard however Turkington was subsequently excluded from the results for running with excessive turbo boost. Gordon Shedden retired from the race in its closing stages. Leaving Knockhill, Matt Neal led the championship on 293 points with Andrew Jordan 2nd on 287, Gordon Shedden 3rd on 266 and Colin Turkington 4th on 263.

Two wins at Rockingham put Jordan ahead in the championship

Rockingham

In the 2012 BTCC season, Rockingham was a pivotal meeting in the battle for the Drivers' Championship and it proved to be so again in 2013. Whilst it was the Civics of Honda Yuasa Racing's Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden which topped the time sheet in the first practice session and the Toyota Avensis of Speedworks Motorsport's Dave Newsham which topped the second, it was MG KX Momentum Racing team-mates Jason Plato and Sam Tordoff who secured a front-row lockout in the qualifying session for the first race. Andrew Jordan was the fastest of the Honda Civic drivers in 4th, behind Rob Austin's WIX Racing Audi A4 in 3rd.

Track conditions on race day were slippery after earlier rain and the MGs could not maintain their positions at the front of the field in the first race with Andrew Jordan taking the lead into the first hairpin following an excellent start. The MGs lost more places and it was a race victory for Jordan with Mat Jackson 2nd and Rob Austin 3rd. Matt Neal spun his Honda Civic in the middle of the race which dropped him to 21st. He recovered to finish 14th however Jordan was now ahead in the championship standings. In race two it was a maiden BTCC victory for Rob Austin with Gordon Shedden 2nd and Colin Turkington 3rd. Matt Neal retired his car mid-race and slipped to 3rd in the championship behind Jordan and Shedden.

Andrew Jordan started race three in pole position thanks to the reverse grid system and dominated the race, taking his 6th BTCC win of the season. Colin Turkington continued his run of good form finishing 2nd with Jason Plato 3rd, Mat Jackson 4th and Gordon Shedden 5th. Matt Neal finished 7th and slipped down to 4th in the championship standings as Colin Turkington moved up to 3rd. At the top it was still Andrew Jordan, now on 338 points with a 30 point lead over defending champion Gordon Shedden in 2nd with 308. Close behind, Colin Turkington was on 305 points with Matt Neal on 304. Jason Plato was still in contention on 276 points as the BTCC headed to the penultimate meeting of the season.

Silverstone

The Honda Civics struggled around the Silverstone National circuit and it was Jason Plato and Dave Newsham who topped the time sheets in the free practice sessions. MG KX Momentum Racing once again secured a front row lockout in the qualifying session with Jason Plato taking pole position. Dave Newsham qualified 3rd in his Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis. Of the Honda Civic drivers, Matt Neal qualified 9th with Andrew Jordan 10th and Gordon Shedden a disappointing 15th.

The MG duo capitalised on their qualifying position by winning the first race of the day - Jason Plato taking the race win ahead of team-mate Sam Tordoff. Matt Neal also kept his championship campaign alive with a 3rd place finish while eBay Motors team-mates Colin Turkington and Rob Collard finished 4th and 5th with championship leader Andrew Jordan completing the top 6. After an intense battle with Andrew Jordan, Jason Plato won the second race with Jordan 2nd for Pirtek Racing and Aron Smith 3rd place for Airwaves Racing.

Following their lack of performance in the first two races, Honda Yuasa Racing produced a much better result in the final race of the day with Gordon Shedden taking the victory and team-mate Matt Neal taking 3rd place with Aron Smith securing his second podium of the day with 2nd. Colin Turkington spun out on lap 22 with damaged rear suspension. Heading into the final meeting of the year, Andrew Jordan was on 378 points with Matt Neal 2nd on 344 and Gordon Shedden 3rd on 343. Colin Turkington was 4th on 330 points with Jason Plato 5th on 329 however with 67 points available from the last three races it was still a 5-way battle for the Drivers' Championship trophy.

Andrew Jordan in the rain at Brands Hatch

Brands Hatch (GP)

With 5 drivers capable of lifting the 2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship trophy, MG KX Momentum Racing threw down the gauntlet with yet another front row lockout in the qualifying session with Jason Plato taking pole position ahead of team-mate Sam Tordoff. Matt Neal crashed his Honda Yuasa Racing Civic in the qualifying session leaving him 16th on the grid for the first race of the day. Currently 5th in the championship standings, Jason Plato made his intentions very clear, winning the first race in the rain and taking maximum points whilst team-mate Tordoff took 3rd behind Gordon Shedden. Andrew Jordan finished 5th with Matt Neal 6th. Jordan's lead in the championship had now reduced to 29 points with Gordon Shedden 2nd and Matt Neal 3rd. Jason Plato was now 4th, 37 points behind Jordan with 44 points available from the remaining two races. It was now a 4-way battle for the title.

Jason Plato consolidated his position with another victory and maximum points in race two which was full of drama and excitement. In the rain, Gordon Shedden had a massive slide on the first lap but managed to keep out of danger and recovered to finish 7th. Andrew Jordan was not so fortunate as his Pirtek Racing Honda Civic suffered rear suspension damage following contact with another car and was force to retire - the first and only race this year in which Jordan failed to score any championship points. There was more drama to come as Matt Neal's Honda Civic burst into flame causing him to retire on the last lap and put him out of contention for the championship battle which was now going to be a 3-way shootout in the final race of the season between Andrew Jordan, Jason Plato and Gordon Shedden. Jordan still topped the standings with 389 points with Plato just 15 points behind and Shedden a further 5 points behind with 22 points available from the final race of the year.

Intriguingly, the reverse grid placed Honda Yuasa Racing's Gordon Shedden on pole for the final race of the season with Jason Plato 7th on the 4th row of the grid. Andrew Jordan had to start at the back of the grid following his early exit from the previous race and needed 8 points from the final race to guarantee the championship title. At the finish it was a race victory for Gordon Shedden with Jack Goff an excellent 2nd. Andrew Jordan finished 9th with his nearest rival Jason Plato struggling on the drying track and finishing 10th. After a thrilling end to a fantastic season of motor racing, Andrew Jordan was awarded the 2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship trophy with 397 points. Gordon Shedden was runner-up on 390 points with Jason Plato 3rd on 380.

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