JORDAN: MY 2020 HEARTBREAK
MN columnist gives us the inside track on his withdrawal from the BTCC
The news that I will not be taking part in the British Touring Car Championship this season was released last week, but things had been going on in the background almost since lockdown started. It put a big question mark over a lot of things, and it ultimately led to the fact I won’t be taking up my slot on the grid in the Team BMW WSR 330i M Sport.
Various elements of the deal I originally had in place were not able to operate in the way that we had all expected at the start of the season, and it turned out that the shortfall meant I would have had to put myself on the line in terms of budget. If it was a small amount, I might have taken a chance and done some networking to find some extra money, but I am not prepared to take a risk myself when the outlook for everyone is so fluid at the moment.
At the end of the day, the package that was going to work pre-covid just wouldn’t work now for me. Although the deal is off, there is no bad feeling between anyone. We are all still on good terms.
I have done the BTCC for 12 years now, and I am just not going to put myself in jeopardy.
It is bloody hard to earn a living from touring cars as it is. People from the outside have the perception that ‘ah, well, you have a factory drive now and you just turn up and get paid to drive’. Everyone on that grid, whether it is Jason Plato or anyone, will take money to their drive and work sponsorship to then make an income from that. That is how things have been for the last few years for everyone. I didn’t want to see all that fall apart.
What I have tried to do with touring cars is use it to grow other things, like our business the [preparations firm] Jordan Racing Team.
Has the BTCC had a massive impact on our business? Probably not because it is a different clientele, but I have had things like Goodwood, and the BTCC has given me a platform. I have used that platform to build relationships so that when, inevitably, the BTCC stops for me, I had stuff that I still had going on and it put me in a good position for that. It has done that, so I am not going to put it all on the line just to do one more season in the BTCC.
I think it will be even tougher for people to be back on the grid next year. Currently, you are spreading a budget over three and a half months, which is pretty much a full budget for nine rounds rather than 10, and then in February you are going to be going back to these people and asking for a full budget again. I just don’t see it working. That was in my thinking too, because there was a good chance that the deal for me would only be for one more year.
I just thought why chance it to do just one more year? Some people might say it is risk and reward, and that I could win the title in
2020. Sure, but is that going to suddenly propel you into international stardom? There is a very slim chance that it would and it is a big question mark. Colin Turkington is a four-time champion. If he stopped, would he suddenly go and get a top-line drive in the World Endurance Championship? No, he wouldn’t because there are good people in every branch of the sport.
I genuinely have got nothing lined up [to drive], although I am busy with work. Also, though, it is not like it is February and I have to wait a whole season before I can get going again. It is a few months.
Straight away, the day after the announcement was made public last week, there were phone calls asking me about a Porsche Carrera Cup GB programme and a European Le Mans programme including Le Mans. These are things I would probably never have thought of. It is nice just to have the phone ring and I have got plenty of things to think about now. There are opportunities out there, and I think that proves the groundwork I have put in by me getting out there, doing all sorts of racing and trying to be versatile. There is one offer where I could pretty much announce something now, but I don’t want to rush into anything, I just want to let the dust settle a little bit first.
All my personal sponsors have been good as gold through this and that just goes to show the strength of the relationships we have between us. One of them called me: it took just 90 minutes from the announcement for another BTCC driver to get on to them and try to poach them for themselves. That makes you smile. I am not going to mention names. What I find amusing is that some people think that a deal is just branding on a touring car, but that is not only what I offer: it is the whole association with me. All the other stuff I do is part of it. I find it funny and perhaps a little bit uneducated on other peoples’ behalf that they think within an hour and a half, they can just steam in and take a backer from me.
This year will either make me miss the BTCC and be desperate to be back, or it might make me realise that I don’t miss it so much and I can go and look elsewhere. This situation will make things interesting. I am really chilled with it, and it is not like I have got nothing to do and
I am stuck at home. I have loads to do.
It’s just life, I am not stressed about it, and much, much worse has happened in the world at large and my heart goes out to them. I still know I am a very lucky person.
“I think it will be even tougher for people to be back on the grid next year”