BMW saves Jordan in BTCC

The Team BMW attack in the British Touring Car Championship will expand to three cars next season in a deal that rescues the career of Andrew Jordan, who will join forces with reigning champion Colin Turkington and Tom Oliphant.

Jordan, who lifted the BTCC title in 2013, had faced an uncertain future since his long-term backer Pirtek announced early in 2019 that it was pulling out of its motorsport commitments after nearly a decade supporting him.

The Wsr-run BMWS dominated the 2019 competition, with Turkington taking the crown by two points from Jordan, who missed two races due to an accident. Between them, the BMW 330i M Sport drivers won 11 of the 30 races.

“I have been in a very fortunate position for the last 10 years or so that I could go to a team with a bag of cash from sponsors, but that wasn’t the case for 2020,” said Jordan. “As in most forms of motorsport, sometimes budget can outweigh talent so you’re never sure where you’re going to stand. But BMW has gone above and beyond what it needed to do to get me in the car, and there’s a really good feeling about this whole deal.”

TURKINGTON’S CHINA CRISIS

Meanwhile, Turkington’s cameo in the Chinese Touring Car Championship at Wuhan last weekend was ruined by a roll and a drivethrough penalty.

Turkington started his SAIC Volkswagen Lamando mid-pack in the reversed-grid race one and was involved in a first-lap pile-up at a hairpin, which rolled his car onto its roof at slow speed. He was on pole for race two but was hit with a drivethrough penalty after he crept at the start, battling back to ninth spot at the flag. Fellow Brit Adam Morgan was third.