Having once again out-qualified the majority of the field during Saturday’s afternoon session, Tordoff consolidated his untouchable qualifying record with a front row start in the Team GardX Racing with Motorbase Ford Focus RS – claiming his P2 spot on the grid.

With minimal weight on-board the striking pink Focus, Tordoff got off to a flying start heading down into the first hairpin, keeping pace with race-leader Morgan as they charged down the banking. A reckless late lunge however from Cammish tipped the #600 Focus RS into a double spin as they raced into the turn, leaving him stranded in the middle of the circuit and facing the charging pack where he was hit by a number of unsighted drivers.

Remarkably, Tordoff escaped the incident uninjured, managing to get the stricken and heavily damaged Focus back to the pits for the Motorbase crew to commence repairs to get him back out on track for race 2.

Having been taken out of a strong podium challenge, the team’s strategy become one of damage limitation as the Yorkshireman tried to salvage points from his derailed opening race efforts. Running on the less favourable hard-compound option tyre for race 2, the GardX-backed racer made excellent headway from the back of the grid to take P18 at the flag.

Weight-free and back onto the prime tyre for race 3, Tordoff finally got the chance to show his true pace charging off the line and up into 7th by the first tour of the circuit, whilst avoiding a huge melee at the first hairpin which brought out the safety car. Setting his sights on the lead pack after the restart, the Motorbase man poured all over the back of Turkington’s BMW as he challenged for 4th place with the pair battling side by side for a number of laps.

With the duo closing down the gap to Simpson in third, a mistake on the final corner of the final lap allowed Turkington through. Surviving contact from a desperate Simpson as he battled to stay on track, Tordoff pulled out an incredible comeback to charge the Honda down for a three-way sprint across the line between with Simpson and Ingram – eventually crossing the line in 4th – just 0.031 seconds away from his first podium finish of the season.

“It’s a bittersweet end to the day to be honest;” commented Tordoff.  “We consolidated our position as the best qualifiers on the grid, got onto the front row and we should have a great halt of points this weekend. Yet again though, factors outside our control have ruined it.

“Race 1 was gutting. To be taken out on the 2nd corner like that. From something that wasn’t even my accident – I was just collected – it just killed our weekend.  Starting dead last on the hard tyre in race 2 was always going to be a nightmare but we still managed to make up 10 places.

“Race 3 was a great race. Back on the medium tyre again and we had the fortune of not being on the hard that most people chose to run on. We paid the price in race 2 but reaped the rewards in race 3 and got another 4th.  We got a bit closer to third this time but that podium still eludes us – not through lack of trying!

“We’ve been robbed this weekend though. It’s not an excuse, it’s a fact. And yet again, we’re left licking our wounds thinking what might have been.”

Team Principal David Bartrum added; “Another tough weekend for the team. A fantastic effort again from Sam and the team to get onto the front row in qualifying. We genuinely thought we had pole, so to lose it just 4 minutes from the end of the session was difficult. Sam is the best qualifier on the grid this year, no questions.

“Cammish’s move on Sam in race 1 blew all of that hard work apart. It would have been easy to almost give up at that point, but we didn’t and Sam fought back in race 2. Sam drove an absolute stormer in race 3 from 18th to 4th. He just came up against Turkington at an unfortunate time but did an excellent job to pull it back from where we started.

“We keep talking about luck and it sounds like an excuse, but it’s not. We’re doing everything right, Sam’s doing everything right. Yet again, things out of our control mean we haven’t had the results we deserve. It’s very frustrating.”

Tordoff’s valiant efforts to rescue a result from a difficult start to the weekend were rewarded with a strong points finish in the final race of the day and the 29-year-old heads to Knockhill in two weeks’ time in 6thplace in the Independent Drivers’ Championship and 12th overall.

The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship roars back into action in Scotland, for rounds 22, 23 and 24 at Knockhill Racing circuit in Fife on August 25/26.

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The Leeds-based driver’s impressive qualifying performance and race pace was evident once again with the 29-year-old picking up two fourth place finishes and a top eight result in the Team GardX Racing with Motorbase Ford Focus RS, collecting 34 well-earned championship points for his 2018 campaign.

Showing no sign of relinquishing this season’s enviable qualifying record, Tordoff claimed P4 in Saturday’s closely fought session – just 0.203seconds off the pole lap – as the highest-placed FWD car on the renowned RWD circuit.

Starting the opening race behind the favoured RWD Subaru’s, Tordoff dropped to 5th off the line with the Yorkshireman forced to defend hard against the fast-charging ‘King of Croft’ Turkington in the opening laps. Managing to keep the two-time BTCC champion at bay as the laps unfolded, the GardX-backed racer was then forced to take evasive action from Jordan’s errant BMW on lap 4 – a move that was rewarded with a P4 spot – which he held to flag.

With 48kg of ballast on-board for race two, Tordoff had a tough task ahead of him to keep the WSR duo of Turkington and Collard at bay for the 15 lap contest. A steady hand and strong defensive drive was repaid with his second P4 finish of the day – boosting him up into 10th in the Championship standings.

With the reversed grid draw slotting the #600 Focus RS into P6 for the final race of the day. Tordoff had the double task of running on the hard-compound option tyre with another 48kg of ballast on-board. Dropping places off the line against the faster starting BMWs, Tordoff found himself tussling with Tom Ingram for 8th. Losing the spot to the Speedworks man on lap 3, an epic comeback on the final lap saw the Yorkshireman snatch 8th place back as the duo raced across the start finish line with Tordoff coming out on top by just 0.097seconds.

“Overall it was a good weekend;” said Tordoff. “We’re back in the hunt! It’s been great racing at my home circuit, I’ve had lots of friends and family here supporting me and it does make a difference.

“It would have been nice to get onto the podium but we never really expected to do that at Croft. I’ll keep taking fourth; it’s a good amount of points and not a hideous amount of weight. It’s all a step in the right direction.”

“Running the hard tyre in race 3 hard was always going to be tricky, particularly with the typical scenario where most people seem to throw caution to the wind. There were a few fast people coming through, so overall I think we can be happy with 8th in the last race.

“The car’s been good this weekend;” he added. “It’s surprised me how good really. This is a RWD domination circuit this weekend and they’ve not dominated this time around. We’ve been the most competitive FWD car and been mixing it in the top 5 in all three races so that’s a pleasant surprise. I thought it would be a real struggle this weekend, and I’m looking forward to the summer break now.”

The weekend’s excellent points haul has helped to lift Tordoff to 11th in the overall Drivers’ standings and 5th in the Independents’ championship with Team GardX Racing with Motorbase sitting in 10th in the overall Teams’ and 6th place in the Indy Teams’ championship as the BTCC reaches the half-way point of the season. Following its annual mid-summer hiatus, the series gets back underway at Snetterton in Norfolk with a special 60th anniversary celebratory weekend on July 28/29.

“We’ll arrive at Snetterton with next to no weight which means hopefully we can qualify well there;” added Tordoff. “With double points on offer for race 3 as well, you never know, we might be leaving there in a much more favourable position.”

“Sam and the team have done an excellent job this weekend;” added Team Principal David Bartrum. “To come away from Croft, which is known as a rear wheel drive dominated circuit with such a good haul of points is an excellent result.

“I’m really pleased that Sam’s been able to have three solid races this weekend without any dramas. He’s one of, if not the, most consistent men on the grid this season and the results really haven’t been going his way. Hopefully this weekend is a sign of things to come and I feel sure that the podiums and wins are not too far away.”

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The 29-year-old delivered a near perfect lap in Saturday’s qualifying session. Taking an early pole position on his third flying lap the GardX-backed driver was eventually beaten to the top of the timing screens by Matt Simpson, and settled in P2, just 0.243 seconds off pole – making him the highest ranking qualifier of the season so far.

Starting from the front row for the second time this year, on the less-favourable soft compound tyre, the #600 Ford Focus RS got slightly bogged down and dropped to P3 off the line. An outstanding defensive drive followed, with Tordoff holding off a persistent challenge from Jordan’s fast-charging BMW for an incredible 5 laps before succumbing to the former champion on lap 8.

A late resurgence as the softer tyre came into play saw the Yorkshireman close the gap to Jordan and Chilton but without enough laps remaining he just missed out on a podium spot, crossing the line in 4th.

Free of the option tyre for race 2, Tordoff then had 48kg of success ballast to contend with and the GardX Focus lost a couple of places to the lighter BMW and Hondas. Determined to keep a second strong points haul on the cards; Tordoff defended hard against the charging pack and looked set to secure a top six finish before disaster struck on lap 12 when an engine fuel system component failure caused a fuel fire in the #600 Focus RS.

Although the Leeds-based driver escaped unscathed, the resulting damage meant that he was forced to withdraw from the remainder of the fourth BTCC meeting of the season.

“I’m not sure what else we can do at the moment;” commented Tordoff. “We were super-fast once again. We had a great qualifying result and race 1 went well and I feel sure that we would have been in the mix in races 2 and 3 had we not had the failure that led to the fire.

“It’s not something that you can plan for;” he added.  “It’s just unfortunately yet another unforeseen incident that’s ruined our weekend. It’ something that’s never happened before so I can’t blame the team for something that’s never broken before, but it seems to be happening to me each time.”

“We’ll just keep being fast and hopefully our luck will turn.”

Team Principal David Bartrum added; “Sam shone in qualifying yet again and bagged a great result in the first race. I honestly don’t know what else he can do at the moment. He does everything right on the Saturday for it all to go wrong on the Sunday.

“Obviously we need to get to the bottom of the incident in race 2 and make sure that doesn’t happen again, but Sam and the team aren’t doing anything wrong they are just getting all the bad luck at the moment. Hopefully a bit of Yorkshire charm at Croft will turn the season around.”

Despite suffering another torrid weekend of bad luck, Tordoff’s excellent qualifying performance and race 1 result managed to salvage 13 points for his 2018 championship campaign and he now sits 12th in the overall standings and 8th in the Independents’, with Team GardX Racing with Motorbase in 10th place in the overall and Indy Teams’ championship points.

The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship returns in two weeks’ time at Croft in North Yorkshire as the season reaches the half-way point, with Tordoff hoping that his local home circuit proves to be the turning point in what has been a troublesome season.

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The Yorkshireman’s consistent pace and race-craft was finally rewarded on the breakthrough weekend, launching the Leeds-based driver into the top half of the championship standings and kick-starting his 2018 campaign.

Setting the sixth fastest time in qualifying on Saturday, Tordoff stated his intent early on with a blistering start off the line in the opening race. A brave lunge up the inside on the first corner fired the #600 Focus RS up into 5th on the opening lap before setting his sights on former BTCC champion Jordan in 4th. Making his move on lap 3, Tordoff stole past the BMW as the duo headed down the start-finish straight to take 4th at the flag and his first Independent race win of the season.

Carrying 48kg of success ballast on-board the RS, Tordoff blasted past Cammish’s Honda on the opening lap of race 2 to steal into third. Defending hard against his lighter counterparts, Tordoff’s steadfast efforts yielded just one place as the laps unfolded, crossing the line in 4th and collecting his second Independent race win of the weekend.

Continuing his fine form into the final race of the day, the GardX-backed racer’s controlled run was repaid with a third top four finish of the weekend, helping to ignite Tordoff’s championship challenge and catapult him into 14th in the overall championship’s standings and 7th in the Independents’.

The weekend’s points haul also see Team GardX Racing with Motorbase move up into 10th place in the overall Teams’ standings and 7th placed Independent Team when the BTCC heads to Oulton Park for rounds 10, 11 and 12 on June 9/10.

Quotes: 

David Bartrum, Team Principal: 
“A great weekend for Sam. Sam’s had three really great qualifying weekends so far this season but this is the first weekend that he’s been able to convert that into points. He has been very consistent this weekend and I’m really pleased with the way that the team has worked and that they’ve finally been rewarded with some points and silverware!

“Sam’s got some new silverware to polish now; he’s worked hard for those. He came here to get points this weekend to kick start his championship and he’s achieved that. We have two northern rounds coming up next, either one of which really could be classed as Sam’s home circuits and I look forward to seeing what he can do there.”

Sam Tordoff: 
“It’s been a really good weekend, which is exactly what we needed to kick-start our championship and overcome the disaster that we’ve had at the start.

“I was really pleased with qualifying and we’ve backed it up with three solid races; I can’t ask for any more than that really. The temperature has certainly made it more difficult for us this weekend, I didn’t really think that at any point we had the car to fight for the lead but overall I’m really happy.

“We’ve had three 4th place finishes and that’s a great points haul, and one that I’ve not had in a long time. It’s propelled us right up there in the championship but still outside the top ten which means we’ll go to Oulton Park again with no ballast, and that’s where we really need to make it count to get back into the fight for the championship.”

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