Reigning champ Jordan in pole
Andrew Jordan has kicked off his title defence in fine style by securing the first pole position of the 2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch.
Andrew Jordan has kicked off his title defence in fine style by securing the first pole position of the 2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch.
Jordan took top spot in the same event last season, but the 24-year-old went event faster this time around to pip the MG of Jason Plato by 0.012s. Jordan left it extremely late to set his fastest flyer, as did eBay Motors’ Colin Turkington who claimed third on his final tour.
Incredibly close times has been the theme throughout the day on the tight 1.2 mile Indy circuit and qualifying proved no different with the top 23 cars covered by just over eight tenths of a second.
Honda Yuasa Racing’s debut with the new Civic Tourer proved fruitful and although they slipped back with Jordan and Turkington’s last gasp efforts, the squad will be content with its performance. It was Matt Neal who led team-mate Gordon Shedden and the duo will line up fourth and fifth for tomorrow’s season opener.
Arguably the performance of the day came from young debutant Tom Ingram, who backed up his top six practice pace with exactly the same result in qualifying. The Speedworks’ driver’s commitment through the legendary Paddock Hill Bend was there for all to see, and he set the third fastest first sector of any driver in the field.
Chrome Edition Restart Racing also deserve enormous credit with its pairing of Aron Smith and Alain Menu separated by just 0.028s in seventh and eighth respectively. The team certainly enjoyed less pre-season running than the majority of its rivals but the VW CC has proved immediately quick and Smith’s position equals the highest for the machine since introduction to the series last year.
Mat Jackson’s Airwaves Racing Ford Focus and the eBay Motors BMW of Rob Collard were ninth and tenth fastest – the former scoring his first top ten grid slot since the 2012 season finale. Rob Austin’s popular Audi will line-up on row six alongside MG’s Sam Tordoff, who himself endured his lowest qualifying position in his short BTCC career so far.
Notable absentees from the top order included the Mercedes A-Class of Adam Morgan, which had run extremely well during testing, and the Ford Focus of two-time returning champion Fabrizio Giovanardi.
Incidents were at a minimum, as were issues involving the newly introduced track limit regulations, with only drivers towards the rear of the field suffering. The Audi A3 of Rob Holland recovered from a minor spin, whilst Jack Clarke, James Cole, Glynn Geddie and Aiden Moffat were among those to have their quickest lap times removed after running off limits.
Now the attention turns to the opening three rounds of the 2014 BTCC season, which will take place at the Kent venue tomorrow. The first race gets underway at 11:45 with ITV4′s live and exclusive coverage commencing at 10:30.