Maiden BTCC win for Goff, as Jordan closes in on title rivals

Greeted with searing temperatures and sunshine on Saturday, the reigning manufacturer champions were optimistic heading into qualifying after setting the pace in the second free practice session earlier in the day. Putting into practice the lessons learnt from the last month’s Dunlop tyre test, both Jordan and Goff featured towards the top of the timesheets in the early stages of the sixth qualifying session of the season.

Carrying 33kgs on-board his newly liveried Pirtek-backed MG6 GT, Jordan lapped the 2.99-mile twisty Norfolk circuit in a time of 1:56.240, which would be good enough for fourth position. For 24-year-old Goff, a late surge saw the 5 Star Cases-backed racer move into seventh with a best time of 1:56.318.

Glorious sunshine awaited the MG factory squad on Sunday morning with track temperatures up to 40 degrees. Jordan and Goff both elected to use the soft tyre in race three, and it proved to be a good decision as the trio of races played out.

Holding station as the lights went out in the opening encounter, Goff was relegated to eighth on lap three after battling with the Mercedes of Adam Morgan at Montreal corner. One lap later the former Clio Cup champion was down to ninth after being passed on the inside of Palmers by Dave Newsham after defending tirelessly. From then on Goff remained on the pace and hounding the back of Newsham’s Chevrolet, filling his mirrors every lap, but lacking the opportunity to pass. With lots of rivals on soft compound tyres in the first race, it was clear to Goff that he wouldn’t be able to challenge too much more and he sensibly settled for ninth and yet another top-ten finish.

For 2013 BTCC champion, Jordan, fourth position would be where he started and finished as he produced a consistent performance in the tow of the trio of Volkswagen CC’s. Mounting a late challenge on Plato’s NGTC machine for the final podium spot, the Red Bull athlete was forced to showcase his defensive skillset, holding off BMW Factory-racer Andy Priaulx on the quicker soft tyre on the final tour.

With the fastest lap times from race one determining grid positions for race two, Goff was the lead MG on the grid in fourth for the second twelve-lap encounter with Jordan four spots further back in eighth. Unable to pass the slow-starting BMW of Sam Tordoff as the lights turned to green, Goff dropped to seventh by the end of the first lap. Chaos ensued throughout the field though, and at turn four on lap one, Jordan got beaten up hard, suffering bent rear suspension following contact from Newsham whilst eighth.

Goff’s patience was rewarded as he profited from Aron Smith’s demise and elevated himself to sixth. Driving around the bent suspension issue that had been inflicted earlier, Jordan produced a valiant display as he made his Pirtek-liveried car the widest car on the circuit, despite having Tom Ingram looming in his mirrors. Drawing on all of his experience, the Lichfield-based racer was made to work for his seventh place from lap five before Ingram finally yielded his attack on the final lap, leaving Jordan to complete what was a gutsy drive to follow Goff across the line for seventh.

After the reverse grid draw was made, Goff was drawn onto pole-position whilst Jordan would start from seventh – both on the soft tyre.

Jordan was making up for lost points in race two, and looked very racy, applying pressure to Morgan’s Mercedes at Riches, clinching sixth, before completing a sensational pass on Colin Turkington heading into Williams two laps later. The Pirtek racer and his chrome MG then pulled away, relishing the soft tyre compound in the summer sun. While fourth was a place to far, the former RallyCross man took fifth, which represented a positive result given the terrible weekends experienced by several of his title rivals.

Nailing the start and building a comfortable lead over the chasing BMW’s and Volkswagen, Goff didn’t put a wheel wrong as he continued to maintain his two-second lead over Plato. Battling tyre degradation on the final tour, Goff held on to take a popular and well-earned maiden win in the series, while providing MG and Triple Eight with their first victories of the 2015 season. Goff’s triumph also extended the teams’ run of winning a race in every season it has competed in the series since 1998.

The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship now makes its annual pilgrimage north of the border to Scotland, where rounds 19, 20 and 21 take place at the undulating Knockhill circuit over the weekend of 22-23 August.

Triple Eight Team Principal, Ian Harrison commented: “It was a fantastic weekend for the team and Jack did a brilliant job in that final race – especially on the soft tyre. When you’ve got the likes of Jason Plato breathing down your neck in a situation like that, many would buckle but Jack drove a perfect race and didn’t put a wheel wrong until the last lap where he got a little sideways. Andrew once again drove brilliantly; he just needs the rub of the green a little because you can’t engineer someone ramming you up the ass in race two. He’s got the speed and knows how to get the job done. We are still chasing a little bit of set-up and the operating window in changing conditions is very small so we need to focus on that going forward but we’ve made progress. When the car is hooked up we are quick.”

Quotes from the MG Triple Eight Racing drivers’ post-Snetterton:

Andrew Jordan: “We’re back towards the front again and that is really good. I’m happy with the speed the car has shown but we have been on the end of a few hits here and there that hampered our progress. It’s frustrating because you can’t engineer a car for people to then come and scupper you race with contact. Overall though it has been good, we’ve closed the points up in the championship, gaining nine, so we’re back in the hunt so to speak. Huge congratulations have to go to Jack as well, I could see him up the road and I was willing him on. I remember how good it felt to take my first win and he really deserves this, he drove a great race, so credit to him for taking the win.”

Jack Goff: “It feels amazing and it’s great to get the monkey off my back now. There has been a bit of pressure on me this season but it felt amazing getting out of the car and seeing the team, sponsors and family facing me in Parc Ferme. I nailed the start, of all the times to make a good one it is off pole-position, and I just pushed hard on the soft tyre to build a gap before then settling into the groove and looking after the softs. We had enough in the end to hold off Jason in the final laps but I should have just kept on it. The team have worked so hard this weekend and it is brilliant to get this first win for everyone and now we can move forward and keep visiting that podium.”

BTCC Drivers Championship:

1. Jason PLATO – 230
2. Colin TURKINGTON – 214
3. Gordon SHEDDEN – 198
4. Sam TORDOFF – 191
5. Andrew JORDAN – 189
6. Matt NEAL – 188
7. Andy PRIAULX – 168
8. Jack GOFF – 162

HiQ Teams Championship:

1. Team BMR – 475
2. Honda Yuasa Racing – 380
3. MG Triple Eight Racing – 357
4. Team JCT600 with GardX – 299

 BTCC Manufacturer/Constructors Championship:

1. Honda/ Team Dynamics – 484
2. MG / Triple Eight – 479
3. WSR – 449

Photos and Words by Triple Eight Racing