Andrew Jordan takes on the Mini Miglia Challenge using Motul products

We’ve recently caught up with 2013 BTCC title winner Andrew Jordan about his plans for the year, his love for Minis, and why he is proud to be carrying the Motul colours into the 2021 National Mini Miglia Challenge.

I started my campaign in the Mini Miglia Challenge a couple of weekends ago at Silverstone on the International circuit and it left me with a massive grin on my face.

It still amazes me how fast you can go in these little pocket rockets: you  might think you have time to read a book as you go the full length of the Hangar Straight, but there is so much work to do behind the wheel, you  never get a moment’s rest. They are just so much fun – and the slipstream effect is bonkers.

I have a 1960s road-going Mini and a Mini was my first ever race car in Junior Rallycross, so I have a real affinity with the cars. I just love them. They are so pure, they are simple to work on and they are so direct to drive. The steering does exactly what you want it to, you can influence it as a driver a huge amount, you are sitting on the floor and it is probably as close to a kart as you can get for a race circuit.

And in the Miglia Challenge it isn’t only about the fact it is a Mini. It is about the fact that the racing is so close. If the racing was the same in something like a Fiat 500, I would probably be going to have a crack at it. The level of competition is what draws you in.

I am using the same car as I used for selected outings last year, but we are building up a new one at the Jordan Racing Team. There’s nothing wrong with the one we have, but we want to put a few JRT touches on our new car and we aren’t going to rush it and it will probably be out in the second half of the year. Part of the fun for us is the actual build programme, as much as anything else.

And that is where getting the right partners involved with us too is  important. I have Motul branding on my Miglia, and it just seemed like a natural fit for me because we have an exclusive deal to use Motul products across all of the historic cars we run. We have 40 historics that we operate across various series and they all use Motul’s products. It isn’t just the case of putting a sticker on a car: the relationship is so much deeper than that.

When you look at the historic cars we build at the Jordan Racing Team, they are all highly stressed because you are always looking for those last tiny bits of performance. I know it might sound like a cliche, but we are very fussy about what products we use on any of our cars because otherwise it can undo all the hard work we put into them.

When we make a judgement on what products to use, it isn’t only about the help with performance. The other important aspect is helping with the longevity of the parts within the car and the reliability. It is crucial,  especially when you look at the value of the cars that we operate.

Everything we use will have Motul products. It really works for Motul too, because it is a way for them to spread the message about what they do on their classic car range. I am delighted to take Motul with me on my journey in the Mini Miglia Challenge this year too.

I am planning to do the entire championship, but there might be one clash later on in the year with some of my historic customer work. There is a race in Vallelunga in Italy that I am supposed to be at, but if that gets cancelled, then I can do the whole Mini line-up. I feel so much more prepared this year than I was when I took my first steps in the series in 2020.

Although I have done a lot of racing in my career, there is still a knack to getting the most out of a Mini and I feel much more at home behind the wheel of one now. I have got my head around driving it – which sounds daft because it is only a Mini, but there is a knack because they are quite quirky – and we are in a much better place with car set-ups and things like that. It actually feels like our car now, and I am licking my lips for the rest of the season ahead.

Witham Motorsport are the proud importer and distributor of Motul automotive products in the UK. To read more about our partnership with Motul and shop our range of products, please click here.