Andrew Jordan: BTCC 2017, Brands – "I’m incredibly happy where we are"

I went to Brands Hatch confident after testing, but I was still quite nervous. You can do as many miles of testing as you like but that’s totally different to a race situation. But to come away with a win... yeah, that’s good.

We were third fastest in first free practice, and tenth in FP2, but we were doing some race runs in the second session, so I was certainly confident we had the pace going in to qualifying. Two red flags and rain made things difficult and shook up the grid somewhat, and our position didn’t reflect where we should have been. Twice I set new fastest first sectors before the red flag ruined both laps. However, I still went home happy with the first day, and quite confident we could make up some ground on Sunday.

Race one was pretty quiet, coming home in sixth behind Rob Austin in the Toyota. If I did it again I’d have definitely made more of an attack, but I didn’t want to risk anything, it’s all still new to me.

Race two was a little more action-packed. I was on the soft tyre for this race, so, wanting to make sure I didn’t hurt them, we decided over the radio that it would be best for me to let Rob [Collard, WSR team-mate] through. Unfortunately, with just three laps to go I got caught up in a mistake from Rob Austin, who had failed to see yellow flags on the run into Clearways. The incident dropped me down to sixth, before my old team-mate Mat Jackson pipped me for seventh at the line.

Fair play to Rob, though, he did come up and apologise to me after the race, and he looked distraught. I have huge respect for people who can hold their hands up when they’ve done wrong. Although I was seventh at the line, I was promoted to sixth after Rob was disqualified for overtaking under yellow flags. Two top-tens in the first two races was sounding pretty good to me.

After the reverse-grid draw, I was sitting in third place on the grid at the start of race three, thinking to myself “I can win this”, especially with the good starts the BMWs had been getting. I got to the front by the end of lap one, and I probably used the left-rear up early, which I can put down to a lack of experience with the rear-wheel drive car. I was quite comfortable while Tom Chilton, who was in the new Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra, was behind me, but then Colin [Turkington, WSR team-mate] came through. Colin was right on my rear bumper for the final two laps so I went defensive. Watching it back I was a little scrappy, and if it hadn’t been Colin behind me I may not have ended the race on the top step. It was a high-pressure end, and looking back I could have driven better.

To get the first win under my belt with West Surrey Racing is fantastic, and to secure a one-two finish with no reliability issues in all three races is just awesome. I feel so comfortable with the team in every aspect, everything is just so impressive. I’m incredibly happy where we are.

We need to score in as many rounds as possible. With the calibre of drivers in this championship now, consistency is key and this was a good, consistent day. You look up and down the grid and there are so many guys out there who are capable of scoring points, a top 10 or a podium, so it puts more emphasis on consistency than there ever has been. A few years ago you could make a mistake in qualifying but still get away with it. Now you have to be spot-on all weekend.

The results from Brands have given me so much confidence going forward. I’m closely matched on pace with my two team-mates, so we can learn a lot from each other. Having got that first win I can relax a bit and work on racking up the points each weekend. But we’re looking strong and I genuinely believe that we can battle for wins at any race meeting this year. It’s time to play the long game now.