Andrew Jordan: “To lose it by just two points is painful, but you can’t dwell on it”

I went into the weekend as if it was any other, but you could certainly feel the tension. I was 17 points behind my championship-leading teammate Colin Turkington in third, just one point behind the Honda of Dan Cammish. I went in with a realistic shot at the title, knowing that anything can happen on Finals Day.

Throughout practice I was near the top, but the car was right on the edge throughout. I did a time good enough for third in qualifying, which was okay, but I wanted more. The problem was the car was too unpredictable and in those conditions you really need confidence to be able to push.

As I was pushing on, I had an incident at Hawthorns, which brought out the red flag. As a result, I lost my best time, a punishment if you cause a stoppage in the session. Luckily I’d done a time only a couple of hundredths slower, so still managed to hold on to third going into the race day.

I thought we’d be strong going into the race, especially off the line with the superior starts of the rear-wheel-drive cars, but the damp conditions overnight made the setup choices for race one a little tricky. We went too soft, and we were on the soft tyre, which wasn’t the best of combinations. As soon as the drizzle came in, it really was a difficult race for us. In those conditions, the front-wheel-drive cars can power out of any oversteer, whereas we’re battling with both axels to try and keep the thing on the island. We eventually came through in eighth, with Colin fifth and Cammish taking the win, which really helped out his championship charge.

Going into race two I knew I had to outscore Colin just to stay in touch and have a shot at the title going into race three. The weather was properly wet, and the car was absolutely on it on the wet tyres. I was just trying to keep on top of the tyres and pick off the positions on my way through the field. I had to be aggressive in getting past Matt Neal, Cammish’s Honda teammate, but it was hard, fair racing. I got up to second by the finish line, having past Cammish, and went in to race three 13 points away from the now championship-leading Honda, and just five points behind Colin, who finished race 2 down in 25^thafter an early spin.

I was the rank outsider, and all the pressure was on Cammish – he hadn’t lead the standings all season up until that point. I knew what I had to do, if Cammish non-scored, I needed fourth to get ahead of him in the points.

I leaped off the line and worked my way up to fifth place, but was stuck behind the BTC Racing Honda of Josh Cook, who was also trying to win the Independents’ Championship for the first time. As soon as I heard that Cammish was out, having lost the brakes going into Hawthorns, I lunged past Cook to get fourth on the final lap.

That final lap was so tense, I didn’t know if I was in a position to win the championship or not – I knew I’d done enough on my side, but I didn’t know what Colin had done. I tried to check on the big screens but I couldn’t see where Colin had worked himself up to. It was only when I crossed the line and saw my team applauding rather than going absolutely crazy that I knew Colin had it.

To lose it by just two points is painful, but you can’t dwell on it. I said before the weekend that winning the championship wouldn’t define my season. We’ve had a really strong year, and I’m really positive. When I woke up on Monday I was a bit pissed off, sure, but now I can look back and see just how good our season was.

We’re working with BMW to sort something for 2020. I haven’t spoken to any other teams so if I’m on the grid next year it’ll only be with BMW.

Thinking about it, it was probably a blessing in disguise to be so close. Normally after Brands I’d be ready for a break from the BTCC circus, but now I’m ready to go again. I’m raring to go and want to get stuck straight back in and go for that title. I feel I can do it, so I’m desperate to come back.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.