Mat Jackson heaps praise on team after Knockhill win

Mat Jackson paid tribute to the tireless work of his Motorbase Performance team at Knockhill after securing his and their first win for nearly two years.

Jackson ran strongly all weekend in Scotland, qualifying seventh and advancing to fourth in the first race.

He then quickly made up places in the second, and took the lead when polesitter Matt Neal was called into the pits to serve a drive-through penalty for jumping the start.

Jackson was never troubled at the front, and came home to notch a very popular victory for the Kent-based squad, their first since Silverstone in 2012.

Speaking to TouringCarTimes, Jackson said: “The car’s been faultless around here. Right from FP1 it’s worked in a way I’ve been comfortable with. Around here you need to be comfortable in the car.

“It’s sheer determination from the team’s point of view. This year we have sat underneath the radar, but we’re one of few cars to finish every race in the points.

“We’ve had some great results – you go back to Snetterton and Thruxton and we’ve been P2 and P2.

“We’re still trying very hard, even though we’re not the ones winning all the time. We’re banging away very quietly and that’s paying off.”

On his second race speed, Jackson added: “I think we had the pace to run with Matt Neal. I did know he’d got a drive-through penalty as the team had let me know on the radio.

“But in all honesty, we had the match of him, and from the front we controlled the pace. And there’s still more pace left in the car, but there’s no point in tearing off into the distance and burning up the tyres, because if there’s a safety car we’ve got nothing left.

“It was just a case of keeping a gap to a point where we could control it, and we did.”

Jackson conceded that the long winless run had caused some dark moments for the team, but hoped the victory would set them on the road to many more.

He said: “It’s never nice to be that long off the podium. In all honesty, there’s been some pretty miserable times for everybody in the team.

“We’re doing the job right, but you can be on the wrong side of the luck for five or six rounds.

“To turn that around certainly feels like a black cloud is lifted, and hopefully it’s the first of many.”