Jordan confirms BTCC return

Andrew Jordan has confirmed that he will return to the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship for the 2011 season as part of an expanded Pirtek Racing team.

Eurotech, the team behind Pirtek Racing, had already announced that it would run Jeff Smith for his first full season in the BTCC with Jordan's future still to be confirmed, although confirmation has now arrived that both Jordan and Smith will run under the Pirtek Racing banner.

The pair will continue to use Vauxhall Vectras powered by the TOCA turbo engine, which powered Jordan to two victories last season at Croft and Brands Hatch.

"It's great to be back in the BTCC with Pirtek Racing," Jordan said. "We had such a strong debut last year and we have been busy building on those foundations in readiness of the upcoming season.

"We now have a bigger team behind us, we have greatly increased our staffing levels and our biggest focus is to develop and improve the Vectra for an even stronger season this year. Fundamentally the Vectra is a great chassis, the engine had teething issues in its development season but Swindon, the engine builders have also been focusing on improving the performance during the winter.

"As a team we are confident that we will be able to once again fight for victories in the BTCC and our aim is to be Independent Drivers Champions."

Pirtek Racing will conduct an intensive test and development programme prior to the opening rounds of the season at the start of April.