Andrew Jordan delighted with maiden 3 Series success

Andrew Jordan admitted he was thrilled to secure a first win for the new BMW 330i M Sport on its maiden outing in the BTCC at Brands Hatch.

The car had only had one day of pre-season testing prior to Brands Hatch, with Jordan having lapped in the top four during the season launch at the same circuit a week earlier.

That pace was replicated through free practice, with Jordan leading the way in the opening session and fellow BMW driver Tom Oliphant then heading FP2 – before all three cars qualified in the top five for the opening race.

Wet conditions on Sunday morning saw all of the leading cars elect to run wet tyres, but it proved to the wrong call as the slick-shod runners moved through to the front, with Jordan slipping back to 15th at the finish.

That set up a stunning drive through to victory in race two however, with Jordan scything his way through the field on the more favourable prime tyre to secure the first race win for the car in just its second race.

Although he would fail to score in race three after a pitstop, Jordan was still delighted with the weekend as a whole and confident that the WSR machine will be a contender throughout the season.

“We have shown we have some serious speed in the car this weekend and it’s great to get the first win for the 330i M Sport,” he said. “That was the dream coming into Brands Hatch, although we didn’t know if it was something we could realistically do given that we hadn’t had chance to go a lot of pre-season testing.

“People will make a big thing about that, but the fact is that WSR have given us a car that was really good right out of the box, so we aren’t having to try and find big things when we go on track; we’re searching for those little bits to improve the package.

“Looking across the weekend, race one was one of those where hindsight is a wonderful thing when it comes to the tyres, but at this stage of the year, we had to take the sensible view and go with the majority. We could easily have been the ones who looked like idiots if we had gambled on slick tyres and the rain had got heavier, so we took the safe approach and still managed to salvage a point.

“To then win from 15th in race two was just brilliant. We were flattered a little bit by the fact that we were on the right tyres, but the car was really hooked up and performed brilliantly. I made up a load of places at the start and then made some good moves into Paddock Hill Bend that allowed me to get the job done, and I’m so happy to get that win.

“Okay so we could have got more from the final race but I can’t complain at a weekend where we have come out with a brand new car and taken victory. We have a great base to build on going forwards.”