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Sam Tordoff amazed to retain BTCC points lead

Sam Tordoff admitted he was amazed to retain his BTCC points lead after a stunning recovery on race day at Rockingham.

The points leader was left towards the back of the grid after a misfire in qualifying that affect all three WSR-run BMWs, but a series of overnight changes allowed him to charge through the field to take tenth place in race one; limiting his losses to closest rival Matt Neal to just two points.

Tordoff then extended his advantage over the Honda man with a fine drive through the pack to take a second win of the year in race two and despite then failing to score in race three with maximum ballast on the hard tyre, he comes away from the weekend sitting five points clear of Neal in the championship standings.

“I’m amazed we only lot four points and credit to the team for a great recovery today,” he said. “If you told me I’d win a race today after qualifying yesterday, then I’d have told you you were taking the piss, but in the end, we’ve come away from the weekend with our lead intact. It’s just a shame that race three was terrible on the hard tyre and with the weight on the car but there was nothing we could really do about that.

“This was probably our worst track of the three that we had left on the calendar as I feel the car will be better suited to Silverstone and Brands Hatch.

“With that in mind, and considering where we qualified, to have produced the results we did and to get a win is nothing short of remarkable.”