Andrew Jordan took his first British Touring Car Championship double win in more than five years as the Pirtek Racing driver dominated the first two races at Thruxton in the BMW 3 series. The reverse grid race was then won by Josh Cook in his BTC racing Honda. won the final race in Hampshire.
It was a much-needed good weekend for Jordan after a nightmare crash at Donington which saw him out of the whole weekend missing any chance to score.
It was the pole sitter Sam Tordoff who initially went into the lead in his AmD Tuning run Honda Civic. But only very briefly as he mysteriously then lost pace which later turned out to have been a power steering issue.
So Jordan then lead from Cammish in the Halfords Yuasa racing Civic. Tordoff then drove around his steering issue to take Second back off Cammish.
In race two, Jordan was dominant scoring a lights to flag victory. Only Turkington came close, following Jordan home to score a BMW and a WSR one-two victory.
“It was a credit to BMW and WSR because the car was in a sorry state as we all know after Donington Park. That’s how we do it! I love Thruxton, WSR and this new BMW 3 Series. Race two was tricky with the weight in, and in a way it was good that I had Colin behind because the weight hurt the balance of the car. But a BMW 3 Series one-two, the first of the year! I can’t remember when I last had a double. We’re on form. We’re a good team with a good car and good drivers.” Said Jordan afterwards
Turkington was happy with his podium;
“It’s an absolutely fantastic result for the team, and race two was my 400th race as well apparently, so nice to sign that out with a podium. I’m really happy – it looks easy out front but it’s not when the pressure’s on. Really happy for all of Team BMW and especially for Andy’s side – they’ve had a tough few weeks in between Donington and this one so great work from everybody. Plenty of reason to celebrate today.”
In the finale it was Cook leading the way for most of the race after he squeezed past Ash Sutton’s Subaru Levorg as they approached the chicane on the first lap. Despite two safety car periods, cutting any gap he built up, as well as resisting pressure from Sutton’s Subaru and Rory Butcher in the second AmD Honda.
“We needed that one. It’s been a tough day today. I executed the start nicely and got past Ash [Sutton] and then just managed it from there. We took a bit of a gamble on setup and it paid off in the end. Our Team Manager Zoe [Timbrell] had to shoot off ill earlier, so that was for her. I’m chuffed for the team – it’s been a hard day.”
Sutton had been the top of the challenging contenders early on but Butcher had really got to grips with his car by race three, helped by a damper change and he took Sutton going through Church, the fastest corner on the circuit.
The second placed finish gave Butcher the joint championship lead with Colin Turkington although Turkington heads the standings due to his win total. Josh Cook moves to third in the championship.
Butcher was pleased with how things had worked out;
“That was a fantastic race day for us. We started fifth all day and we’ve bagged some really good points. It was nice to have such a strong race but I didn’t really have an answer for Josh [Cook] out front in that last one and I had to look in the mirrors back towards Ash [Sutton] a little. Some new brakes on for the final race made the difference and Mike [Bushell, race engineer] has done a superb job all weekend.”
Butcher also heads the independent drivers championship while BTC Racing head the independent teams title. Honda Halfords Yuasa Racing head the overall teams and constructors titles.
The next rounds are at Croft
Round 10, 11 and 12 of the 2019 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship will take place at Croft on 15/16 June. By Marc Waller
2019 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Round 7 – Thruxton Circuit
1 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing 16 laps
2 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance +1.339s
3 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +1.690s
4 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +2.267s
5 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance +3.574s
6 Jason PLATO (GBR) Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing +5.595s
7 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +6.933s
8 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing +8.308s
9 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +10.584s
10 Jake HILL (GBR) TradePriceCars.com +13.181s
2019 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Round 8 – Thruxton Circuit
1 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing 16 laps
2 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +0.613s
3 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +1.696s
4 Jason PLATO (GBR) Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing +2.949s
5 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +3.325s
6 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance +4.718s
7 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance +5.087s
8 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Team Toyota GB with Ginsters +6.139s
9 Rob COLLARD (GBR) Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing +7.593s
10 Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing +8.268s
2019 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Round 9 – Thruxton Circuit
1 Josh COOK (GBR) BTC Racing 19 laps
2 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance +0.420s
3 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +0.894s
4 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +3.786s
5 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Team Toyota GB with Ginsters +4.468s
6 Dan CAMMISH (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +5.510s
7 Tom OLIPHANT (GBR) Team BMW +6.012s
8 Jason PLATO (GBR) Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing +6.466s
9 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +6.728s
10 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +11.326s
