Sam Tordoff pleased to lead eight title contenders into Finals Day

Sam Tordoff will take an eleven point lead into the final rounds of the BTCC season at Brands Hatch having extended his advantage during the penultimate meeting of the year at Silverstone.

The WSR driver went into the weekend five points clear of Matt Neal in the race for the crown but bounced back from a challenging qualifying session to outscore his main title rivals in race one, where he took the chequered flag in eleventh spot.

A gearbox issue then restricted the 27-year-old to the same result in race two before he closed the weekend with sixth in race three – meaning he will now go to Brands Hatch as the man to beat amongst the eight drivers still in mathematical contention for the title.

“We’ve had a horrible day from start to finish, but we have clawed our way through and have extended the lead in the standings,” he said. “With that in mind, I feel pretty good and I’m now just glad to see the back of Silverstone as we knew it was a circuit that wasn’t going to suit the car.

“The issue with the gearbox in race two certainly didn’t help, but it was important that we kept scoring the points this weekend and we’ve come out of it in a better position than we started.

“Going to Brands Hatch, I’d rather be eleven points in front and carry maximum weight than be 20 points behind but have a lighter car. There are eight people who can still win the title who are going to be taking points off each other so it will be tough for any of the drivers who are in contention and what will be, will be.

“I don’t feel any pressure as no-one expected me to be in the mix for the title and people probably don’t expect me to win it with an eleven point lead. However, the pressure is on the others to overhaul me and I’m just looking forwards to going to Brands Hatch.”

Behind Tordoff, race three victory for Gordon Shedden allowed him to move ahead of Honda team-mate Matt Neal into second place in the standings, with the two Honda drivers split by just points.

Rob Collard in the second JCT600 with Gardx BMW is within 17 points of top spot, with Mat Jackson heading Motorbase’s challenge 21 points away from the lead. Independent’s points leader Andrew Jordan remains in the mix but would need to overcome a 31 point deficit to top spot, with BMR pairing Colin Turkington and Jason Plato retaining mathematical chances of the crown.