BTCC A new champ is crowned: Rnds 28/29/30

For the second successive season, BTCC Finals Day drew to a close with a new name having been added to the list of drivers to have lifted the championship title.

Heading to the Brands Hatch GP circuit with a 34 point lead having extended his advantage in the penultimate round of the year at Silverstone, Andrew Jordan was odds-on to lift the title with his four championship rivals all playing down their own chances of success.

As it was, it turned out to be a nervous day on track for Jordan before he was able to lift the championship trophy after three races full of drama…

The Pirtek Racing man had put himself in a good position after qualifying, securing third on the grid behind the two MGs of Jason Plato and Sam Tordoff, with Plato again putting his car on pole to secure a vital bonus point for his own championship challenge.

“The car is properly hooked up in the dry, and I think we’ve had the quickest outright package for much of the year,” the two-time champions said afterwards. “Looking at the amount of rain we are due to have tomorrow it will be like race three at Croft, and we were quick there too, it’s only in damp half-and-half conditions where our car struggles.”

Defending champion Gordon Shedden was able to post the fourth best time, with the BMW of Colin Turkington in sixth – leaving four of the five contenders towards the sharp end of the grid.

The exception was Matt Neal, with the Honda man down in 16th place after his session ended in the barriers at the bottom of Paddock Hill Bend. On a normal day, the heavy impact with the tyre wall would have been bad enough for the Honda man, but the finger injury he carried into the weekend meant the pain felt was greater than usual and left him on the back foot going into race day.

Heavy rain on race day only served to add to the intruigue, but for Plato, the opening race was a straightforward affair as he controlled proceedings from the front to secure an 81st career win.

Even when the Safety Car was called out early on after an off for Rob Austin’s Audi, Plato wasn’t headed as he also posted the fastest lap for a maximum score. Shedden would prove to be his closest challenger in second after a strong start from row two saw him quickly settle in behind Plato, while Tordoff completed the podium.

Focusing on the points, Jordan was fifth ahead of a charging Neal but for Turkington, his dreams of celebrating his return to the championship with a second title ended in tatters after an incident within seconds of the start.

Running side-by-side with team-mate Rob Collard into Paddock Hill Bend, Turkington suddenly found himself in a spin and when his car came to a rest in front of the field, Nick Foster in the third of the eBay Motors car was left with nowhere to go.

The contact was enough to put both out of the race, and Turkington out of contention for the title.

Race two gave Jordan his first serious chance to wrap up the title, knowing that if he maintained the lead he held at the start, it would be enough to lift the championship crown. For three of the contenders however, things wouldn’t go to plan…

The exception was Plato, who once again led the race from the front for a second win of the day. Scoring his second fastest lap of the weekend, the MG man brought himself right back into contention as his rivals hit drama.

The first man to hit trouble was Shedden, who got out of shape at Paddock Hill at the start and suffered a wild slide in front of the field. Somehow the Honda man managed to keep his car out of the barriers and also avoided being collected by the rest of the pack, although he plummeted down the order as a result.

The Scot would fight back to seventh to also give himself a chance of the title going into the final race, while the reverse grid draw would put him on pole.

Going into the race, Jordan had taken 28 points finishes from 28, with the penultimate race of the campaign being the one where things went awry.

In the ultimate case of ‘wrong place, wrong time’ Jordan was forced to take avoiding action when Aron Smith and Rob Collard clashed ahead and was hit by Neal, who was left with nowhere to go when the points leader swerved ahead.

The end result for Jordan was broken rear suspension while Neal pitted with a puncture and would fail to score; his race ending a lap early when his car caught fire.

That dropped him out of contention, leaving Jordan 15 points clear of Plato and 20 up on Shedden with one race left to go.

“I got the radio call that Jordan was out, and made the team repeat it just to be sure!” Plato said after the race. “We’ve had a great start and a great middle to today, let’s see if we can make it a great end!

“I’ve been here before, Andy hasn’t and he’ll be twitchy. We’re confident, the car feels great while the Hondas look to be struggling. It’s still Andrew’s to lose but let’s see if we can’t nick it!”

Going into the season finale, Shedden knew he had to win from pole to stand any chance of defending his title. The Scot saw off the challenge of a charging Jack Goff to end the year on top of the podium but ultimately it wouldn’t be enough.

Tenth place for Plato would also not be sufficient – the double champion needing to be on the podium – as Jordan secured the championship in style.

Despite being forced to start from the back of the grid, the youngster stormed through the field to take ninth place, scoring the fastest lap in the process to become the second youngest title winner in series history.

It was also the perfect way for the 24-year-old to honour the memory of Pirtek Racing mechanic Ryan Lawford, who passed away earlier in the year.

“After race one I was still pretty tense and then the odds were really stacked against us after race two,” he said. “It was my aim at the start of the season to win the title and we’ve done it – it’s just such an emotional feeling.

“It’s hard to explain – it’s relief but mostly complete joy to have won this as a team. I have felt a lot of pressure these last few weeks but I knew what we had to do. We’re already preparing to defend our title next season!”

As well as lifting the overall title, Jordan defended his Independents’ Championship crown, while Pirtek Racing clinched the Independents’ Team Trophy.

As well as the Manufacturers’/Constructors’ Championship, the factory Honda team clinched the HiQ Teams’ Trophy.

Word thanks to Matt Salisbury and Inside BTCC.

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