JORDAN SECURES BMW TIN-TOP DEAL
British Touring Car favourite lands plum drive for 2017
Andrew Jordan says he is in prime position to land another British Touring Car Championship title after securing a deal to race a BMW in 2017.
The 2013 title winner has linked up with WSR to handle a 125i M Sport. The car was a four-time winner in 2016 in the hands of championship runner up Sam Tordoff and team-mate Rob Collard. Jordan has inked a two-year contract.
“As soon as I walked in to WSR’S workshops, I knew it was the team for me,” said Jordan. “The team has the same desire to win as I do, so this will be a perfect fit.”
British Touring Car Championship racer Andrew Jordan says he is in the best place possible to win another title after securing a deal to join WSR in 2017.
The 2013 title winner has claimed a seat with the multiple champion team to handle one of its BMW 125i M Sport machines next season and he believes that it will be the springboard he needs.
“I have been in the hunt for a number of titles over the years, but this takes things to a whole new level,” said Jordan, 27. “If you look up and down the British Touring Car Championship grid, then you have to say that the two big teams are the factory Honda squad, Team Dynamics, and WSR. This is one of the plum drives and the title has to be the ultimate target.”
Jordan has an intensive test programme planned with the Middlesex-based outfit, and will begin his familiarisation with the crew at Brands Hatch next week.
Impressive set-up
Jordan drove for the Motorbase Performance team in 2016 and won two races. He also claimed the Independents Trophy, finishing eighth in the overall standings. The Pirtek-backed driver announced his split with Motorbase three weeks ago, but Jordan said that as soon as an option to join WSR became available, he jumped at it. “When I went to visit the factory, I was simply blown away by the set-up and the determination to win that exists within the team. It immediately blew any other team out of the water,” said Jordan. “I looked at the plans WSR has for upgrades for next season and sat and chatted to team boss Dick Bennetts ( below left).left “There is such a will to win from him, and that is something I share as well, so we hit it off immediately. “WSR has a reputation of being methodical and diligent, and that is the way I like to go racing too. There are lots of common goals shared between us.”
Rear-drive future
All of Jordan’s nine years in the BTCC have been spent in frontwheel-drive cars, and the BMW will break that trend. The 16-time race winner thinks he will have no problem readjusting his driving style, but thinks there will be a learning process to go through.
“I have driven all sorts of cars, from historic stuff to rallycross, so I am quite used to jumping in and out of cars,” he explained. “I should be able to get to grips with the car quite quickly and we have lots of testing planned to prepare for the season. I am not too concerned about getting pace, but the thing that might take a while to learn is the nuances of the racecraft. That is something I will only be able to pick up over the course of the season.
“But I have always said that I love learning and I never stop. As well as that fitting with the team’s ethos of trying to push every aspect to win, that push will come from me too to learn how to get the most from the car. Some aspects of this will be back to school for me, but this really is an exciting prospect.”
Long term deal
Jordan has driven for three different teams in the last three seasons, but he says the deal between himself and WSR will last for at least two terms.
His backer, Pirtek, is also with him for another two seasons, and he says that will give him a stable platform to push for another crown.
“I think that shows the faith I have in the team and the faith I have in the team principal, Dick Bennetts,” said Jordan. “I need stability, and that is what this deal will give me.”
Bennetts said that the team, which ran Sam Tordoff to second in the 2016 championship, had already drawn up plans to extract more pace from the BMWS over the closed season.
“Andrew is one of the fastest and most successful drivers in the BTCC and crucially knows how to win a championship,” said Bennetts. “Being able to announce this in November enables us to make the best possible use of the time between now and the start of the 2017 season and kick off our winter testing programme.”
WSR is expected to announced the rest of its driver line-up before the end of this month.