Jordan Annells had a tough weekend last time out at Brands Hatch in the BRSCC Dunlop Ford Fiesta Championship, but he is looking forward to this weekend’s racing.

The championship moves onto Donington Park this weekend and Jordan is looking forward to getting back racing and hopefully on the podium.

We caught up with Jordan to get his exclusive thoughts on Brands Hatch and also the race at Donington this weekend.

He said: “The times in qualifying were so close! There are usually very small margins between the top 15 cars, but given the nature of the Brands Hatch circuit things are always pretty extreme. 13th place wasn’t where I had planned or hoped to be on the grid, and there was definitely more speed in the car.

“I was only 0.4 seconds off of pole, which roughly works out as the distance from the front bumper to the wing mirror of the car over a flying lap, it really is that close! There were 31 cars out on circuit all trying to put in a fast lap, and I got held up on my fastest lap when I stumbled across a slower car. That was the most frustrating part, I knew I could have qualified higher up.

“Although I knew I didn’t have the fastest single lap pace I was confident I was one of the most consistently fast cars on the grid. Brands is the track I’ve spent most time at and my races in the past have gone pretty well, it’s where I got my first ever race win! I was looking forward working my way through some of the cars ahead and was aiming to break into the top six cars.”

Unfortunately for Jordan he couldn’t make up for his qualifying in race one due to a retirement, and in race two he showed his car has the pace.

He added: “The suspension failure in the first race really came with no warning. A few laps into the race I was going up towards Druids, the second corner, and as I hit the brakes there was a massive bang and I lost the steering on my car. When the team looked at the car they revealed that the shock absorber on the left front of the car had snapped clean in half, which caused the wheel to snap out of line and point in completely the wrong direction.

“Thankfully the wheel stayed connected to the car and I limped off the circuit to a nearby marshal post.  Judging by the rust that had collected inside the shock absorber it looks liked it was something that had been wearing away over time and was set to go. Unfortunately things like this are impossible to spot and no one could have predicted that it was about to let go.

“Thankfully Daniels Motorsport have been running Ford Fiesta race cars for years now and they were able to fix the problem in such a short space of time. The guys are very experienced mechanics and knew what they needed to do the minute the car arrived back in the paddock. It was good to get the opportunity to race in the second race, especially with supporters from Skevington Builders Merchants, Lakeview Accountants, DG Autos Sevenoaks and Simon Jones Superfreight turning up to cheer me on!”

He had to start at the back of the grid for race two and he did overtake a number of cars and showed just what he could have done.

“Although right at the back of the grid is never somewhere you want to start it does always throw up an opportunity for overtaking and to enjoy the race a bit more with nothing to lose. I think carving through quite a few cars is a big confidence booster and will genuinely have helped me improve my race-craft for the future.

“The pace all weekend was good! I think I could have been mixing it up in the top ten for sure, and if luck had gone my way in the races who knows what could have been on the cards. With any one of the top 15 drivers capable of finishing on the podium it really is anyone’s race for the rest of the season.

“I think it’s important to use these sorts of weekends where things don’t go your way. Even drivers at the top levels of motorsport have tough weekends, and they always bounce back and get results. Sooner than get annoyed and waste the weekend you may as well make the most of it and learn for the future. With the championship battle so close too, one podium finish can make quite a big difference in determining your finishing position come the end of the season.”

Jordan is confident that he can be back on form this weekend as the Championship moves onto Donington Park.

He said: “The championship moves onto Donington Park this weekend, for the penultimate race weekend of the season. Of all the tracks the series visits this year Donington is the circuit I have the least experience on, but it’s a great track to drive and all of the signs are pointing towards two top ten finishes! After the bad luck at Brands Hatch I’m hoping to turn things around and cement myself within the top ten of the championship.”