Andrew Jordan leaves it late
Andrew Jordan set a late flyer to top the timesheets in free practice two of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park. The session was much closer than FP1, with the top ten cars covered by just over a second.
The Pirtek Racing driver went on a last dash qualifying simulation - setting his fastest time on the first lap of his final run - before looking likely to go even quicker one tour later.He hit traffic in the final sector, however, and had to settle for a time that eclipsed FP1 pace-setter Jason Plato by 0.039s. After the session, Jordan commented, “I think Plato will be strong in qualifying but for us to be up there with the weight we have on is good. It’s great fun out there and the car felt really strong. There’s a bit more left in the car as the next lap could have been quicker. I’d still think the MG’s will have a great chance of pole but we’ll see how we get on.”
Plato had led the way for much of the session, setting his fastest time of the session on his fourth lap of the circuit. The MG driver still holds the fastest lap of the day from the first session.
The top three were covered by less than a tenth of a second with Honda Yuasa Racing's Gordon Shedden also setting his best time in the latter part of the running. The 2012 champion has had a lot of success at this circuit in the past and will be hoping for another good run here to close the gap on team-mate and current championship leader Matt Neal.
Colin Turkington had an impressive session, going out almost as soon as the session began and running an impressive pace for 13 flying laps. He ended the session a strong fourth, just 0.385 seconds from Jordan’s fastest time, and with Rob Collard also edging into the top ten, things are beginning to look consistently more positive in the eBay Motors garage. Colin said after the session, “It’s really just to get my eye in as it’s been three years since I have been here. It’s all good data but I was just pushing to get the mileage. We’ve definitely made a small step forward but the car is still quite difficult to drive and it’s not easy to piece a lap together. We should be strong towards the end of a race as the long run was pretty good, so hopefully it’ll play into our hands.”
Sam Tordoff, Matt Neal and Dave Newsham took identical positions to the first session in fifth, sixth and seventh respectively, and local driver Frank Wrathall was pushing hard to go seventh fastest.
After leading by some margin in the first session, Lea Wood was bested in FP2 by Addison Lee Motorbase driver Liam Griffin who was the fastest S2000 driver by just 0.041 seconds. Both the main championship battle and the fight for Jack Sears Trophy honours are looking incredibly close this weekend, and we’ll see how the cars line up in qualifying at 15:15 today.
Don't forget that you can watch qualifying live online at www.itv.com/btcc/live
2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Oulton Park - Free Practice 2
1. Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing): 1:26.605
2. Jason Plato (MG KX Momentum Racing): +0.039
3. Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa Racing): +0.096
4. Colin Turkington (eBay Motors): +0.385
5. Sam Tordoff (MG KX Momentum Racing): +0.424
6. Matt Neal (Honda Yuasa Racing): +0.520
7. Dave Newsham (Speedworks Motorsport): +0.617
8. Frank Wrathall (Dynojet): +0.737
9. Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing): +0.884
10. Robert Collard (eBay Motors): +1.068
11. Adam Morgan (Ciceley Racing): +1.072
12. Ollie Jackson (Speedworks Motorsport): +1.193
13. Tom Onslow-Cole (PPCGB/Kraftwerk Racing): +1.301
14. Aron Smith (Airwaves Racing): +1.624
15. Jeff Smith (Pirtek Racing): +1.641
16. Daniel Welch (Welch Motor sport with Sopp + Sopp): +1.660
17. Jack Goff (RCIB Insurance Racing): +1.679
18. Rob Austin (WIX Racing): +1.791
19. Nick Foster (eBay Motors): +1.968
20. James Cole (RCIB Insurance Racing): +2.086
21. Will Bratt (WIX Racing): +2.330
22. Liam Griffin (Addison Lee Motorbase): +2.396
23. Lea Wood (Wheel Heaven/Houseman Racing): +2.437
24. Aaron Mason (AmDTuning.com): +3.261
25. David Nye (Welch Motorsport with Sopp + Sopp): +4.189
26. Warren Scott (Team BMR Restart) +4.340
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