BMW Pirtek Racing's Andrew Jordan claimed a lights-to-flag victory in the final Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race at Rockingham.
Jordan blasted his BMW 125i M Sport off the line and into a solid lead, before Ciceley Motorsport's Adam Morgan made a number of attempts to get past in the early running.
Eventually, Jordan pegged the gap and even made a good getaway during a late safety car period, as the 2013 BTCC Champion went on to take the honours by 1.724s.
"You never give up," said Jordan. "From 18th yesterday you’d never have thought you could sneak a win out of it. My attitude’s been to do my best and see what I can go and do. What a cracking job the BMW Pirtek Racing guys have done. They’ve had a tough couple of meetings this side of the garage so this result is for them.
"I knew they’d be really racy behind me early on. I was driving in my mirrors for a bit. I knew eventually that Adam (Morgan) would take the edge off his front tyres and we could pull out a bit of a gap. I thought back to Snetterton once I was out there though and it’s never in the bag, but once I got a gap I knew for the restart if I could do the same, it’d be job done."
Morgan's Mercedes maintained second until the finish, although the fight for the final podium position proved more contentious.
"I’m chuffed to bits for the team," said Morgan. "It was a far harder race than it might have looked. As soon as the safety car came in, my front tyres just weren’t there and I had Jason (Plato) all over me. It’s great to be back on the podium and hopefully, it’s a sign of things to come in the next couple of weekends. The pace we had today is the pace we’ve had over the last four weekends. Things just haven’t gone our way, but that’s motorsport. We’re here to enjoy it – I had second in my head and that’s what I wanted."
Jack Goff had been battling hard all day in his Eurotech Honda Civic Type R, sometimes with the pace of his car fading towards the finish of each contest, but he would be embroiled in a dramatic incident in race three. Title hopeful Rob Collard hauled his BMW alongside Goff late on but unfortunate contact followed and Collard was fired out of the race. Goff continued but he had lost the position position to Subaru's Jason Plato during the melee.
"The car’s great," confirmed Plato. "We’ve had a great day – a brilliant day for the team. James’ win early on was epic and for Ash (Sutton) to get another win and a podium was perfect for him. We’ve got to do the best job we can for him until the end of the season. Ash represents our sponsors Adrian Flux, Subaru, Autoglym and all of our supporters. If I can’t win, the next best thing is for Ash to. We’re going to help him do that."
Goff held on to fourth ahead the top two in the title race – Ash Sutton and Colin Turkington – whilst Power Maxed Racing's Senna Proctor claimed a brilliant seventh and with it the Jack Sears Trophy.
Speedworks Motorsport's Tom Ingram completed his fightback day – following mechanical woes in race one – to claim eighth in the finale.
The rise of rookie outfit BTC Norlin Racing continued with both of its drivers getting inside the top ten, as Chris Smiley got the better of his more experienced team-mate Dave Newsham.
2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Round 24 – Rockingham
1 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) BMW Pirtek Racing 17 laps
2 Adam MORGAN (GBR) Ciceley Motorsport +1.724s
3 Jason PLATO (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +2.025s
4 Jack GOFF (GBR) Eurotech Racing +5.214s
5 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +5.561s
6 Colin TURKINGTON (GBR) Team BMW +5.908s
7 Senna PROCTOR (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +6.506s
8 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport +6.786s
9 Chris SMILEY (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +7.331s
10 Dave NEWSHAM (GBR) BTC Norlin Racing +7.775s
11 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +9.328s
12 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +9.621s
13 Matt NEAL (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +9.874s
14 Rory BUTCHER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +10.285s
15 Mat JACKSON (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +10.643s
16 Jake HILL (GBR) TAG Racing +10.980s
17 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +11.477s
18 Matt SIMPSON (GBR) Simpson Racing +11.836s
19 Michael EPPS (GBR) TAG Racing +12.151s
20 Aron TAYLOR-SMITH (IRL) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +12.414s
21 Brett SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +14.412s
22 Stewart LINES (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +14.888s
23 Martin DEPPER (GBR) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo +1 lap
24 Tom CHILTON (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +2 laps
DNF Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +3 laps
DNF Rob COLLARD (GBR) Team BMW +5 laps
DNF Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +5 laps
DNF Stephen JELLEY (GBR) Team Parker with Maximum Motorsport +8 laps
DNF Josh PRICE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +14 laps
DNF James COLE (GBR) Adrian Flux Subaru Racing +15 laps
DNF Ant WHORTON-EALES (GBR) AmDtuning.com with Cobra Exhausts +16 laps
DNF Will BURNS (GBR) Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing +17 laps
