Andrew Jordan takes lights-to-flag win at Thruxton
Eurotech Racing’s Andrew Jordan finally shook off his Thruxton hoodoo with a lights-to-flag victory in the first race of the day at the Hampshire circuit.
Jordan made a fine start from pole position and gradually put a gap on his competitors, after holding off a fierce first lap challenge from the fast-starting Mat Jackson.
Honda Racing Team pair Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden came home second and third, after both putting a move on the Motorbase Performance man on the exit of the complex on lap eight.
Jackson was nevertheless able to hang on to match his best result of the season, ahead of West Surrey Racing’s Rob Collard, who held off a long train of cars to finish fifth.
Triple Eight’s Jason Plato put pressure on Collard for the duration of the 16 laps, but was unable to pass, coming home sixth ahead of Alain Menu, Colin Turkington, Adam Morgan and Sam Tordoff.
Turkington made excellent progress from his seventh row starting position, but the opposite was the case for qualifying star Tom Ingram, who dropped from fifth to 13th in his Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis.
To the delight of the fans in the packed grandstands, much of the action came at the sharp end of the field. After passing both Hondas into the complex on lap one, Jackson quickly tagged onto Jordan and tried to pass around the outside into the final chicane after picking up a massive tow up Woodham Hill.
Jordan was able to fend him off, and the Ford Focus gradually fell back into the clutches of the pair of Civic Tourers. Neal was able to pass on the exit of the complex, with Shedden quickly following past as Jackson’s speed was compromised.
Elsewhere, United Autosports’ James Cole and Team BMR’s Warren Scott clashed at the chicane at the end of lap two, causing damage to both cars which saw them both eventually retire in the pits.
The coming together appeared to take place under yellow flags, with Chris Stockton’s Chevrolet Cruze parked on the outside of the track.
Fellow Team BMR man Aron Smith had made it as far forward as 17th in his rebuilt Volkswagen CC from the back of the grid, but he had a big moment at Church on lap 12, and had to pit the following lap for his team to clear grass out of the front splitter.
Dave Newsham also went off at the fastest point of the track in his AmD Tuning Ford Focus, just after he had passed Ford stable-mate Fabrizio Giovanardi for 12th.
There were no driving standards flags issues, but the stewards announced they would be investigating the starts of Tordoff, Menu and Ingram after the race.
