Jackson hopeful for Oulton Park

Mat Jackson is hoping his BMW 320si E90’s rear-wheel-driven traction will give him an edge around Oulton Park’s hilly Island lay-out this weekend (23-24 June). Jackson, who has won twice at the Cheshire track in SEAT Cupras in the past two years, is eager to build on a strong performance at Croft.

He clearly senses an opportunity to improve on his seventh position outright in the championship – indeed, he is only 16 points away from third-placed Matt Neal – and get his challenge for Independents honours back on track.

The Henley-in-Arden driver said: “I’m sure that Oulton will be one of the BMW’s stronger circuits. It’s got a lot of gradients and the rear-wheel-drive should give us a traction advantage out of the Island hairpin and up the hill off the Knickerbrook chicane, plus probably exiting the final corner at Lodge as well.”

Arriving at Oulton, the 26-year-old has appointed older brother Dan as the new team manager of their Jacksons MSport squad, alongside their father Tony, the team principal. He has also praised the close-knit outfit’s performances so far in its debut BTCC season, which have brought a second place and two thirds outright.

He added: “It would be easy to get over-excited with three podium finishes from our first four meetings in the BTCC. It is exciting of course and we’ve definitely made people sit up and take notice.

“What we’ve achieved on what we’ve got compared to the bigger teams is brilliant and a lot of that is down to the people who support us, both the sponsors and the fans. I’m really pleased with the way we’ve played it. We came in without any big fanfare and have just delivered a good set of results.

“I’m also really chuffed that my brother Dan is the new team manager. He’s worked with me since I started karting as a kid and he possesses degrees and a lot of experience with some of the best automotive manufacturers in the business. We really are proper family team now.”