Andrew Jordan has won the 2013 British Touring Car Championship.
Jordan's win brings to a close a season that has seen several drivers take centre stage, leaving the outcome of the championship unpredictable at best.
At the start of the season, Jordan set the fastest lap time and started on pole position for the race. He faced continued attacks from Jason Plato, however, which ended in both drivers going off into the gravel on one of the final laps. Plato recovered first to take the lead ahead of Jordan, and also went on to win race two. Plato's success in winning both inaugural races was short lived, however, as Matt Neal won in race three.
Come the second round at Donington Park, Gordon Shedden took pole position, leading and winning the first race ahead of Andrew Jordan, with Matt Neal coming third. The second race of the day saw Plato and Neal celebrate their 400th and 500th BTCC races respectively. Jordan won the second race ahead of Plato and Shedden. The reversed grid in race three meant that Colin Turkington was able to take a much-deserved win.
Thruxton hosted the third round of the championship, with Jordan narrowly missing out on victory in the first race following a puncture. Matt Neal won the race, with Plato coming second and Tom Onslow-Cole coming third. Neal also won race two, having lead from the start. The third race of the day saw Plato suffer a puncture, meaning Shedden could take the win.
The first race of round four at Oulton Park saw a one-two victory for the MG KX Momentum Racing team, with Plato also winning race two. Race three saw a heavy battle between Rob Austin and Jeff Smith, with Jordan eventually out manoeuvring both cars to take the win.
Round five, hosted at Croft, saw Turkington beat Neal to victory in race one, and also win race two while other drivers suffered under the wet conditions. Race three was also beset by heavy rain, and the season midpoint finished with Neal winning with just a 0.6 second gap over Turkington, and Jordan coming home third.
Neal led the championship halfway through the race calendar, but that was to change during round six at Snetterton. Sam Tordoff made it another one-two win for the MG team during race one, while Jordan took another win in race two. Race three was won by Shedden after a drawn-out battle with Turkington.
Round seven at Knockhill saw Jack Goff replaced by Kieran Gallagher due to financial reasons, while Paul O'Neill also made his return to the championship. Turkington continued his offensive, taking victory in race one and two, while Jordan lead the field from pole position to take victory in race three. Shedden was forced to retire from the final race following a vehicle fire, leaving second position open to team mate Neal.
Rockingham saw some of the finest racing of the season so far as it hosted round eight, with Plato qualifying for pole position for race one. Come the start, Plato had a slow getaway, which following several incidents left the day open for Jordan, who went on to win two races with the third win going to Rob Austin.
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Hmmmmmm!?
More entertaining, no rattle throwers,good close racing,all over 15 laps per race,and there are 3 races at every round,plus, in between there are supporting races in other series,value for cash....?