Sam Tordoff celebrated a return to the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship rostrum this weekend with two Independent race wins and three top four finishes in the Team GardX Racing with Motorbase Ford Focus RS at Thruxton.

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 5^th on the opening lap before setting his sights on former BTCC champion Jordan in 4^th. Making his move on lap 3, Tordoff stole past the BMW as the duo headed down the start-finish straight to take 4^th 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 4^th 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 14^th in the overall championship’s standings and 7^th in the Independents’.