Indie leader Jordan firmly focused on main title
Independents’ leader Andrew Jordan says his pace at Thruxton has shown he is a “complete contender” for overall championship honours in 2013.
The Eurotech Racing man had a weekend of contrasting emotions, taking pole position on Saturday and dominating the first race, before suffering a puncture on the final lap.
He managed to limp home 11th and then battle back to fourth in race two, and third in race three – both results he felt he could have improved on.
In the independents’ standings, Jordan leads Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan by 23 points, while he trails Honda Racing Team’s Matt Neal by 13 points in the main championship.
The Honda Civic driver says he now believes he is competing with the established names on overall performance at every meeting.
“We have shown we’ve been the quickest all weekend here. With weight on, we have been very strong, ” Jordan told TouringCarTimes.
“If we keep going like that we will be a threat all through the year. We were bitterly disappointed not to get the win in race one, but it’s one of those things. You’ve just got to get on with it.
“If you want to challenge for a championship you have got to bounce back from things like that. Everyone’s going to have bad races.
“To get a fourth and third from what could have been a disaster in race one isn’t too bad.
“I’m pleased with the job I’ve done. Qualifying I was very pleased with and race one I think we reiterated the fact we are a complete contender for the championship.
“At the minute it’s Plato, Shedden and Neal, all former champions, and I think I’m in there with them now on performance.”
Reflecting on his puncture, Jordan added: “I think it might have been just a little bit wrong on setup. I stayed off the kerbs for the first two laps, as Dunlop recommend. I’ve done everything I can this weekend.”
The day’s final race was another tale of what might have been for Jordan, despite finishing a very strong third.
He said: “I’m a bit disappointed with the last one, I would have liked to have got a bit further up.
“Goff was all over the place and everywhere I went I got boxed in. That allowed Gordon and Matt to get under me. Sometimes it just opens up, but everywhere I went I got boxed in.”
