Jackson upset after incident with Shedden

Mat Jackson had a strong race weekend with the new NGTC Ford Focus at Rockingham by finishing fourth in the two first races and sixth in the final. But it was a move by championship leader Gordon Shedden in the first race that left Jackson in anger.

Jackson was in the fight for the lead in the first part of the race with Shedden and Andrew Jordan. Shedden and Jackson made contact, with Jackson dropping several positions.

“The two offs in races two and three at Rockingham were down to me adjusting to the wet weather grip, but I was surprised by Shedden’s move in race one. He’s fighting for the title and it was a banzai everything on the line move which took us both wide and let Jordan through.

“A lot of other drivers would have taken the corner, and both cars could have been sidelined there and then. Perhaps they are concerned the New Ford Focus is too fast for them and they need to take drastic measures, but in all fairness we are only able to keep pace with them in a straight line at the moment,” said Jackson.

The three races at Rockingham saw Jackson claiming three podium finishes in the Independents’ Trophy and the Motorbase driver was pleased with the overall weekend.

“It’s just been a hugely positive weekend for everyone in the team. Bear in mind the factory Hondas have probably done 8000 kms of running now this season whereas we are less than 1000 km with this new car and here we are challenging them already. Bear in mind yesterday was the first time it had ever raced in the wet and we were not a million miles off them.

“The massive positive is the reliability, touch wood. The team did a great job in the first place of turning out the car and then for it to run almost bullet-proof out of the box is a testament to everyone at Motorbase Performance who are behind the Redstone Racing project. We’ve definitely got an eye on 2013 when I believe we will be able to rival the manufacturer squads and challenge them for the title,” said Jackson.