“Balls to the wall” effort by pole man Andrew Jordan

A delighted Andrew Jordan said it was a “balls to the wall” lap to snatch pole for the opening race of the new BTCC season at Brands Hatch.

The reigning champion made the perfect start to his title defence for Eurotech Racing, taking the point for pole, and early lead in the standings, after setting his best lap with just three minutes to go.

Jordan had been fourth for much of the session in his Honda Civic, before moving up to second, and beat Triple Eight’s Jason Plato by just 0.012 on his final run.

Speaking to TouringCarTimes, Jordan said: “I am over the moon with that. I’m a bit surprised, because I thought Jason probably had enough. But the last lap was balls to the wall!

“I’ve looked at the data and it was pretty hairy. To do it in such a close session, the first one of the year, as champion, I’m really pleased.”

Finding track space on the tight Indy layout was a challenge for all the drivers, but Jordan said getting a clear run was easier than he expected.

He said: “FP1 was fine, and FP2 I got stuck in a gaggle of cars and struggled to find space. Qualifying I got a bit of traffic, but I managed to get a couple of clear runs. It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, but I am probably saying that because I didn’t get baulked!

“This and Knockhill will probably be the worst ones, and it wasn’t horrendous.”

Thoughts now turn to Sunday, when a big crowd is expected to watch Jordan and the other six former champions get down to the business of racing.

He said: “I think our race pace will be good. Colin [Turkington] will be strong off the line starting third, so if he hooks the start up he should really lead into the first corner.

“But it will come down to race pace and keeping your nose clean. It is the first race of 30, so it is not the time for do or die moves. We will see how it pans out, but we should be strong.

“I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. If the weather’s like this we should have a mega crowd, and there is a great atmosphere around the championship. I’m excited to start the first race on pole.”